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Morgan Weber

Volleyball Preview: SMU

9/27/2023 9:35:00 AM

WICHITA STATE (8-4, 2-0 American)

Friday, Sep. 29 (7:00 p.m. CT) at SMU (9-5, 3-0 American)
Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum)
Live Stats // Watch

Sunday, Oct. 1 (12:00 p.m. CT) at SMU (9-5, 3-0 American)
Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum)
Live Stats // Watch
 

Wichita State squares off against preseason AAC favorite SMU in a pair of matches at Moody Coliseum in Dallas.

Friday's match will be streamed on ESPN+, with Chris Mycoskie and Shanel Bramschreiber on the call. Sunday's match is set to air on ESPNU, with Tyler Denning and Tamika Newman courtside. Track live scoring at shockerstats.com.

SCENE SETTERS:
  • Wichita State heads to the Lone Star State for a crucial two-match series against projected conference favorites SMU.
  • While every other intra-division series will take place on Friday and Saturday, due to a conflict with SMU's home football game on Saturday the Shockers and Mustangs play Friday night and again on Sunday afternoon.
  • The Shockers are seeking a sixth consecutive victory, a streak that WSU has not reached since the Shockers rattled off eight conference wins in a row from October 3-29, 2021. 
  • Sunday's contest airs nationwide on ESPNU. The Shockers and Mustangs also played last season on the network, a five-set Wichita State win on November 23.
  • The Shockers lead the American Athletic Conference and rank seventh nationally with an opponent hitting percentage of .141. Wichita State has not allowed any opponent to hit better than .247 in a match so far this season.
  • Head coach Chris Lamb is now just 10 wins shy of reaching 500 victories over the course of his 24-year career at Wichita State. Lamb has more than 100 more wins than the next-closest American Athletic Conference head coach (Genny Volpe - Rice, 385 wins).
  • Wichita State's balanced offensive attack features five players averaging between 2.1 and 2.7 kills per set. Six different Shockers (Natalie Foster, Morgan Stout, Sophia Rohling, Emerson Wilford, Morgan Weber, Barbara Koehler) have notched double-digit kills in a match this season.
  • No individual Shocker hitter has more than 10 attempts in a set since September 7 (Koehler - 12, 4th set).
LOOKING BACK:
  • The Shockers continued their flawless start to American Athletic Conference play with a home sweep of Charlotte, besting the 49ers 25-14, 25-13, 25-17 on Saturday night at Charles Koch Arena.
  • The match had just three total lead changes and Wichita State never trailed by more than three points at any juncture in the match.
  • The Shockers held Charlotte to a team hitting percentage of -.022, the lowest by any WSU opponent in a match since Evansville hit -.043 on September 26, 2016.
  • Natalie Foster finished with a match-high-tying nine kills, seven of which came in a torrid third set in which she ultimately provided the match-winning kill. The seven kills are the most by a Shocker in a single set this season.
  • After combining for eight total kills in her last four matches, Barbara Koehler provided firepower on the left side with nine terminations while hitting .273.
  • Sophia Rohling turned in the eighth errorless match of her career, terminating eight times on 14 swings at a .571 clip.
  • Emerson Wilford established a new career high with 12 digs, leading the Shockers in that category for the first time in her Shocker career.
  • The Shockers compiled their second 10-0 scoring run of the season midway through the third set. Facing their largest deficit of the night at 8-5, libero Gabi Maas keyed the spurt at the service line to help WSU turn a three-point deficit into a 15-8 lead.
  • Wichita State logged 10.0 team blocks, notching at least three rejections in all three sets. Foster led the way with six block assists.
WSU-SMU SERIES:
  • Wichita State and SMU have met 15 times in total dating back to the 1996 season, with the Mustangs holding a slim 8-7 advantage. SMU won the inaugural meeting, but WSU claimed non-conference wins in 2010 and 2012 prior to the Shockers joining The American in 2017.
  • The Shockers are 5-7 against SMU since joining The American.
  • WSU is 3-5 at home, 4-2 in Dallas, and 0-1 on a neutral floor against the Mustangs.
  • The Shockers and Mustangs have had a penchant for thrillers over the last three seasons. Four of the last five meetings have gone the distance, with SMU winning twice in Wichita and the Shockers returning the favor with a pair of five-set wins in Dallas.
  • Last season's final meeting saw WSU overcome a 2-1 deficit despite an injury to star middle Natalie Foster. The Shockers completed the comeback without a single player logging double-digit kills; Morgan Stout's season-best 10 blocks highlighted the Shockers defensive effort.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS:
  • SMU enters the series 9-5 overall, including a 3-0 mark in American Athletic Conference play after two road wins at UTSA over the weekend.
  • The Mustangs played a brutal non-conference schedule that included a run of six straight matches against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 poll. SMU picked up marquee wins on the road at Florida State and at home against #14 Baylor in that stretch.
  • Like Wichita State, SMU's offense runs through the middle. Emma Clothier, a Florida State transfer, leads the American Athletic Conference with a .428 hitting percentage and was named AVCA National Player of the Week on Tuesday after hitting .597 in three wins. Clothier is the second SMU player in program history to win the award, joining Avery Acker in 2015.
  • On the outside, junior Jamison Wheeler was tabbed Preseason Co-Player of the Year alongside Wichita State's Brylee Kelly. After a slow start, Wheeler has recorded 13 or more kills in five of the last six matches.
  • Libero Sina Uluave began her career as a hitter at Wichita State in 2019, playing two seasons in the Black and Yellow before transferring to Toledo.
  • Head coach Sam Erger is in her second season in Dallas after eight seasons on the coaching staff at Baylor. Erger owns a career record of 31-15 after replacing long-time head coach Lisa Seifert, who stepped down following 27 seasons on the sideline for the Mustangs.
UP NEXT:
  • Wichita State returns home to Charles Koch Arena for two matches against East Division foes, hosting Temple on Friday, October 6 and South Florida on Sunday, October 8.
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