Wichita State volleyball gave Southern Methodist University (SMU) its best shot in the first set of their NCAA Tournament first-round matchup — but it wasn’t enough. The Mustangs survived a scare in the first set on Thursday evening and cruised the rest of the way for a sweep (28-26), (25-17), (25-14).
The game was played on SMU’s home court in Dallas.
The loss ends the Shockers’ season. Wichita State finished at 18-14 on the year. SMU, a No. 2 seed in the tournament, moved on to a second-round matchup against the University of Missouri, which won earlier on Thursday in a sweep against Texas State University.
SMU finished the game with 11 blocks and the most blocks per set by a Wichita State opponent this year. On the offensive end, the Mustangs ended with a .318 percentage, the third-most against WSU this year and the best mark for a Shocker opponent since September. SMU also had seven service aces.
Wichita State, meanwhile, hit .141, the Shockers’ worst percentage since September.
The first set was as dramatic as any in volleyball. Wichita State came out with a 3-0 lead, but that was the largest the margin of difference between the two teams would get.
With the score tied at 23, SMU recorded a service ace on a bad return from junior outside hitter Emerson Wilford. The next five points featured a back-and-forth where SMU pushed it to set point and the Shockers bounced back to even three separate times.
The run featured two SMU kill attempts that appeared to end the set but went WSU’s way after an official review. After the drama, the Mustangs won the set without having to win a rally, scoring on a service error and ace.
The Mustangs rallied for a much easier set-two win. SMU had a 4-0 run to go up, 13-7, and ran away with the set from there.
The Shockers lost a lot of the energy and confidence they played with in the first set. In the culminating third set, WSU never looked like a threat to win. The Mustangs went on a 5-0 run that featured four consecutive kills from graduate student outside hitter Maya Tabron to lead, 10-4, and never looked back.
The Mustangs hit .133 in the first set but turned it around to hit .446 the rest of the way.
Junior outside hitter Brooklyn Leggett led Wichita State with nine kills but also committed a team-high five errors. Senior middle blocker Morgan Stout had eight kills on a .353 percentage and four block assists in her last game in a Wichita State uniform.
Junior libero Katie Galligan finished with 14 digs, many of which came on tough hits in the first set to save rallies.
SMU graduate student middle blocker Natalie Foster, who transferred to the Mustangs from the Shockers last offseason, tallied four kills and four service errors without an ace.
With the loss, Wichita State’s season, which began slow and peaked with three sweeps in the American Athletic Conference to reach the NCAA Tournament, has ended.
