Ahead of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Tournament, fifth-year setter Izzi Strand said each player on the Wichita State volleyball team wrote three things on a piece of paper that “pissed us off, or disappointed us, or anything that was negative.” They then proceeded to burn away their frustrations.
“It got us to release anything pent up and move on from what our (regular) was,” Strand said. “We needed to really just move on and let it go and focus on what was in front of us — and that’s exactly what we did.”
The tactic paid off, as the fourth-seeded Shockers swept the top-seeded University of South Florida (USF) on Saturday afternoon (25-21), (26-24), (25-22).
Wichita State avenged a loss to the Bulls in four sets earlier this season on Oct. 11. The Shockers moved on to the AAC Championship game, with an NCAA Tournament bid on the line.
Wichita State head coach Chris Lamb said the win was amazing, especially without any rest or practice time for the team.
“We had a good game plan, with no time to practice it,” Lamb said. “And we executed it.”
One game after holding the University of Tulsa to the lowest hitting percentage of any opponent Wichita State has played this year, the Shockers replicated the defensive showcase against the Bulls. USF hit just .112 in the loss, the second-best performance for the WSU defense on the season.
Strand led the team with 13 digs and junior libero Katie Galligan added 10.
On the offensive end, senior middle blocker Morgan Stout led the Shockers with 11 kills on a .276 percentage, her 11th consecutive game with double-digit kills.
The teams traded scoring runs to kick off the first set. Wichita State eventually took a 4-point advantage, 14-10, with the help of Stout’s fifth kill of the opening frame, capping off a 5-0 run by the Shockers. Wichita State went on another 5-0 run to open up an 8-point cushion, 19-11.
While ahead 21-13, the Shockers left the door open for the Bulls, who muscled off a 7-0 run to cut the Wichita State lead to just a point, 21-20. Despite letting USF creep back into the set, the Shockers won it after the Bulls shot themselves in the foot with an attack error.
Wichita State hit .235 in the opening frame and held USF to a measly .073 hitting percentage. Stout racked up five kills during the set while hitting .625 and sophomore middle blocker Maddie Wilson tallied four kills on a .600 hitting percentage.
USF used a 3-0 run in the early goings of the second set to take a 4-point lead, 5-1. The Shockers needed multiple runs of 3-0 and 5-0 to fight their way to a 10-9 lead against the Bulls. Later in the set, USF was called for an attacking error that led to a challenge by the Bulls. What would have been a 19-18 lead for Wichita State was swapped for a 19-18 deficit as USF won the challenge.
On the very next play, redshirt freshman Alyssa Gonzales was called for an attacking error that put the Shockers down 20-18, but a won challenge by Lamb tied the game at 19 with the help of video replay. Lamb won another challenge that allowed the Shockers to reach set point first, 24-23. The Bulls continued to show fight and tied it at 24, but Wichita State won the set scoring the next two points.
Coming out of the gates into the third period, the Shockers went on a 3-0 run and eventually extended their lead to 4 points, 12-8, after a junior outside hitter Emerson Wilford kill forced USF to call timeout. The Bulls benefitted the most from the break as they out-scored the Shockers 11-6 to take a 19-18 lead, forcing Lamb to call a timeout.
Lamb said during the break, he told the team to keep their composure.
“Keep the passing going and somebody get up and rip it,” Lamb said. “I didn’t want anything to change. I expect the conference champions to fight and they’d come back, they push (but) we got to push back — and we did.”
The Shockers fought back and Wilson put Wichita State at set point, 24-22. A Bulls attacking error ended the game.
Wilson said sending the game to set point was exciting and nerve-racking.
“Because (it’s a), you know, ‘What’s going to happen next’ type of thing,” Wilson said. “… We were wanting this win for so long, so to take them (USF) down felt great.”
Wichita State will compete in the AAC Championship on Sunday, Nov. 23, against the sixth-seeded Florida Atlantic University (FAU). FAU knocked off the second-seeded Rice University in a reverse sweep earlier on Saturday. When the teams played in October, WSU knocked off the Owls in a reverse sweep of their own.
Wilson said to prepare for a game like one against FAU, the team will have to get into the right state of mind and come ready to compete.
“Making sure we’re well rested, just taking care of ourselves,” Wilson said. “And then coming in and just being this big supportive teammate, regardless if you get to play or not, I think has also been a big thing for us, too. So just being a good teammate through and through (will help bring success).”
The first serve against FAU will be at noon in Charles Koch Arena.
