The No. 5-seeded Wichita State volleyball team set its sights on No. 1-seeded Rice Saturday morning in the American Conference Championship semifinals.
Rice came in on a blazing 16-game win streak dating back to Sept. 26 with a 15-1 conference record, only dropping its conference opener to Temple. Out of Rice’s 16 conference matchups, the Shockers were one of five teams that weren’t swept by the Owls in the teams’ first meeting on Oct. 19.
Wichita State’s shot at becoming repeat conference champions ended in another five-set thriller against the conference’s top-dog, 3-2, sending Rice to the American Conference Championship final Sunday at noon.
The Shockers will look to sneak into the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid or receive an invitation to the National Invitational Volleyball Championship with the loss.
For every Owl punch came a Wichita State counterpunch in the first set, but Rice still took a one-point advantage by virtue of scoring first. The Shocker defense provided an adequate challenge for Rice in the frame, as they played well at the net and the back line until crunch time.
Wichita State finished the game with 13 total blocks to Rice’s 14.
Fighting to a tie at 15, Rice made a 6-2 run focusing on the air attack. The Shockers struggled late on the return side, either making bad passes or not getting there at all as the Owls broke through. Redshirt senior right-side Brooklyn Leggett committed an error to give Rice the set, 25-19.
Junior outside Sydney Dunning and Leggett struggled in set one, with hitting percentages of .154 and .091, respectively. As a unit, WSU hit .174 in the set.
The Shockers focused more on their offensive attack in set two, handing the Owls awkward returns.
Scoring turned into a repeat of set one, but with Wichita State taking the first point and the lead. The Shockers later made an 8-2 run, as they looked leaps and bounds ahead of Rice and its defensive sloppiness, 12-6.
Three of those points in that run came off attack errors, and another came off a block. At the 12-6-mark, Rice hit -.080 and was forced to take its second timeout of the frame.
Rice’s offense looked more composed out of it, but ultimately it was not enough as WSU took set two, 25-16.
Set three brought both teams back to game speed as they stayed in gridlock. After the Shockers took four of the first six points, Rice made a 4-0 run to make the game 6-4.
Wichita State responded with a 3-0 run, which was answered with another 3-0 run by the Owls. Still, the Shockers led, 10-9.
Rice rejuvenated itself after manufacturing a 5-1 run, 14-11, but Wichita State fought back the three point deficit to a tie at 21. After a block by Leggett and Paulsen, Leggett ended the third set hitting into Rice’s defense, 25-23.
The Owls took five of the first seven points to start the fourth, then Wichita State went on a 3-0 run to tie it at five. Both teams fought back-and-forth, trading the lead. After the punches and counterpunches, the Shockers made a 4-0 run to take a four-point advantage, 19-15.
Rice took the momentum back with good offense and tied the frame at 22, never letting Wichita State score two consecutive points.
However, Leggett brought the lead back by firing a shot into the block, grazing Rice’s defense for a point. The Owls responded with a kill, which was followed up by a WSU block to force set point, 24-23.
Rice fought back to force a tie at 25 and forced match point two times, but Wichita State continued to pile on the drama. With two blocks to rip match point away from Rice, Leggett smashed a kill to force a tie-breaking fifth set, 30-28.
The Owls started the decider with a 3-0 run, forcing Wichita State coach Chris Lamb to take an instant timeout. After another point by Rice, Leggett jumpstarted a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 4-3.
The gas ran out for the Shockers in the final set, however, as the offense struggled. They were blocked four times by the Owls and erred on four other occasions. Rice made only six kills in the final set to punch its ticket to the American Championship title match.
Box score breakdown
Set wins 1 2 3 4 5
WSU X X
Rice X X X
Scorelines
S1: 25-19 (Rice)
S2: 25-16 (WSU)
S3: 25-23 (Rice)
S4: 30-28 (WSU)
S5: 15-12 (Rice)
Leaders
Kills — WSU: Brooklyn Leggett (21), Sydney Dunning (20), Emerson Wilford (16). Rice: Taylor Preston (27), Aaliyah Smith (14), Lademi Ogunlana (10).
Assists — WSU: Jordan Heatherly (57), Gabi Maas (4). Rice: Kaia Mateo (50), Gaby Mansfield (9).
Digs — WSU: Gabi Maas (34), Sydney Dunning (22), Katie Galligan (16), Jordan Heatherly (15). Rice: Gaby Mansfield (38), Darby Harris (22), Kaia Mateo (20).
Points — WSU: Brooklyn Leggett (25.5), Sydney Dunning (21), Emerson Wilford (18), Allie Paulsen (11.5). Rice: Taylor Preston (29), Aaliyah Smith (15.5), Arissa Smith (14.5).
