WICHITA STATE (0-0, 0-0 American)
Friday, August 29 (7:00 p.m. CT) vs. Kennesaw State (0-0, 0-0 CUSA)
Wichita, Kan. (Charles Koch Arena)
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Saturday, August 30 (1:00 p.m. CT) Arkansas (0-0, 0-0 SEC)Â vs. Kennesaw State (0-0, 0-0 CUSA)
Wichita, Kan. (Charles Koch Arena)
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Sunday, August 31 (1:00 p.m. CT) vs. Arkansas (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
Wichita, Kan. (Charles Koch Arena)
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Wichita State opens the 2025 season with the Shocker Volleyball Classic, welcoming Kennesaw State and Arkansas to Charles Koch Arena, Aug. 29-31.
All Shocker matches will be streamed live on ESPN Plus. Live stats for all matches can be found at shockerstats.livestats.us.
SCENE SETTERS
• Wichita State opens their 50th season as an NCAA volleyball program by hosting the Shocker Volleyball Classic in Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers will host Kennesaw State on Friday and then on Sunday host Arkansas, a team receiving votes in the initial AVCA top 25 poll.
• The Shockers are coming off an 18-14 season in 2024 that culminated in a dominant run to the American Conference Tournament championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.Â
• The Shockers appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time overall and the first since 2017.
• The Shockers were picked third in the American Conference preseason poll. Rice was tabbed as the conference's preseason favorite, garnering nine first place votes to South Florida's four.
Brooklyn Leggett was named preseason all-conference.
• The Shockers are opening up the season at home for the first time since 2007.
• Head coach
Chris Lamb enters his 26th season at the helm of the Shockers. Known affectionately as "Lambo," the veteran head coach owns a career record of 526-250, good for a .678 winning percentage and the most wins in the American Conference.
• The 2025 version is the 16th iteration of the Shocker Volleyball Classic, which began in 2004. WSU seeks their first undefeated home tournament since 2009, when the Shockers bested North Carolina, Grambling State and Oklahoma.
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WEEKEND PROMOS
• Friday is National College Colors Day and the Banner Drop. Rep the Yellow and the Black as the first 300 fans receive a "Long Wave the Yellow and the Black" T-shirt. Arrive early as the 2024 NCAA Tournament banner is unveiled. Sunday is the Replica Ring giveaway. All season ticket holders receive one replica ring per account and 150 rings are available to purchase for $10 a ring. The team will also be signing postgame autographs.
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SEASON & HOME OPENERS
• Wichita State is 26-21-2 in season openers overall and 17-8 in season openers under head coach
Chris Lamb. In home openers, the Shockers are 30-18-1 overall and 19-6 under Lamb.
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THREE STARTERS RETURNÂ
• Wichita State returns three starters and the libero from the 2024 team including senior outside hitters
Brooklyn Leggett and
Emerson Wilford, junior middle blocker
Maddie Wilson and senior libero
Katie Galligan.Â
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FRESHMAN TAKEOVER
• Wichita State is one of four teams in the country with at least 10 freshmen on the roster. The Shockers join St. Mary's, Pacific and Holy Cross as they all have 10.
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WSU-KENNESAW STATE SERIES
• The Shockers and Owls have two previous meetings, with Wichita State winning both matches last season in the all-time series. The Shockers won 3-1 and 3-2 on the opening weekend of the 2024 season in Kennesaw, Ga.
In the first match,
Emerson Wilford led the Shockers with 15 kills, while
Izzi Strand had 42 assists and
Annalie Heliste added 14 digs. The Shockers hit .436 as a team in the four-set win.
In the second match, the Shockers needed a reverse sweep to come out with the win.
Morgan Stout led WSU with 16 kills, while Strand had 40 assists and Heliste added 18 digs.
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WSU-KENNESAW STATE MATCH-BY-MATCH
Date    Location  Results  Set Scores
8/31/2024    Kennesaw, Ga.  W, 3-2  20-25, 24-26, 25-17, 25-17, 15-12
8/30/2024     Kennesaw, Ga.  W, 3-1  21-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-19
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SCOUTING THE OWLS
• Kennesaw State went 14-17 in 2024 and fell in the ASUN tournament semifinal to close out the season. The Owls finished 10-8 in the regular season and finished fourth.
• The Owls top returners are outside hitter Manu Johnsen who earned first team all-conference honors in 2024 and averaged 3.79 kills per set and 4.33 points per set and middle blocker Olivia Burrage who averaged 2.16 kills per set, 0.91 blocks per set and hit .368.
• Head coach Keith Schunzel is in his 13th season and has a career record of 208-127, all at Kennesaw State.
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WSU-ARKANSAS SERIESÂ Â
• The Shockers lead the overall series with Arkansas 4-3. The series in Wichita is tied 1-1 with a Shocker win in 2004 and a Razorback win in 1999. The teams last met a season ago in Fayetteville, Ark., a 3-0 Razorback win.
• In the match last season,
Morgan Stout led the Shockers with 12 kills and hit .407, while
Izzi Strand had 28 assists and
Annalie Heliste had 11 digs.
• Before the meeting last season, the two teams had not met since the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2012 in Lawrence, Kan. The Shockers fell behind 0-2 in that match before rallying for a 3-2 win. Ashley Andrade led the Shockers with 23 kills, while hitting .564. Elizabeth Field added 14 kills, while Chelsey Feekin had 54 assists and 16 digs. WSU went on to defeat Kansas 3-1 the following day to advance to the Sweet 16.
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WSU-ARKANSAS MATCH-BY-MATCH
Date    Location  Results  Set Scores
9/6/2024    Fayetteville, Ark.  L, 0-3  19-25, 18-25, 18-25Â
11/30/2012  #  Lawrence, Kan.  W, 3-2  16-25, 25-27, 25-17, 25-23, 15-10
9/11/2004     Wichita  W, 3-0  30-26, 30-23, 30-18
9/21/2003    Fayetteville, Ark.  L, 1-3  29-31, 30-27, 15-30, 27-30
9/1/1999    Wichita  L, 1-3  17-15, 8-15, 11-15, 2-15
10/29/1977  #  Tulsa, Okla.  W, 2-0  15-1, 15-12
10/8/1976  #  Stillwater, Okla.  W, 2-0  15-7, 15-7
# - neutral site
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SCOUTING THE RAZORBACKSÂ Â
• Arkansas finished 16-12 overall in 2024 and 6-10 in the SEC to finish 11th. The Razorbacks return four starters.
• Top returners for the Razorbacks include opposite Romani Thurman who averaged 3.09 kills per tset and hit .245, while outside hitter Jada Lawson averaged 2.57 kills per set and hit .149.
• Jason Watson is in his 10th season at Arkansas and has a career record of 349-262 overall and 149-114 at Arkansas.
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2024 IN REVIEW
• The Shockers are coming off an 18-14 record in 2024 where they swept three-straight matches in the American Championship to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
Middle blocker
Morgan Stout and setter
Izzi Strand both earned first team all-conference honors.
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UP NEXT
• The Shockers travel to Provo, Utah for the BYU Nike Invitational, Sept. 5-6. WSU plays Incarnate Word and host BYU on Sept. 5 and closes the tournament on Sept. 6 with Northern Colorado.Â
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