Shockers volleyball clenches two wins in Missouri Valley play

Wichita State’s volleyball team advanced to 11-5 on the season and 2-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference after defeating Indiana State and Illinois State this weekend.

The Shockers dropped the first set with seven attacking errors Friday night against Indiana State but bounced back to take the next three with scores of 22-25, 25-23, 25-18 and 25-22.

“We keep saying we’ve got to get used to people pushing and learn how to push back,” head coach Chris Lamb said. “We are a point-scoring volleyball team. I’m not surprised that we turned that thing around.”

The second set came with seven lead changes and 13 ties before the Shockers came out on top and rallied through the rest of the match against one of their toughest competitors.

“Our crowd was awesome tonight,” sophomore Abbie Lehman said. “We all had a good attitude about it the next set and came together as a team really well.”

Lehman led WSU with 14 kills while sophomore Emily Hiebert had two service aces and a match-high 46 assists.

“On the court she (Hiebert) has set me since my junior year of high school and in club,” Lehman said. “It’s made the transition much smoother.”

Saturday night, the Shockers dropped the first set to Illinois State, then defeated the Redbirds 3-1 by close scores of 25-27, 25-23, 25-23 and 25-22.

Senior Katie Reilly led the match with 17 kills and eight block assists, Lehman with a hitting percentage of .485 and libero Dani Mostrom with 20 digs.

Mikaela Raudsepp was also an impact player throughout the match, responsible for the final point of the last set, ending the night with a kill.

The team is now ranked No. 2 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Shocker’s next match-up is at 7 p.m. Friday at home against Missouri State.