The RoundHouse | 12/9/2023 5:10:00 PM
By Paul Suellentrop
Wichita State sees the National Invitational Volleyball Championship as validation for many items – NCAA-worthiness, composure in tight matches and goal setting.
The Shockers swept Montana State (25-21, 26-24, 25-20) on Saturday at Koch Arena in the NIVC semifinals. They will play either USF or UTEP, who play Sunday, in Tuesday's title game.
In simplest terms, it means Wichita State (25-8) is still playing volleyball when most schools are done. The Shockers consider themselves capable of playing NCAA Tournament-quality volleyball and while they can't prove it, they can offer this NIVC run as evidence.
"This tournament matters, too," setter
Izzi Strand said. "Getting to the championship, and hopefully winning, is kind of a like a 'Hey, we should have been in the NCAA Tournament.' It's still showing everyone we got this."
Middle
Morgan Stout embraces the chance to roll through a bracket, any bracket.
The Shockers own a No. 62 RPI, which left them out of at-large consideration, but close enough to play what-if with injuries and a few losses. They've added to their season's resume with a quarterfinal win over Drake, ranked No. 54 in the RPI and runner-up in the Missouri Valley Conference, and Montana State, the Big Sky runner-up.
"Going into this, the championship was my No. 1 goal," Stout said. "Making it to this post-season championship feels really good."
Montana State (24-9) made the Shockers work. In the first set, the Bobcats led 17-16 and cut WSU's lead to 21-20. The Bobcats had set point at 25-24 in the second set before Strand's ace tied it and a block-assist by
Sophia Rohling and
Natalie Foster won it. The Shockers led 20-16 in the third set before the Bobcats rallied to within 20-18.
Drake pushed the Shockers in similar fashion before losing 3-0 (30-28, 27-25, 25-21) on Wednesday in the quarterfinal. So, while the Shockers have dropped one set (to Tulsa) in four NIVC wins, it's been a test.
"We've been really locked in," Strand said. "And we've worked really hard in practice lowering our errors and working on first-ball side-outs. That's made us execute really well and finish those close sets."
Playing at home helps and the Shockers handled those tight moments well. Their balanced offense means defenders can't get comfortable blocking and Stout, Foster and Rohling are capable of physically overwhelming opponents in the NIVC.
"We've found ways to stay composed, get that pass in there," coach
Chris Lamb said. "Izzi's done a good job making the right decisions. Hitters got to be confident and take those swings at crunch time. Pay close attention and you'll see some big moments where people don't take the swing."
The Shockers hit .313 for the match, .486 in the first set and .414 in the second. Stout finished with 14 kills and hit .565. Foster added six kills and hit .417. Rohling contributed eight kills.
As has become the pattern in the NIVC, middles Stout and Foster presented challenges that the defense couldn't solve.
"They're both long and they can run a variety of sets so they can stretch you out across the net," Montana State coach Matt Houk said.
The Bobcats knew they had to serve aggressively to keep the Shockers out of system. They recorded three aces in the first set and the Shockers rarely looked comfortable in the back row. However, the service errors mounted in the next two sets.
"Wichita's got a lot of weapons, so you've got to try to knock them out of system and limit how often they can set the quick," Houk said. "We executed that quite well in set one."
The Bobcats finished with four aces – same as WSU – and 11 service errors. The Shockers limited their service errors to four. As the match wore on, the Shockers got more comfortable letting those serves sail out.
As Lamb pointed out, the Shockers can't replicate that in practices, and he would like to develop more of that type of serving in the spring.
"They had great serves, really high and deep," Strand said. "That's a really hard serve to pass. I think our back row really adjusted really well."
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
