Volleyball | 8/6/2025 4:16:00 PM
By
Paul Suellentrop
Gabi Maas is done with the regrets, past the countdown and ready to wear a Wichita State uniform and play volleyball.
A knee injury sidelined her in 2024. She last played on Dec. 12, 2023, when the Shockers defeated UTEP to win the National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
On Monday, the Shockers started two-a-day practices with Maas, who started at libero in 2023, a full participant.
"This has been a long time in the making," she said. "I did the math the other day. It's been a little over 600 days since my last collegiate match."
The Shockers open the season on Aug. 29 against Kennesaw State in the Shocker Volleyball Classic. Last season, they won the American Conference Championship and returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
Maas, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee in the spring of 2024, worked through her first serious injury by helping her teammates, rehabbing and staying positive.
"She had such an impact," senior libero
Katie Galligan said. "She's got a very high volleyball I.Q., which I don't think you get out of every person you meet. She is very good about just getting to the point with stuff. If there is a tough conversation to be had, she's the girl we can go to."
Coach
Chris Lamb compares Maas to a cornerback who can cover receivers without help and take away portions of the field from an offense. Her defensive platform allows her deal with serves and attacks and pass accurately.
"Gabi is one of those liberos you put on an island and say, 'Make balls go here and trust they will handle it,'" Lamb said. "She can handle the heat. She has the brains for the slow moving stuff that you go get. Driven balls come to her, and she can take the energy out of it and direct it."
The mental grind of sitting out in 2024 bothered Maas the most. In 2023, she played in all 34 matches and averaged a team-best 3.88 digs a set. After that contribution, she feared she let teammates down. When the Shockers lost, the regret hit especially hard.
"I felt a lot of guilt," she said. "Mentally, not being there for my team. It was really, really challenging to have to watch."
Like most athletes rehabbing from injury, she put her energies into helping as much as possible. Coaches and athletic trainers kept her rehab on track and reminded her she could help teammates with her experience. After practices, she watched video from 2023 to remind her how well she played.
"Giving that knowledge to my other teammates was the way I could contribute," she said. "I learned to do other things for the team."
Maas started volleyball again early in 2025 and played in all of WSU's spring scrimmages. Over the summer, she said, she reached a good comfort level with the recovery and black knee brace she wears.
"I knew I was resilient, but this was a different type of a grind," she said. "I watched a lot of volleyball. I would go home and watch old practice tapes, just trying to give myself some feel of like 'Oh, you used to be good." That motivated me."
WSU's back row should again be a strength with the return of Maas, Galligan, who led WSU with an average of 2.98 digs a set last season, and sophomore
Grace Hett, who played in 27 matches. Galligan won the libero job for the season's final 10 matches and averaged 4.97 digs. Freshman
Addisson Gardner is the new addition.
"Us littles get along so well," Maas said. "It's 100-percent trust."
The back row relies on communication, experience and forceful voices to orchestrate the running, diving and digging. The Shockers are off to a good start this summer, in Maas' view from the court.
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.
