Wichita State Athletics

WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State volleyball dropped a four-set decision to South Florida, 3-1, Sunday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena.
 
The Shockers fell 21-25, 25-18, 24-26, 23-25, moving to 4-10 overall and 1-1 in American Conference play. South Florida improved to 2-10 overall and 1-1 in league action.
 
South Florida's pins accounted for 38 of their 63 kills as Addy Brus recorded a match-high 20 kills, and Paula Tomasa logged 18 for the Bulls. Maddie Wilson led the Shockers with 12 kills on 21 swings, hitting.476, and McKenzie Jones and Janaya Weitkemper added 12 and 10 kills, respectively, a career high for Weitkemper.
 
South Florida built a six-point cushion after a 5-0 run in the first set and extended its lead to nine at 20-11. The Shockers made a run to cut the deficit to five before the Bulls closed out set one 25-21.
 
Wichita State bounced back in set two, taking an early 10-5 lead. The Shockers maintained the advantage through the set and tied the match at 1-1 with a set point kill from Jones.
 
Set three was a back-and-forth battle. The Shockers capitalized on South Florida errors to take a four-point lead at 15-11, but the Bulls used a 4-0 run to pull ahead. It was a one-point game the rest of the way as the teams traded leads. The Shockers held a 23-22 advantage before South Florida rallied to force extra points. USF's Tomasa ultimately put one away to take a 26-24 set three win and go up 2-1 in the match.
 
In the fourth set, the teams again traded points as the set saw 10 ties and four lead changes. Similar to set three, Wichita State grabbed a 21-20 lead, but a Shocker error and two kills from South Florida's Laila Ivey gave the Bulls match point. The Shockers fought off one match point before the Bulls sealed the win with a Brus kill.
 
Shocker setters Addie Oeth and Jordan Heatherly directed the Wichita State offense with 22 assists each, while Gabi Maas led the defensive effort with 23 digs, and Heatherly's 11 digs gave her her third double-double of the season.
 
Wichita State finished with 50 kills, 47 assists and 78 digs, while recording 12.0 team blocks. South Florida totaled 63 kills, 62 assists, 79 digs and nine blocks.
 
The Shockers return to action against Tulsa on Friday, Oct. 2 at 6 p.m. in Charles Koch Arena.