Wichita State’s chances of defeating the eighth best team in the country were slim. At least that’s what people thought until the unranked Shockers took the match 3-1.

“The fact that I think we held our own…that was gigantic for us tonight,” head coach Chris Lamb said. 

The Shockers took the first set 25-20 but then fell in the second. WSU redeemed themselves in the third match winning 25-19 despite the six lead changes.

The final set was neck and neck the entire time, until the final few plays where Creighton couldn’t seem to answer to the countless kills from the Shockers.

“We outscored a team with more firepower than us. I thought that was kind of amazing,” Lamb said. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

Senior Mikaela Raudsepp said the win all came down to believing in her teammates and believing in the coaches’ ability to coach.

Despite playing the No. 8 ranked team, Raudsepp pushed that aside and focused on the game itself.

“The game of volleyball should be played against the game of volleyball regardless of who’s on the other side of the net,” Raudsepp said. “They may be stronger, hit harder, jump higher, they’re faster…it doesn’t matter.”

“It’s volleyball. If you simply down to that and then execute a scouting report…that’s it.”

Junior Tabitha Brown had 17 kills, leading the box score for not only the Shockers, but Creighton as well. Tabitha’s pressure at the net caused discomfort with Creighton, which led her to having the game-winning kill.

Her brother, WSU men’s basketball player Zach Brown, could not stay seated for the entire last set of the game. He was able to see his sister win the game and cause the upset.

“[Seeing Tabitha get the game winning kill] feels good. I’m proud of her,” Zach said. “It’s not every day you get to see your sister playing volleyball at your own school, so I’m happy.”

A brand new playing environment seemed to be a source of energy for the Shockers. The volleyball team was the first team to experience the new lights and re-surfaced courts.

“We’re really grateful that [the new additions] happened this year. This is a really special season for us,”Tabitha said. “We were already hyped up [for this game] so being able to go out there and have the lights turned off and have all these spot lights on us was a nice little add on to the game for sure.”

With a packed house on the lower level, the high attendance for the game also served as an energy booster for the team.

“We’re really glad that they were all here and cheering really loud,” Tabitha said. “Tonight was really the night they had to do that and they did. We’re really grateful for it.”

The Shockers face No. 19 Iowa State on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at Charles Koch Arena.