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Volleyball Preview: #10 SMU (NCAA First Round)

12/3/2024 6:35:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (18-13, 10-6 American)

Thursday, Dec. 5 (7:00 p.m. CT) vs. SMU (24-7, 16-4 ACC)
Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum)
Live Stats // Watch
 

Wichita State travels to Dallas for the NCAA Championship First and Second Rounds, squaring off against #10 SMU on Thursday, December 5 at 7:00 pm CT.

All matches of the first two rounds are streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats for matches can be found at shockerstats.com.

SCENE SETTERS:
  • Wichita State makes its return to the NCAA tournament with a First Round matchup against old American Athletic Conference foe SMU on Thursday, December 5 at Moody Coliseum in Dallas. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 pm CT.
  • SMU, which was ranked #10 in the latest AVCA poll, is the #2 seed in the Upper Left Regional. #7-seed Missouri and Texas State are on the opposite side of the quadrant and play on Thursday at 4:00 pm CT.
  • Wichita State is making their 12th NCAA tournament appearance in program history and the first since 2017. The Shockers own an 8-11 record in the 11 previous NCAA showings, highlighted by the program's only Sweet 16 appearance in 2012.
  • After the Shockers did not record a sweep at Charles Koch Arena during the entirety of the regular season, Wichita State won all nine sets over three American Athletic Conference Championship matches. WSU defeated #5-seed Tulsa, #1 South Florida and #6 Florida Atlantic to claim The American title.
  • The victory represents Wichita State's second American Athletic Conference championship and first in a conference tournament. The Shockers won the 2017 regular season title when the conference did not host a tournament. Overall, Wichita State has now won five conference tournaments, with the previous four coming in the Missouri Valley Conference (2004, 2013, 2015, 2016).
  • The Shockers enter the bracket as one of the nation's most battle-tested teams. Wichita State's strength of schedule (.591 opponent winning percentage) is the toughest in The American and the 5th-toughest among teams outside the power conferences.
LOOKING BACK:
  • Wichita State delivered a third consecutive sweep to cap off a dominant run through the American Athletic Conference tournament, defeating Florida Atlantic 25-22, 25-19, 25-19 in the championship match.
  • The Shockers out-hit Florida Atlantic .259 to .125. Brooklyn Leggett led all players with 13 kills at a .360 clip and Morgan Stout fired 12 terminations, hitting .478. Katie Galligan turned in another superlative performance at libero, finishing with a match-high 15 digs.
  • WSU set the tone with a 6-1 run out of the gate, getting a pair of aces plus two Izzi Strand kills to send Florida Atlantic reeling. The Owls crawled within one at 13-12 before the Shockers delivered a decisive 6-2 spurt that restored the margin to 19-14. FAU never got closer than two the rest of the way, thanks to another Strand kill and a termination from Alyssa Gonzales on set point.
  • The Shockers had to play from behind for most of the second set, facing a 14-12 deficit midway through the frame. Four straight WSU points, highlighted by a key block from Emerson Wilford and Sarah Barham, flipped the script and gave the Shockers a 20-17 lead. Florida Atlantic scored the next two points, but WSU fired back with five in a row to clinch the set.
  • FAU hung around early in set three, evening the ledger at 7-7 before the Shockers strung together one of their best stretches of the season to pull away. Leggett banged three kills in quick succession to kick off a 7-1 run that swelled the advantage to 20-12 and brought the Charles Koch Arena crowd to its feet. Florida Atlantic made one last gasp, cutting the lead to 22-17 and forcing a Wichita State timeout. A kill from Maddie Wilson out of the break restored order and Leggett put two more to the floor to secure the championship.
WSU-SMU SERIES:
  • Wichita State and SMU have met 17 times in total dating back to the 1996 season, with the Mustangs holding a slim 9-8 advantage. SMU won the inaugural meeting in 1996, but WSU claimed non-conference wins in 2010 and 2012 prior to the Shockers joining The American in 2017.
  • The Shockers went 6-8 against SMU since joining The American in 2017.
  • WSU is 3-5 at home, 5-3 in Dallas, and 0-1 on a neutral floor against the Mustangs.
  • The Shockers and Mustangs have had a penchant for thrillers in recent years. Four of five meetings from 2020-2022 went 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, the Shockers bounced back from a sweep in the first meeting to hand SMU their only conference loss of the 2023 campaign one day later. Barbara Koehler delivered a career-high 15 kills and 17 digs to lead the Shockers, including seven terminations in the fourth frame.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS:
  • The Mustangs enter the tournament at 24-7 overall, including a 16-4 mark in ACC play that is good for fourth in the conference. SMU is ranked 10th in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll and 7th in the latest RPI, bolstered by wins over top-four national seeds Nebraska and Pittsburgh.
