With no more home games at Koch Arena, the Shocker volleyball team, No. 2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, brought their skills to Indiana State on Friday and Illinois State on Saturday for back-to-back road games.

While Wichita State dominated Indiana State’s Sycamores, finishing the match in just three sets on Friday. Illinois State’s Redbirds wouldn’t go down so easily, maintaining their undefeated title in conference play by beating the Shockers 3-0 on Saturday.

Friday

Energy was high Friday night as the Shockers defeated Indiana State in three sets with the help of a stellar performance by MaryAshton Floyd. She finished the match with a career-high 21 kills and 13 digs.

In the first set, the two teams remained close until a kill by Ashlyn Driskill, who had 14 kills throughout the match, pushed the team to 12-6.

Wichita State clenched the win at 25-10, hitting .395 and siding out at 61 percent.

The second set was a close one, as well, with the Sycamores refusing to give up and always trailing slightly behind.

While the teams traded points for a bit, a kill by Katie Reilly pushed the Shockers ahead to 9-6.

After a 4-0 streak by the Sycamores, Indiana State snagged the lead 10-9. The Shockers fired back with three kills to get ahead by two points.

Floyd and Emily Hiebert brought WSU up to 18-13 right before the Sycamores used another streak to get dangerously close to the Shockers’ lead.

Another kill by Hiebert, who had 42 assists throughout the match, and a kill by Floyd finished the match at 25-22.

The Sycamores came into the third set with determination, staying ahead of the Shockers for most of the set.

At one point, Indiana State was ahead of the Shockers as much as 11-5 until WSU slowly chipped away at their lead.

WSU wasn’t able to tie the Sycamores until the 17-17 mark, but then was finally able to take the lead at the 23-22 mark.

A service ace by Dani Mostrom finished the set at 25-22.

Saturday

While WSU came off their win Friday, they weren’t able to make it one against the Redbirds Saturday.

Despite the Shockers gaining an early lead at 3-0, Illinois State retaliated with a five-point streak to make it 5-3, Redbirds.

WSU tied it at 5-5, but Illinois State took control of the set, finishing at 25-15.

The Shockers showed more fight in the second set after the Redbirds took a 10-6 lead, but WSU was able to pull within 13-11 after a kill from Whitledge.

Using back-to-back kills, Illinois State extended their lead to 15-11, but a kill from Floyd and two from Whitledge let the Shockers trail only one point behind at 15-14.

Coming off of a Redbird hitting error and two straight kills from Floyd, WSU finally had the lead at 21-19.

The Shockers were close, reaching set point at 24-22 by another kill from Floyd, but Illinois State answered with another three-point hitting streak, taking a 25-24 lead.

While Floyd tied it at 25-25, the Redbirds finished the set just two points ahead of the Shockers for a 27-25 win.

After a kill from Driskill in the third set, the Shockers were up 9-6, but the Redbirds rallied, taking the 11-10 lead.

A kill from Reilly put the Shockers up 14-12, but once again, Illinois State answered, taking the lead at 16-15.

Although Abbie Lehman tied the set at 19, the Redbirds used a 6-2 run to end the set and match at 25-21.

With the conclusion of this match, the Shockers will now be the No. 3 seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament facing No. 6 Indiana State at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Cedar Falls, Iowa.