Volleyball | 8/18/2023 10:18:00 AM
By Paul Suellentrop
Three takeaways from Wichita State's 3-2 (25-12, 20-25, 23-25, 25-11, 15-9) exhibition win over Oklahoma on Thursday at Koch Arena.
1. Wichita State's played strong defense in the three sets it won, holding OU to negative attack percentages in all three and .041 for the match. The Sooners committed 37 attack errors, 10 in the fourth set.
"We hung in there defensively in the back row against a team that was playing fast, and they hit it hard," coach
Chris Lamb said.
Libero
Gabi Maas, a transfer from TCU, recorded 18 digs to lead the Shockers.
Annalie Heliste added 11. Middle
Morgan Stout and
Natalie Foster both recorded four blocks.
2. Lamb spent the off-season working to add scoring, frequently saying that two or three kills a set made the difference between the top of the American Athletic Conference and WSU in fourth place.
Thursday's exhibition offered encouraging sights. Stout hit .333 with nine kills.
Emerson Wilford added eight kills on a .333 attack percentage. The Shockers hit .227 with a mere 16 errors.
Stout, a redshirt junior, is a full participant in practices after years of limited use and jump counts to protect her legs.
"We used to not have her every day, and now we have her," Lamb said. "She has a physical advantage. She needs to win her one-on-one battles. We need less mysteries, when we pass well, why we didn't crush it. But we're getting there."
Wilford, a sophomore attacker, worked on tooling off the blockers, handling double-blocks and hitting down the line to add more variety. Her focus, however, was on positive vibes.
"The last two days, I feel like I really focused on my energy more," Wilford said. "Having better energy makes everybody around you better."
Setter
Izzi Strand saw the results of Wilford's work this fall.
"She's so good at going under (against blockers) and she worked so hard on that line shot," Strand said. "Those are the two things she's worked most on the most and are so successful now."
3. Strand, a transfer from UC San Diego, joined the Shockers in the spring. While Thursday wasn't her regular-season debut – or even her debut against another opponent – it did feel significant. The pep band, the tradition of throwing mini balls to the fans and the hoopla of a home match stuck with her.
"This is all new to me, because we only did one game against Nebraska (in the spring) where we kind of did our rituals in the beginning and it wasn't in our own gym," she said. "It was just so exciting for me. It was a very high DI-level feeling, and I think that put me in the right mindset to play really hard."
Strand finished with 32 assists, five kills and four aces. She contributed to Wichita State's defense with seven digs and four block-assists.
The Shockers open the season vs. Notre Dame on Aug. 25 in Lubbock, Texas.
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
