Redshirt freshman outside hitter Alyssa Gonzales’ team high 12 kills and .357 hitting percentage helped Wichita State volleyball eke out a comeback win over California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in the first game of the Shocker Volleyball Classic and the Shockers’ season home opener.
The Shockers, now 4-6 on the season, went five sets on Thursday night against the Mustangs (25-22), (20-25), (19-25), (25-21), (15-9). The Shockers avoided a four-game losing streak, which would have been the team’s longest since 2021. Cal Poly’s record dropped to 5-4 overall.
“I told (fifth-year setter) Izzi (Strand), ‘turn me up,’” Gonzales said. “I was literally like, ‘Izzi, I got this. I’m going to get kills, I’m here to swing and we’re going to go out swinging.’”
The game was tied 3-3 in the early goings of set one when Cal Poly ripped off a 5-0 run to take the lead. Wichita State stayed resilient and answered with a 4-0 run that was capped off with a service ace by junior outside hitter Emerson Wilford.
The teams tied for the lead two more times before the Shockers opened up a 21-17 advantage that proved too much for Cal Poly to overcome. Gonzales made a kill to put the nail in the coffin for set one.
Wichita State held on to a 1-point lead for most of the second set, eventually taking a 3-point, 14-11 lead. The Mustangs made a 4-0 run to take the lead back and eventually won the set.
Cal Poly went up by four in set three, cruising to a 5-1 lead after the Shockers hit -0.375 to open the period. A kill by Strand provided a spark for Wichita State’s offense and junior outside hitter Brooklyn Leggett, who made two kills in a row, cut the Mustang lead to 13-12.
Later in the set, Cal Poly would have taken a 20-17 lead, but a challenge by Wichita State head coach Chris Lamb went in favor of the home team. That turned into a 3-point swing as the Shockers tied the set at 19 right after. However, The Mustangs closed out the set scoring six unanswered points.
Wichita State opened up the fourth set with a 3-0 run with the help of a block assist by fifth year middle blocker Sarah Barham, who finished the game with 10 blocks, but Cal Poly answered with a 3-0 run of its own to tie up the set.
Later in the set, kills by Barham and Leggett as well as service aces by Wilford and senior middle blocker Morgan Stout helped the Shockers take a narrow 16-15 advantage.
A 4-0 run aided by another Barham kill and two service aces by sophomore libero Reagan Anderson helped open up a 21-17 lead for Wichita State. The fight was not out of the Mustangs, who stampeded back with a 3-0 run of their own, 21-20, but a 4-1 run closed out the set for Wichita State.
In the final set of the game, the Shockers went on a 5-0 run to take an 8-3 advantage, which would eventually become a 9-4 lead after a Stout kill. Wichita State’s lead eventually grew to 12-6 and the Shockers never looked back, closing the game.
Behind Gonzales in kills, Wilford made 10 and Stout made nine. Strand led the team in assists with 36 and had her second double-double on the season with 10 digs. Barham made a team-high 10 blocks. Wichita State’s 18 team blocks set a new season-high.
Cal Poly hit .176 as a team, the third lowest mark for a Wichita State opponent this season. The Shockers hit .172 collectively, aided by .357 and .308 showings in sets four and five, respectively.
Despite the team’s poor attacking efficiency thus far this season, Stout said the Shockers were “dialed in” against Cal Poly.
“It was probably a confidence issue, I don’t know,” Stout said. “But it was just the fact … we could lean on each other during that (fourth) set and actually battle through it with some grit.”
After the game, Lamb said it was nice to get a win against an opponent like Cal Poly.
“We played a lot of teams like (Cal Poly) and didn’t come out on the winning side,” Lamb said. “So (it was) nice to get one.”
Wichita State volleyball will play its second game of the Shocker Volleyball Classic against the University of Northern Colorado on Friday evening. The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
