Volleyball | 10/26/2024 8:23:00 AM
By Paul Suellentrop
Two constants carried Wichita State on Friday through a five-set match with the requisite number of ups and downs.
The Shockers won with setter
Izzi Strand turning in one of her best all-around matches and middle
Morgan Stout doing her usual things on her way to a career high in kills. Wichita State defeated Memphis (25-19, 25-18, 24-26, 25-27, 15-12) to sweep the season series and defeat the Tigers for a seventh straight time.
"We played cleaner than they did," Wichita State coach
Chris Lamb said, on his way to wishing for a little less clean and a little more pop from his team.
Memphis (10-11, 4-5 American Athletic Conference) hit .132 and finished with 37 attack errors, most by any Shocker opponent this season. The Tigers also committed 10 service errors, helping out an opponent that needs help scoring.
The Shockers (11-10, 6-3) committed 21 attack errors and finish with a .202 attack percentage. That low-error tendency is good, especially against equal or lesser teams. Against the top of the AAC, the Shockers need more kills.
"Even in practices, we don't err as much as, honestly we should, to improve," Strand said. "Coaches are begging us to err more. We need more aggressive points."
Yes, Lamb would love a few more aggressive swings from his attackers and he played deep into his bench in search of scoring. His math tells him the Shockers could survive a few more errors if a few more big swings paid off with kills.
"I haven't been worried about errors – I want to know how this team is going to score," he said. "This version of Shocker volleyball still needs to find more points. We could go a long way being more aggressive."
On Friday, playing clean volleyball paid off. Strand contributed career highs with nine kills and 20 digs, in addition to 44 assists. Stout recorded a career-high 18 kills and 10 blocks and got better as the match wore on. She recorded four kills and four block-assists in the final set.
Strand's scoring from the setter position is important to boost the Shocker offense and she had eight kills in the first meeting with Memphis, a 3-1 WSU win.
"Scouting them a bit, I knew they were less aggressive on me," she said. "I knew I could score."
Strand didn't commit an error on 12 swings in the first match against Memphis and hit .667. On Friday, she hit .304.
"It's amazing having a setter that is so rangy, and can fake everyone out" Stout said. "There are times when I don't even have a block up and I'm like 'That's not a me kill.' She opens up the net so much."
While Stout and Strand finished off the Tigers, the Shockers used a variety of complementary pieces to assist.
Brooklyn Leggett didn't play in the first two sets, then contributed seven kills and hit .235 over the final three. She finished off the match with her seventh kill.
Sarah Barham didn't play in the fourth set, then contributed a kill and a block in the fifth.
Gracie Morrow contributed two kills in the fourth set.
Wichita State meets UAB (8-12, 3-6) at 1 p.m., Sunday at Koch Arena.
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
