Wichita State volleyball head coach Chris Lamb began fall practice on Aug. 4 with what’s become known as his “submarine speech.”
In it, Lamb compares the course of a season to working in the depths of the ocean: You don’t have a full idea of where you’re going, but you know the job you have to do.
“I feel like the submarine ride starts for us today,” Lamb said after the Shockers’ first practice. “It goes until our season ends — and there’s no getting out.”
After two strong back-to-back finishes, the expectations are high. Last season, the Shockers won the American Conference tournament and reached the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2017. The team won the program’s lone national postseason title a season before then.
Senior outside hitter Brooklyn Leggett described those teams as having a strong core and sense of urgency during those runs.
Wichita State dropped just a single set in the eight combined National Invitational Volleyball Championship and American tournament games in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Developing a similar urgency and core early will be pivotal for the Shockers’ success in 2025.
“That way we can build on it, and fix any problems maybe in the past,” Leggett said.
Having spent time together over the spring and summer has given the Shockers a leg up, especially with getting incoming freshmen and transfers on the same foundation as the returners. And with team leaders like Izzi Strand and Morgan Stout graduating after last season, there are still big shoes to fill.
“Somebody had to replace Babe Ruth in right field for the Yankees,” Lamb said. “Not every year does Joe Montana have a Steve Young waiting in the wings. You do what you can, and you design and your system around strengths that we do have.”
Lamb admitted that losing a player like Stout, who led the team in points, kills, total attacks and was a First Team All-Conference selection last year, has naturally raised some questions about who is going to fill that middle position throughout this season. He said after the first practice, up to 10 players are fighting for minutes.
“One through 10 is about as close as it’s ever been around here,” Lamb said. “Whatever that’s worth, it’ll be very competitive in our gym.”
Though the team has nine true freshmen and three incoming transfers, players like senior libero Katie Galligan have been there to show them what the culture within the program is about. It seems they’ve caught on quick, as the team was cheering on and hyping each other up as early as the first practice.
“A rowdy bunch,” Galligan said. “Sometimes you just have to have fun with it. There’s tough days that you have to get through in order to do that. I think we’re good at getting through it by having that energy, having fun with it.”
One thing Lamb is excited about is the team’s depth, especially at the setter position. Three players are competing for the starting role: redshirt freshman Sarah Musial and junior transfers Hannah Hawkins (High Point) and Jordan Heatherly (Memphis). Lamb said he doesn’t know if he’s had three setters this good from day one.
“What you see out there at the setting position is just terrific,” Lamb said. “Hopefully, we’ll get that kind of balance in the middle, and we’ll see how that goes. But I feel pretty good with depth all over the place.”
Another position group that’s shown it has depth this season is in the back row defenders. The Shockers are returning three liberos who have proven to set the tone. Galligan averaged a team-high 2.98 digs per set a season ago, and sophomore Grace Hett racked up 83 digs in 66 sets during her freshman campaign.
Junior Gabi Maas is returning this season after missing all of last year with a knee injury. Her experience and defensive prowess at the libero position can add layers to that side of the ball. Lamb compared her ability to cover one side of the court to a boundary cornerback in football.
“You’ve got a person here that you can kind of give man coverage to one-third of the field, and feel good about it,” Lamb said. “I think we’ve got a few players like that, to be honest, but we lost a lot when we lost that in Gabi. She gives us defensive options that we didn’t have when we lost her.”
The Shockers face their first measuring sticks of the season when they compete in their home-opening Shocker Volleyball Classic Aug. 29 and 31 against Kennesaw State and Arkansas, respectively.
“Anything could happen in that,” Lamb said.
They then dive deeper into their non-conference schedule and will play a total of seven teams that finished top-100 in the RPI last season, including three teams that reached the NCAA Tournament (Kansas, South Dakota and BYU).
Wichita State’s slate in the American starts Friday, Sept. 26, at UAB. The team will hold a preseason intersquad scrimmage at 3 p.m. Aug. 23 in Koch Arena.
