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Volleyball Preview: Memphis, Temple

9/24/2024 5:22:00 PM

WICHITA STATE (5-7, 0-0 American)

Wednesday, Sept. 25 (6:00 p.m. CT) at Memphis (6-6, 0-0 American)
Memphis, Tenn. (Larry O. Finch Center)
Live Stats // Watch

Friday, Sept. 27 (7:00 p.m. CT) vs. Temple (6-6, 0-0 American)
Wichita, Kan. (Charles Koch Arena)
Live Stats // Watch
 

Wichita State begins American Athletic Conference play with a road match at Memphis on Wednesday night before returning home to battle Temple on Friday evening.

Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats for both matches can be found at shockerstats.com.

SCENE SETTERS:
  • Wichita State looks to build off the momentum of a 2-1 showing at the Shocker Volleyball Classic with their first tests of the AAC schedule, squaring off against Memphis on the road Wednesday night ahead of a home date with Temple on Friday.
  • The Shockers and Tigers are the only match on the league schedule Wednesday night. Every remaining match for Wichita State takes place on either Friday night or Sunday afternoon.
  • The Shockers enter AAC play at 5-7, one of eight AAC teams who finished the non-conference schedule at .500 or worse. Every conference foe enters the AAC slate with at least three losses.
  • Much of the conference's struggles can be attributed to road contests, where the league as a whole owns a record of 11-25 (.306). Wichita State is one of just three teams in the conference with multiple true road victories, joining East Carolina and Tulsa.
  • Wichita State has already played four five-set contests in 2024 through just 12 matches, half of the total from the 2023 season. WSU was 5-3 in five-setters last year.
  • The Shockers were picked second in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll. Rice was tabbed as preseason favorite, garnering eight first place votes to Wichita State's four. South Florida was picked third and received the final first place vote. Middle blocker Morgan Stout and setter Izzi Strand were both named preseason all-conference.
  • Head coach Chris Lamb is in his 25th season at the helm of the Shockers. Known affectionately as "Lambo," the veteran head coach owns a career record of 513-243, good for a .679 winning percentage and the most wins in the American Athletic Conference.
LOOKING BACK:
  • Wichita State battled to a pair of five-set wins over preseason conference favorites Cal Poly and Omaha sandwiched around a four-set loss to Northern Colorado. The 2-1 record and the tiebreaker against Cal Poly gave Wichita State the Shocker Volleyball Classic title, WSU's first title in their home tournament since the 2016 season.
  • The Shockers claimed two victories despite being out-hit .210-.167 throughout the invitational. Only Morgan Stout (.238) produced a hitting percentage better than .200 over the course of the three matches.
  • Stout and Alyssa Gonzales were tabbed to the Shocker Volleyball Classic All-Tournament Team. Gonzales reached double-digit kills in all three matches, leading the team with 2.64 kills per set.
  • Wichita State took advantage of sloppiness at the service line from their opponents. The three foes combined for 44 service errors in the three matches, compared to just 24 for Wichita State.
  • The Shockers nearly squandered a huge lead in the fifth set of Saturday's win over Omaha. WSU led 7-1 and 12-7 before the Mavericks ripped off a 6-0 run to take a 13-12 lead. Stout restored order with three straight kills to claim the match for Wichita State.
  • The 31 points scored by WSU in the 31-29 third set victory against Omaha are the most in a single frame for Wichita State since September 10, 2022 against Kansas City when the Shockers won by the same score.
  • Setter Izzi Strand showed off her defensive prowess in Saturday's win, racking up a match-high 17 digs to establish a new Wichita State high for the graduate student. Strand's career high is 18 digs from her time at UC San Diego.
WSU-MEMPHIS SERIES:
  • The Shockers hold a 10-4 all-time advantage against the Tigers, including a 9-3 mark in American play.
  • Wichita State has not lost in Memphis in five tries.
  • The series dates back to the 1976 season, just the third season of Wichita State volleyball history. The Shockers took down Memphis 15-12, 15-7 in that first meeting.
  • Wichita State defeated Memphis in five sets last season, 25-14, 22-25, 27-25, 19-25, 15-11. Morgan Stout had a career-high 17 kills in the win as WSU overcame a 10-8 deficit in the fifth set, scoring seven of the final eight points.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS:
  • Memphis heads into conference play with a 6-6 record following a 1-2 showing at the Sun Devil Volleyball Classic last week at Arizona State.
  • The Tigers went 2-1 at a pair of home tournaments at the Larry O. Finch Center and 1-2 in two tournaments away from Memphis.
  • Memphis went 11-20 (7-12) last season but finished the year on a three-match winning streak, capped off by a road sweep against North Texas.
  • The Tigers were picked ninth in the 2024 American Athletic Conference preseason poll.
  • Memphis is one of the conference's most lethal squads from the service line, where the Tigers rank 51st nationally with 79 aces. Setter Jordan Heatherly leads the conference with 21 aces.
  • Heatherly orchestrates the Tigers 5-1 offense to the tune of 9.10 assists per set. Sophomore Hannah Jones is the top attacking option with 3.13 kills per set; Jones racked up 20 kills in the Tigers win against Montana State.
  • Head coach Sean Burdette is in his seventh season with Memphis after previous stops at Bradley and Green Bay. Burdette's career record stands at 164-228, including a 81-97 mark at Memphis.
WSU-TEMPLE SERIES:
  • The Shockers and Owls have met 10 times in program history, all since Wichita State joined the American Athletic Conference in 2017. WSU leads the all-time series 8-2 after winning the lone meeting between the two teams in 2023.
  • Wichita State dominated the Owls at Charles Koch Arena, rolling to a 25-11, 25-13, 25-18 victory. Temple hit just .096 for the match and Sophia Rohling poured in 15 kills at a .522 clip to pace the Shocker attack.
  • The Owls were the first-ever opponent for the Shockers in The American, putting up arguably the stiffest test for any conference opponent that season as WSU went undefeated in the AAC at 17-0. Temple pushed two different sets into extra points, but Mikaela Raudsepp's career-high 23 kills proved to be the difference in a four-set WSU victory.
SCOUTING THE OWLS:
  • The Owls bring a 6-6 record into AAC action, bouncing back from a five-match losing streak with wins in three of their final four non-conference matches.
  • Temple played a challenging slate that included power conference opponents South Carolina, North Carolina, Penn State and Texas A&M.
  • Outside hitter Taylor Davenport is one of the conference's busiest players, averaging nearly 12 attacks per set and 4.52 kills per set. The graduate student leads the conference in total points (212.5) and points per set (5.06).
  • Freshman outside hitter Sydney Jones tops the AAC in aces per set (0.55) and had a match against Presbyterian with 22 kills, 13 digs and five aces.
  • Head coach Linda Hampton-Keith is in her third season in Philadelphia, owning a 33-41 record with the Cherry and White. Hampton-Keith arrived in Philly after a successful stint as an assistant coach at Louisville, where she helped the Cardinals reach the 2021 NCAA Final Four. She also has previous head coaching experience at North Carolina State, with an overall career record of 100-97 over seven combined seasons.
UP NEXT:
  • The Shockers go on the road to UAB on Friday, October 4 before a home match against preseason conference favorite Rice on October 6.
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