Wichita State’s Dani Mostrom gladly took orders on her path to libero

Setter Chelsey Feekin demanded every pass hit the mark, even from a redshirt freshman walk-on learning a job.

“She was not going to be running around the court, sprinting everywhere,” WSU’s Dani Mostrom said. “If she was at the net here, and I passed the ball there, she would yell at me ‘You need to get the ball up here.’ Well, you know, a freshman —little me — was like ‘OK, I’ll do it.’ ”

So Mostrom did it, over and over again, with consistency and accuracy that will keep her in the Shockers record book.

Five years later, Mostrom is wrapping up her fourth season as WSU’s libero, one that included 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Libero of the Year honors. She is likely to become the second Shocker to lead the team in digs four times. Her 1,879 digs rank second on WSU’s career list.

The Shockers (20-7, 13-3 MVC) plays at Southern Illinois (21-9, 12-4) at 7 p.m. Friday and at Evansville (5-24, 1-15) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the final weekend of the regular season. WSU trails Missouri State, which plays the same two teams, by one game and needs help to repeat as MVC champions. The Bears hold one important tiebreaker edge — they swept third-place Northern Iowa and the Shockers split.

Two wins will clinch the No. 2 seed, and a bye into the semifinals, for WSU in the MVC Tournament, which starts Nov. 24 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

When Mostrom thinks back on her beginnings in 2012, she credits Feekin tough love for pushing her on the right path and feeding her natural love for precision.

Feekin, a 2014 third-team All-American, got what she wanted for good reason. A pass that pulls her eight inches away from the net mucks up the offense by negating her threat to score, fool blockers and anticipate attack routes. Mostrom, from Springfield, Mo., found those demands fulfilling.

“I’m precision-oriented,” Mostrom said. “I understood that every time I touched the volleyball, it mattered. Chelsey Feekin forced me to get the ball tight and perfect to her.”

Mostrom came to WSU as a setter, lured by coach Chris Lamb’s attention and instruction at a setter’s camp. She practiced at setter until coaches noticed her ability to pass. When Lamb ranks volleyball skills by difficulty, accurate passing finishes first.

“You can roll out hitters all day,” he said. “How many passers you got? Are you talking elite? If you’re talking elite, I’ll give you on one hand how many there are in the conference. That job is under-appreciated.”

Lamb remembers a morning practice when Mostrom, then a setter, ended up in a passing group, on a day when limited gym time forced coaches to consolidate drills.

“Lo and behold, she started passing up the passers,” Lamb said.

Lamb keeps track of every pass, which appealed to Mostrom’s competitive nature. She enjoys the dual challenges of the back row, which requires players to play under control when digging and passing before switching to a high-energy mode to cover the court.

The job also caters to her affection for order —she always colors within the lines and organizes homework in folders by subject. She recently finished a clientele data population center for her internship at a Wichita fitness center. Last week, the MVC named her one of 10 fall recipients of the MVC Good Neighbor Award for her academics — she carries at 3.69 grade-point average in health science — and community service.

“I’ve fallen in love with being a libero way more than I ever could have with setting,” she said. “I like that I’m able to focus on the serve, focus on where I need to be putting it for my team and focus on defense.”

Worth noting — Friday’s match can be seen on ESPN3.com. Audio for both matches is available at goshockers.com. … The Shockers rank No. 10 nationally in attack percentage (.293) and are tied for 43rd with 12.91 assists a set. … The Shockers hit a season-high .461 in a sweep of SIU on Oct. 10. Middle Abbie Lehman hit .875 with seven kills and middle Katy Dudzinski hit .846 with 11 kills. … WSU has won 29 of 30 matches against Evansville, including a sweep earlier this season.

This story was originally published November 17, 2016 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Wichita State’s Dani Mostrom gladly took orders on her path to libero."