While there were many fans inside Charles Koch Arena on Friday night to support the volleyball team in their home opener against Illinois State, there is no doubt many of them left disappointed.

The Shockers, who were ranked No. 1 in the preseason, fell apart against Illinois State, losing 0-3. The team was able to turn it around, though, the next day against Indiana State, winning 3-0.

Friday

Despite the scores being close in all three of the games against Illinois State, 21-25, 22-25 and 19-25 respectively, it seemed the Shockers could never get in-sync, even when they occasionally pulled ahead of the Redbirds.

Katie Reilly led the team in kills, but as a team, the women only hit .066, compared to the Redbirds’ .203.

“I think that’s the worst hitting percentage the Shockers have ever had,” head coach Chris Lamb said. “The team I saw tonight isn’t the team I coach every day in practice.”

While Reilly was hitting .381, the women seemed to battle themselves more than the Redbirds, struggling to put roll shots over the net.

Emily Schneider and Jaelyn Keene of Illinois State had impressive killing percentages, .350 and .500, making it even more difficult for the Shockers to rally, but Dani Mostrom kept the back row together, leading the team with 20 digs.

The second set against Illinois State was the team’s best, with Wichita State taking an early lead in the game and again when they were 20-17, but the Redbirds managed to put a streak together, snagging the win.

“Going into the third set 2-0, rather than 1-1, made it a lot easier to play our game,” said Melissa Myers, head coach of Illinois State. “Wichita State is a good team. We just got them out of sync.”

The Shockers did tie it up in the third set, 13-13, but it wasn’t enough to get the win.

“It doesn’t matter that we’re young,” Reilly said after the match. “We’re D1 athletes, and this was nowhere near our first game. We’re never going to lose here again.”

Saturday

So far, Reilly has kept her promise, contributing to the Shockers’ 3-0 win over Indiana State’s Sycamores.

The Shockers demolished Indiana State to a crowd of nearly 3,500 in Koch Arena, playing a completely different game with a team hitting average of .257 and 45 kills.

In the first set, the audience could already see a different team than the one they saw Friday night. The Shockers started with a lead of 9-4 and even got up to 20-12. The Sycamores did sneak up a little bit, though, as WSU finally finished the first set 25-19.

The second set was an annihilation as WSU silenced Indiana State with a score of 25-16, and the third set would have had a similar score if the Shockers hadn’t given up five straight points when they were ahead 24-15.

The Shockers finished the third set 25-20 after MaryAshton Floyd came off the bench to lead the team with five kills.

Emily Hiebert also stood out, proving to be multitalented throughout the sets, having four kills and 34 assists.

“We were super fired up for the game,” Floyd said. “We decided last night that we were never losing on our home court again this season. That was kind of the consensus.”

The Shockers’ next game will be on the road Friday at Bradley.