WICHITA STATE (3-4, 0-0 American)

Thursday, Sep. 14 (4:00 p.m. CT) vs. Bradley (7-3, 0-0 Missouri Valley)
Greeley, Colorado (Bank of Colorado Arena)
Live Stats // Watch

Friday, Sep. 15 (4:00 p.m. CT) vs. Omaha (0-7, 0-0 Summit)
Greeley, Colorado (Bank of Colorado Arena)
Live Stats // Watch

Saturday, Sep. 16 (7:00 p.m. CT) at Northern Colorado (3-5, 0-0 Big Sky)
Greeley, Colorado (Bank of Colorado Arena)
Live Stats // Watch
 

---

Wichita State rounds out the non-conference portion of the schedule with three matches at the Northern Colorado Classic in Greeley, Colorado.

All matches will be streamed, either on YouTube or ESPN+.  Track live scoring throughout the week at shockerstats.com.

---

SCENE SETTERS:

• Wichita State heads to Greeley, Colorado for the Northern Colorado Classic, battling Bradley, Omaha and host Northern Colorado over the span of three days at Bank of Colorado Arena. WSU opens the competition on Thursday afternoon and plays the final match on Saturday night.
• The Shockers squared off against both Omaha and Northern Colorado last season as part of the Omaha Challenge, losing in four against the Mavericks before sweeping the Bears the following day.
• Thursday's match against Bradley will be the second former Missouri Valley Conference rival that the Shockers have faced in 2023. In the other meeting, Wichita State swept Illinois State on September 2 in Champaign, Illinois. The Shockers and Braves have played 61 times but have not met since Wichita State left The Valley for The American in 2017.
• The Northern Colorado Classic will be Wichita State's first matches in the state of Colorado since the 2016 campaign. The Shockers took part in the Rams Volleyball Classic that season in nearby Fort Collins, sweeping host Colorado State before falling in four sets to #3-ranked Texas.
• As a whole, the American Athletic Conference has struggled mightily in true road matches this season. The conference has combined for a record of 5-22 in true road contests, and no single school has won more than one road match yet this year. At home, conference members are 34-21. 
• Wichita State last went 3-0 in a road tournament at the A-State Invitational to open the 2021 season, when the Shockers downed Missouri State, UT Martin and  Arkansas State.

---

LOOKING BACK:

• The Shockers carry a record of 3-4 into play on Thursday afternoon after a pair of losses  this past week at the Shocker Volleyball Classic against #22-ranked Kansas and Colorado.
• Wichita State struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the two contests, hitting .196 against Kansas and .100 against Colorado.
• Middle blocker Natalie Foster was named to the Shocker Volleyball Classic All-Tournament team. Foster combined for 16 kills at a .364 clip but was most impactful with her blocking. The 6'4 junior matched a career high with eight block assists against Kansas, then followed it up with six more rejections against Colorado.
• Foster now ranks second in the American Athletic Conference with 1.32 blocks per set, a half-block more per set than her previous career high.
• Wichita State fans showed up to the home opener against Kansas in droves. The official attendance of 2,752 was the largest home crowd at Charles Koch Arena since the 2018 season, when 4,270 saw the Shockers defeat Tulane.
• Saturday's match against Colorado featured a pair of noteworthy appearances into the lineup for Wichita State. Redshirt senior outside hitter Brylee Kelly saw her first time on the floor since August 26, and redshirt freshman setter Lauren Wheeler made her collegiate debut in the second set as part of a transition to a 6-2.
• After an excellent serve-and-pass performance in Illinois, the Shockers were unable to generate points from the service line against the Jayhawks and Buffaloes. Wichita State totaled just three service aces in 147 service attempts over the course of the two matches, compared to 15 aces from their opponents.

---

WSU-BRADLEY SERIES:

• Wichita State and Bradley have met 61 previous times, with the Shockers holding a 43-18 lead in the series. 
• After losing six of his first seven matches against the Braves, head coach Chris Lamb guided the Shockers to a dominant stretch in which WSU defeated Bradley 28 consecutive times. None of those matches required five sets and only five needed four sets.

