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Volleyball Preview: Illinois Tournament

8/30/2023 9:12:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (1-2, 0-0 American)

Friday, Sep. 1 (5:00 p.m. CT) at Illinois (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Champaign, Illinois (Huff Hall)
Live Stats // Watch

Saturday, Sep. 2 (1:00 p.m. CT) vs. Illinois State (0-3, 0-0 Missouri Valley)
Champaign, Illinois (Huff Hall)
Live Stats // Watch
 

The Shockers make the trek to Champaign, Illinois  for a pair of matches against Illinois and Illinois State.

Both matches will be streamed, Illinois on B1G+ ($) and Illinois State on FightingIllini.com (Free). Track live scoring throughout the weekend at shockerstats.com.

SCENE SETTERS:
  • Wichita State heads to the Land of Lincoln for matches against Illinois and Illinois State on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon, respectively.
  • The Shockers take aim at their first win over a Big Ten opponent since the 2008 season, when WSU knocked off the trio of Michigan State, Ohio State and Northwestern on their way to an undefeated regular season. Wichita State last faced a Big Ten member in 2019, a campaign in which WSU was bested by #6 Penn State and #1 Nebraska.
  • The match against Illinois State will be just the second Missouri Valley Conference foe that the Shockers have faced since leaving The Valley for The American in 2017. WSU defeated Missouri State in both the spring and fall of 2021. The Shockers and Redbirds have played 66 times in program history, only twice on a neutral floor. Both such occasions came at the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in Springfield, Missouri.
  • Wichita State has not played a match in the state of Illinois since 2016, the final season for the Shockers in The Valley.
  • The Shockers have an opportunity to secure The American's first true road win of the season on Friday night against the Fighting Illini. As a whole, the conference is a combined 0-7 in true road matches on the young season, compared to 18-7 in home contests and 8-3 in neutral-site matches.
  • Libero Gabi Maas piled up 65 digs in the Shockers three matches this past weekend in Lubbock, a total that ranks 14th nationally after the opening weekend of play. Maas had a career-high 25 digs against Texas Tech, including 10 in the first set alone.
LOOKING BACK:
  • Wichita State went 1-2 at the Under Armour Challenge in Lubbock, Texas, dropping matches against Notre Dame and Texas Tech before concluding the competition  with a win over Houston Christian on Saturday.
  • It was an odd weekend statistically for the Shockers, who out-hit their three opponents by more than 30 points (.201-.168) and out-blocked the opposition (33.0-29.0). Wichita State struggled in serve-receive, allowing 10 more aces (22-12) while committing more errors (21-20).
  • Redshirt senior outside hitter Brylee Kelly joined the 1,000 kill club at Wichita State late in the third set of Saturday's win, recording nine kills over the final two frames to help spark the WSU offense.
  • Junior middle blocker Natalie Foster was named to the Under Armour Challenge All-Tournament team after hitting .333 with a team-high 34 kills and 14.0 blocks.
  • Middle blocker Morgan Stout and outside hitter Emerson Wilford both established new career highs in kills over the weekend. Stout racked up 15 terminations on her birthday Friday against Texas Tech and Wilford followed with 14 kills of her own Saturday against Houston Christian. Setter Izzi Strand matched her career high with eight kills against Notre Dame.
  • Libero Gabi Maas shined in her Shocker debut. The TCU transfer averaged 5.0 digs per set, highlighted by  25 ups against Texas Tech. Maas nearly matched her season total from a year ago, when she had 29 digs with the Horned Frogs.
  • Middle blocker Lauren McMahon had an impactful first appearance of 2023. Coming off the bench in the second set of Saturday's match against Houston Christian, McMahon notched two kills and four block assists.
WSU-ILLINOIS SERIES:
  • The Shockers and Fighting Illini have tangled just twice in program history, a five-set win for Wichita State at the 2006 UNC Volleyball Classic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and a three-set sweep for Illinois as part of the 2015 Shocker Volleyball Classic.
  • Current Wichita State assistant coach Katie Zimmerman (then Reilly) had four kills in the 2015 meeting.
  • The 2015 Fighting Illini squad was ranked #7 at the time and went on to reach the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament. Wichita State was knocked out in the Round of 32 by Nebraska.
  • The Shockers trailed 2-0 in the first meeting between the two programs in 2006. 16 kills from Sara Lungren and Lindsey Eckenrode helped WSU rally for the victory.
SCOUTING THE FIGHTING ILLINI:
  • Illinois enters Friday at 2-0, having bested Northern Illinois 3-1 in a season-opening road contest before sweeping Valparaiso on Tuesday in the home opener.
  • The Fighting Illini are picked seventh in the 14-team preseason Big Ten poll. Illinois is coming off a 15-15 season a year ago that included a 10-10 mark in conference play. 11 of the Fighting Illini's 15 losses came against ranked opponents.
  • Illinois is tasked with replacing decorated setter Diana Brown, who graduated fifth in assists (4,247) and fourth in double-doubles (54) in program history.
  • Senior outside hitter Raina Terry was a preseason All-Big Ten selection after leading Illinois with 444 kills and 4.07 kills per set in her junior season.
  • Chris Tamas (pronounced Thomas) enters his seventh season as head coach of the Fighting Illini volleyball program in 2023. Tamas owns an overall record of 117-67 (.636), including a 69-49 (.585) mark in Big Ten play, highlighted by a trip to the Final Four in 2018.
WSU-ILLINOIS STATE SERIES:
  • Wichita State and Illinois State have played 66 matches, with the Redbirds holding a slim 34-32 lead in the all-time series. Saturday will be the first meeting between the two programs since WSU departed the Missouri Valley Conference in 2016.
  • The arrival of head coach Chris Lamb in 2000 represented a reversal of fortune for Wichita State against the Redbirds. The Shockers were just 6-24 against Illinois State prior to Lamb's arrival, but have gone 26-10 since.
SCOUTING THE REDBIRDS:
  • Illinois State opened the season with a trio of defeats in Columbia, Missouri against Missouri, Central Arkansas and Colgate. The Redbirds play Northwestern on Friday before battling the Shockers on Saturday.
  • The Redbirds were picked seventh in the 12-team Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll after a 12-17 (5-13) mark a season ago.
  • Head coach Allie Matters is in her second season leading the Redbirds. Matters is 91-50 through five seasons as a head coach after four seasons at Wright State.
UP NEXT:
  • Wichita State hosts the Shocker Volleyball Classic on September 7-9 at Charles Koch Arena against Kansas and Colorado.
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