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RH: Lamb Built Program On Getting Points Where Many Do Not

RH: Foster, Strand

The RoundHouse | 12/8/2023 5:03:00 PM

By Paul Suellentrop
 
Many volleyball teams think of the position as a middle blocker, with a heavy emphasis on the block.
 
"Lambo likes to consider us middle attackers," Wichita State middle Natalie Foster said.
 
Foster sums up a significant story in coach Chris Lamb's 24 seasons at Wichita State. When Lamb arrived, he came with a plan to take an underutilized position and produce scoring. While he couldn't recruit the physically imposing outside hitters who dominate college volleyball, he could turn average athletes into valuable scorers in the middle.
 
"I don't think we could do the same dance routine as our opponents when you know they have better dancers," he said. "You better have a different routine. More attempts in the middle is one of those attempts to play differently."
 
The Shocker middles are in the spotlight again as Wichita State (24-8) plays Montana State (24-8) in the semifinals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship at 1 p.m. Saturday (ESPN+) at Koch Arena. The winner advances to play either USF (22-11) or UTEP (24-9), who play Sunday.
 
Wichita State advanced with a sweep of Drake in which Foster hit .522 with no errors for 12 kills and middle Morgan Stout added 14 kills and a .444 attack percentage. In a sweep of Arkansas State to open NIVC play, Stout hit .750 with no errors for nine kills and Foster contributed eight kills, also with no errors, and hit .500.
 
"(Other schools) always have a big outside," setter Izzi Strand said. "I feel like our big outsides are big middles. If we get a good pass, it's middle, middle, middle."
 
 
 
 
It has long been that way at Wichita State, where middle Elizabeth Meyers led the 2004 Shockers in kills on the way to their first NCAA Tournament. Meyers excelled at quickly chopping the ball in front of diggers. With this approach, Shockers middles didn't need to be 6-foot-5 or exceptionally powerful. They needed to be in the right place and hit quickly and accurately.
 
"Elizabeth Meyers was an expert at hitting the sides of the volleyball, chopping," Lamb said. "So many of her kills landed two feet in front of wing diggers, who just couldn't fall forward quickly enough. Her job was to graze the ball and get it across the net."
 
The Shockers continued to rely more on the middles than most, an approach that produced balanced offenses and efficient scoring. In 2009, Sarah McGee ranked second on the team with 297 kills. In 2012, Ashley Andrade (294) and Elizabeth Field (280) ranked second and third. In 2015, Katie Reilly (now assistant coach Katie Zimmerman) led the team with 788 attempts with Abbie Lehman leading the team with 401 kills.
 
"I love the fact it creates a balanced offense," Lamb said. "You're always setting the lefts. You always can set your lefts. But I want teams to have to prepare for the fact the Shockers can get a lot of kids on the scoreboard."
 
This season, Foster leads WSU with 343 kills and Stout is third with 286. Foster (650) and Stout (634) rank second and third in attempts behind opposite Sophia Rohling's 783.
 
"It's kind of like a hidden thing with programs around the United States, where the schools do run the middles," Foster said. "Not many do. They don't really look at middles as a scoring or an offensive-type player."
 
That middle-friendly strategy may pay off in post-season play, where teams are not familiar with the Shockers and scouting time is limited. Some of WSU's biggest NCAA wins came with great scoring from the middle.
 
 
 
Middle Jen Ray hit .643 and led the match with 10 kills in a win over Nevada in 2004, WSU's first NCAA appearance. In 2012, Andrade dominated with 23 kills and a .564 attack percentage in a win over Arkansas. The next night, Andrade registered 18 kills, hitting .438, and Field added 13 kills and a .619 attack percentage in a win over Kansas that sent the Shockers to the Sweet 16.
 
In 2015, Lehman dented Kansas State for 20 kills and Reilly added 15 in a win over the Wildcats. While Nebraska swept the Shockers the next night, Lehman hit .667 without an error for 10 kills and Reilly hit .556 with one error and 11 kills.
 
The Shocker middles are hot again in the NIVC.
 
"When we scout it, we can see if they're uncomfortable with the middle-tempo speed, and they'll trip up," Foster said. "Sometimes you can tell in the game, first set, you can see they're just not effective blocking in the middle. They're not used to being in the right position."
 
With that heavy usage comes a variety of sets that the Shockers also say is unusual. Strand estimates Wichita State uses at least seven plays to set the middles, while most schools use four.
 
"They're just always confused where it's going to be," Strand said. "We have so many different types. When I got here, I was definitely overwhelmed at how many sets we have."
 
The middles at Wichita State are 20-plus year trademark of the volleyball team. Once again, that attempt to be different to level the recruiting ground is paying off.
 
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
 
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Players Mentioned

Natalie Foster

#11 Natalie Foster

MB/RS
6' 4"
Junior
Sophia Rohling

#20 Sophia Rohling

OPP
6' 3"
Senior
Morgan Stout

#15 Morgan Stout

MB
6' 1"
Redshirt Junior
Izzi Strand

#16 Izzi Strand

S
6' 1"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Natalie Foster

#11 Natalie Foster

6' 4"
Junior
MB/RS
Sophia Rohling

#20 Sophia Rohling

6' 3"
Senior
OPP
Morgan Stout

#15 Morgan Stout

6' 1"
Redshirt Junior
MB
Izzi Strand

#16 Izzi Strand

6' 1"
Senior
S