---

SCOUTING THE BRAVES:

• Bradley arrives in Greeley with a record of 7-3 following a Tuesday night loss against former Shocker opponent Illinois. The Braves swept through the CEFCU Invitational in Peoria to open the year, lost two of three in St. Louis, and swept the Southern Indiana tourney prior to Tuesday's defeat.
• The Braves are coming off a 10-21 campaign a season ago, including a 6-12 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play.
• Bradley was picked eighth in the 12-team MVC preseason poll.
• Head Coach Alicia Williams is in her second season leading the Braves after a successful nine-year run at Iowa Western. Williams helped the Reivers to consecutive national championships in 2020-21 and 2021 and finished her tenue with a 335-44 record.

---

WSU-OMAHA SERIES:

• Despite the regional proximity, the Shockers and Mavericks have played just eight times in program history, with Omaha holding a 5-3 edge in the all-time series entering play on Thursday.
• Five of those seven matchups took place from 1976-1979, and the two teams did not play for 27 years between 1984 and 2011.
• The Mavericks defeated the Shockers 3-1 last season in Omaha thanks in large part to a team-high 17 kills from WSU transfer Mariah Buss. Brylee Kelly had 17 terminations to lead the Shockers, who also got 14 from Sophia Rohling.

---

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS:

• Omaha enters the tournament winless at 0-7, but the Mavericks have played one of the nation's most challenging schedules. Omaha's defeats come at the hands of Texas A&M, Kansas, Nebraska, Kansas State, Long Beach State, Creighton, and Iowa State. Four of the seven are currently ranked and a fifth is receiving votes. 
• The Mavericks are coming off a 20-11 season in 2022 that ended in the first round of the NIVC. Omaha finished second in the Summit League but was swept in the conference championship by South Dakota.
• Omaha was picked third in the 2023 Summit League preseason poll behind South Dakota and North Dakota State.
• First Team All-Conference selections Shayla McCormick and McKenna Ruch return for Omaha in 2023, along with reigning Freshman of the Year Kali Jurgensmeier.
• Head Coach Matt Buttermore is in his fifth season at the helm of the Mavericks. He was named the 2021 Summit League Coach of the Year after leading Omaha to their first regular season title since transitioning to Division I. Prior to his time with the Mavericks, Buttermore was an extremely successful coach at Hastings, where he won the NAIA National Championship in 2016.

---

WSU-NORTHERN COLORADO SERIES:

• The Shockers and Bears have met only thrice; a Wichita State sweep in 2004, a four-set win for Northern Colorado in 2011, and another Shockers sweep last season in Omaha.
• WSU played one of their best matches of the season in last year's victory against the Bears. The Shockers had seven aces to just two errors, held UNC to a .144 hitting percentage, and racked up 11 blocks in three sets.
• After losing to Northern Colorado as part of the 2011 Rams Volleyball Classic in Fort Collins, Wichita State defeated Slovenian club Nova KBM Maribor in an exhibition match the following day.

---

SCOUTING THE BEARS:

• Northern Colorado checks in at 3-5 entering play on Thursday following a pair of defeats at the Northeastern Tournament this past week. The Bears have losses to #3 Stanford, #10 Kentucky, and common opponent Colorado.
• The Bears reached the NCAA tournament for a seventh time in program history in 2022, claiming both the Big Sky regular season and tournament championships. They were eliminated in the opening round by San Diego, finishing with a 22-9 overall record.
• Northern Colorado was picked to repeat as Big Sky champions in the league's preseason poll, projected ahead of Weber State and Portland State. Setter Syd Cole orchestrates the UNC attack as the reigning Big Sky Player of the Year and the first player in program history to earn AVCA All-American honors.
• Head coach Lyndsey Oates is a four-time Big Sky Coach of the Year, helping lead Northern Colorado from the Division II ranks to a consistent NCAA tournament program. Now in her 19th season leading the Bears, Oates owns a career record of 332-219.

---

UP NEXT:

• Wichita State kicks off American Athletic Conference play on the road at East Carolina on Wednesday, September 20. The Shockers then return home to host Charlotte on Saturday, September 23.