Wichita State volleyball extended its season win streak to four games and secured its 12th straight win against the University of Tulsa on Sunday afternoon.
The Shockers got the home win in Charles Koch Arena, 3-1 (25-19), (25-23), (23-25), (25-21). The win came just two days after WSU beat Tulsa in four sets on the road on Friday.
“It allowed me to just be more Shocker-focused yesterday,” Wichita State head coach Chris Lamb said on playing Tulsa two games in a row. “I know who we’re playing. We just played them. I didn’t have to burn the midnight oil on our next opponent.”
With the win, Wichita State improved to 14-10 this season and 9-3 in the American Athletic Conference. Tulsa dropped to 7-5 in the AAC after being tied with WSU before the weekend series. With four games left in the regular season, the Shockers sit in third place, one game back of first in the AAC.
The Shockers out-dug the Golden Hurricane for the second straight game, 77-64. Junior libero Katie Galligan led the way with 27 digs, a career-high that beats her previous career-high set on Friday of 21.
After a back-and-forth start to the first set, Wichita State went on a 7-1 run to take a 14-7 advantage before Tulsa responded with a 5-0 run. A kill by junior outside hitter Brooklyn Leggett led to the Shockers taking a six-point lead and Tulsa taking its first timeout. WSU won the first set on a kill by Leggett.
Lamb called his first timeout of the second set after Tulsa rattled off three unanswered points to take the lead, 18-17. The Shockers came out of the timeout with a 3-0 run of their own, making Tulsa call its first timeout. The set ended on a Golden Hurricane service error. The second set contained nine ties and five lead changes.
The Shockers took an early lead of 5-1 out of the locker room in the third set. Wichita State had a solid advantage for most of the set, but Tulsa took its first lead, 23-20, after a 4-0 run. The run was ended with a kill by sophomore middle blocker Maddie Wilson. Tulsa won the third set on a kill.
In the fourth set, Tulsa went on a 4-0 run, giving them a 12-11 lead. The set was close until Wichita State ended the game with a 3-0 run, closed with two consecutive Tulsa attack errors. During the fourth set, Leggett would get her 22nd kill, a career-high.
“It’s just been a lot of hard work, working on really specific things, every week in practice,” Leggett said. “Lambo always knows exactly what to work on with us — just everyone around me working hard helps me do my best.”
Leggett also led the team in points with 22.5. Fifth-year setter Izzi Strand led the team in assists with 44 and fifth-year middle blocker Sarah Barham led the way in blocks with nine.
The Shockers will next play in a rematch with Rice University on Sunday, Nov. 8. Rice is tied for first place with a 10-2 record in the AAC. The first serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Houston, Texas.
