Wichita State rolls over Missouri State in fifth set to win Valley opener
Wichita State won an opening-weekend showdown with Missouri State 3-2 (26-24, 20-25, 25-12, 21-25, 15-X) on Friday in Springfield, Mo.
WSU (8-4) is the preseason favorite in the Missouri Valley Conference with MSU (9-6) picked second. It was the MVC opener for both teams.
The Shockers dominated the fifth set by building leads of 4-0 and 7-1. MSU cut the lead to 13-10 before a kill by Tabitha Brown and an attack error ended the match. Brown recorded four kills in the set and 13 for the match.
Mikaela Raudsepp led WSU with 15 kills. Middle Abbie Lehman added 11 kills with a .476 attack percentage. Middle Katy Dudzinki also had 11 kills and hit .400. Setter Emily Hiebert had 10 kills, 46 assists and 18 digs. Libero Dani Mostrom added 26 digs.
The Shockers finished with a .254 attack percentage.
WSU returns to MVC play on Monday against Evansville at Koch Arena.
The Shockers won their third straight match, and fifth of the past six, in Springfield.
Lily Johnson led MSU with 18 kills.
MSU took a 3-2 lead in the fourth set and never trailed. Johnson totaled seven kills in the set, four of them early in the match when the Bears built an 11-6 lead.
The Shockers dominated the third set. Two aces by Gabi Mostrom highlighted a burst by WSU that gave it a 7-1 lead. MSU didn’t get closer than six points and then the Shockers finished the match on an 8-1 run.
The Bears broke a 7-all tie in the second set with four straight points, three coming on Shockers attack errors. MSU extended its lead to 20-14 and the Shockers got no closer than four points.
Wichita State won the first set by scoring the final two points on MSU attack errors.
Raudsepp totaled four kills in the set, three during a run in which WSU extended its lead from 13-11 to 18-14.
WICHITA STATE SCHEDULE
August
Iowa State Challenge at Ames, Iowa
Iowa State 3, WSU 0
WSU 3, Creighton 2
September
Shocker Volleyball Classic
Cincinnati 3, WSU 1
WSU 3, IUPUI 0
WSU 3, Marquette 0
Rams Volleyball Classic at Fort Collins, Colo.
WSU 3, Colorado State 0
Texas 3, WSU 1
WSU 3, Samford 0*
Roadrunners Roundup at San Antonio
WSU 3, Texas Tech 0
WSU 3, Texas State 0
Texas San-Antonio 3, WSU 2
WSU 3, Missouri State 2
26 — Evansville, 7 p.m. (Cox 22)
October
30 — at Drake, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
1 — at Northern Iowa, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
7 — Loyola, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
8 — Bradley, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
10 — Southern Illinois, 7 p.m. (Cox 22)
14 — at Indiana State, 6 p.m. (ESPN3)
16 — at Illinois State, 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
21 — Missouri State, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
28 — Northern Iowa, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
29 — Drake, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
November
4 — at Bradley, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
5 — at Loyola, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
11 — Illinois State, 5 p.m. (Cox 22)
12 — Indiana State, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
18 — at Southern Illinois, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
19 — at Evansville, 7 p.m. (ESPN3)
MVC Tournament
24-26 — at Cedar Falls, Iowa (ESPN3)
* Not affiliated with Rams Volleyball Classic
This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 9:46 PM with the headline "Wichita State rolls over Missouri State in fifth set to win Valley opener."