Shocker Volleyball drops two straight at the Nike Classic

The No. 23 Shocker Volleyball team finished 1-2 over the weekend at the Nike Classic in Eugene, Oregon.

The Shockers swept Duquesne before falling to No. 14 Oregon and dropping a five-set stunner to Cal Poly. The Shockers now sit at 7-2 on the season.

Senior Emily Hiebert collected 103 assists over the weekend, including a season-high 53 in the five-set loss to Cal Poly, putting her at over 4,000 career assists.

Hiebert is only the fourth player in Shocker history to reach the 4,000 milestone. Mary Elizabeth Hooper, a 2011 alumnus, holds the Wichita State record with 4,820 career assists.

The Shockers started off strong on Friday, tallying their seventh straight victory of the season with a sweep of Duquesne in their opening match. The Shockers, led by Tabitha Brown’s 11 kills and Abbie Lehman’s 10, won by scores of 25-16, 25-15, and 25-11.

The Shockers picked up 44 kills to Duquesne’s 29, committing just nine errors to Duquesne’s 27.

Later in the day, the Shockers suffered their first loss of the season to the No. 14 Oregon Ducks. The Ducks swept the Shockers by scores of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-12.

Oregon picked up 47 kills to Wichita State’s 27, and committed just eight errors to Wichita State’s 21. 

The Shockers held a two-set lead over Cal Poly in the final game of the weekend on Saturday, before giving up three straight to drop the match. The Mustangs came from behind to win by scores of 23-25, 21-25, 28-26, 25-16, and 15-9.

The Mustangs edged the Shockers in total kills, 87-63.

Brown picked up 23 kills in the match, one short of her season-high. The junior from Spring, Texas put away 41 total kills over the weekend, bringing her season-total to 132 over nine matches.

Wichita State is set to host the Shocker Volleyball Classic at Charles Koch Arena beginning Friday. The Shockers will face Creighton on Friday before taking on Iowa State on Sunday.