Volleyball | 10/24/2025 10:43:00 PM
By
Paul Suellentrop
Wichita State coach
Chris Lamb loved the week of practice and saw every sign – including a 3-2 loss to conference co-leader Rice – moving the Shockers in the right direction.
"That gym was alive," he said. "Very competitive. You would have thought it was August. We had some kids trending up."
Then Tulane mucked things up and frustrated the Shockers on Friday at Koch Arena. Wichita State won 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20) but didn't play as practices indicated. A second set in which the Shockers committed 11 attack errors highlighted the difficulties.
Brooklyn Leggett's season-high 20 kills carried the attack, with a late assist from middle
Maddie Wilson. A switch to the 5-1 for the third set seemed to inject life into the offense, but Lamb wasn't sure why or how it helped.
"Frustrating," Lamb said. "It was one of those grinder matches. Let's just hope we can put this one behind us."
The Shockers (14-7, 6-3 American) face a critical match on Sunday against North Texas (16-5, 6-3), which defeated Tulsa 3-1 on Friday. Eight teams make the American Conference Championship. Five teams with three or four losses are fighting for seeding behind leaders Rice and USF and Tulsa, now in third.
Wichita State, which defeated the Green Wave (9-11, 1-8) for the fifth straight time, turned the match by hitting .282 in the third set after going to the 5-1 with setter
Jordan Heatherly. Leggett, who finished with a season-high 20 kills from the right, recorded seven in the third set.
"I don't know what difference (the 5-1) really made," Heatherly said. "I just think it was giving (Tulane) a different look. We did have our backs up against the wall after the second set. Maybe it sparked something."
Leggett, who hit .474 with two errors on 38 swings, hit better than .400 for the fourth time in conference play and the sixth time this season. Tulane threw multiple blockers at left
Sydney Dunning, who leads the Shockers in kills and attempts, and forced her into nine errors.
"They obviously had a good gameplan for Sydney," Lamb said. "Brooklyn was terrific. Game ball for Brooklyn."
Leggett and Heatherly used the openings created by the attention to Dunning. Leggett used back-row attacks to vary her game and finished off the match by scoring down the line untouched.
"I think it's helpful when we're in the front row together, because it adds some pressure to those blockers," Leggett said. "Everyone behind me was giving me good ideas on where to score. There were some big blocks in front of me, so I had to figures out different ways to score."
Wilson added punch to the offense with three kills of her eight kills in the fourth set. The Shockers trailed 18-17 when she went to the service line. Her ace gave WSU a 21-18 lead and it led 23-19 when she finished serving.
"Maddie has a certain fire that can't be put out when she's in that mode," Heatherly said. "Our serve-receive did a great job of putting me on the net. Maddie had some openings, and she really took advantage."
Paul Suellentrop writes about Wichita State athletics for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
Season tickets are on sale now, and season ticket renewals are available as well. To purchase, visit
GoShockers.com/Tickets, dial 316-978-FANS (3267) or stop by the Shocker Ticket Office, located inside Charles Koch Arena, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