  • SMU is making their second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and fourth in program history. The Mustangs have first round wins in 2016 and 2023, but have never advanced to the Sweet 16. The #2 seed is the highest in program history.
  • The Mustangs are a veteran, experienced team with eight senior transfers on the roster. SMU averages 2.70 blocks per set, 18th in the country, while holding opponents to a .179 hitting percentage.
  • SMU middle blocker Natalie Foster played four seasons at Wichita State before transferring to Dallas for her final collegiate season. Foster is one of four Mustangs who were named All-ACC, with setter Celia Cullen and opposite Naya Shime on the First Team, and Foster and outside hitter Tabron on the Second Team.
  • Graduate Assistant coach 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 and then finishing her career as a libero at SMU.
  • Head coach Sam Erger is in third second season in Dallas after eight seasons on the coaching staff at Baylor. She owns a career record of 72-24 after replacing long-time head coach Lisa Seifert, who stepped down following 27 seasons on the sideline for the Mustangs. Erger was named 2023 American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS:
  • Wichita State stifled some of The American's top offenses on their way to the championship.
  • Over the three matches against Tulsa, South Florida and Florida Atlantic, the Shockers allowed a combined hitting percentage of just .115, forcing the three opponents into 66 total attack errors while erring just 46 times themselves.
  • South Florida, comfortably The American's best attacking team in the regular season, was limited to a season-worst .112 hitting percentage. AAC Player of the Year Maria Clara Andrade hit just .108 and First Team All-Conference outside hitter Naiya Sawtelle finished at -.061.
BOOST FROM THE 'BRO:
  • One of the keys to Wichita State's late-season surge is the emergence of junior Katie Galligan at libero.
  • The Shockers have been searching for consistency at the position since the spring injury to Gabi Maas, who donned the jersey in 2023. Galligan, Annalie Heliste and Reagan Anderson have all seen time at libero in 2024.
  • On November 1, the Shockers put Galligan into the role full time and the Nebraska native has not looked back. In the nine matches since, Galligan is averaging 5.0 digs per set and Wichita State as a team is out-digging opponents by more than one and a half digs per set.
STARTING OFF HOT:
  • Through the first 18 matches of the 2024 season, the Shockers struggled out of the starting block. Wichita State had a first set record of just 6-12, their worst record in any set.
  • Beginning with a road match at Charlotte on October 18, WSU has rattled off 13 straight first set wins to give them an overall mark of 19-12 in first sets, now their best record of any set.
STAR POWER:
  • Wichita State is led by a pair of First Team All-Conference players in redshirt senior middle blocker Morgan Stout and graduate student setter Izzi Strand.
  • Stout recently became the first Wichita State player drafted into the Pro Volleyball Federation, going with the 25th overall pick to the Vegas Thrill.
  • The native of Fowler, Kansas is putting together a banner season in her final campaign with the Shockers. She leads all middle blockers nationally in kills per set (3.16) and is second at the position in points per set (3.96), hitting a team-best .319 in the process.
  • Stout was named the Most Outstanding Player of the American Athletic Conference Championship after leading the Shockers to the title. Over the course of the tournament, Stout averaged 4.67 points per set, hitting .345 with a team-high 35 kills. She also led the Shockers with eight block assists and added three aces, including the match-winning ace in Wichita State's quarterfinal victory over Tulsa. All told, Stout totaled 42 points in the tournament while reaching double-digit kills in all three matches.  
  • Strand has been on the floor for every single point of the 2024 season as the general of Wichita State's 5-1 system. After starting her career with two seasons at UC San Diego, Strand has thrived over the last two campaigns in Wichita, racking up more than 1,300 assists last season and surpassing the 1,200 mark this year.
  • Strand was one kill away from her first career triple-double against Memphis on October 25, when she finished with nine kills, 44 assists and 20 digs.
  • Defensively, Strand is in the midst of her most complete season as both a blocker and digger. Her 0.46 blocks per set and 2.56 digs per set are both career highs and include six matches with 15 or more digs.
THE COACH:
  • Chris Lamb, WSU's all-time wins leader (526-249, .679), is in his 25th season on the sideline.
  • Lamb's 526 victories are the 11th most among coaches in the 2024 NCAA tournament field. Only Travis Hudson (Western Kentucky, 780 wins), Beth Launiere (Utah, 673 wins) and Bobbi Peterson (Northern Iowa, 608 wins) have more victories coaching at just one school.
  • The 2017 national coach of the year has guided the Shockers to 12 NCAA tournaments, highlighted by a run to the 2012 Sweet 16. 
  • WSU has captured seven regular season conference titles under Lamb's watch, including 2017 when the Shockers finished with a perfect 20-0 conference mark.
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