AAC-leading WSU volleyball looking to stay ‘competitively interested’

The Wichita State volleyball team will have to develop counters and new wrinkles to the tactics they used to go 10-0 while losing a total of three sets in the first half of play in the American Athletic Conference.

The second half begins Friday when the No. 21-ranked Shockers (18-3) travel to Central Florida (11-11, 4-6 AAC) on Friday, then to South Florida (8-12, 3-7 AAC) on Sunday. WSU currently has a two-game lead in the conference standings over Temple and SMU.

“People will have a better idea of how they want to handle us,” coach Chris Lamb said. “I don’t think there is a coach out there who wouldn’t want to have more balance, more options. It would be nice when they take something away if we can go find something else.”

At this point, Wichita State leads the conference in nearly every major category. The Shockers are tops in the AAC in hitting percentage (.329), opponent hitting percentage (.147), assists (14.4 per set), kills (15.5 per set), and blocks (2.5 per set), and are second to Tulsa in digs (18.2 per set).

Simply put, Wichita State is dominating — so much that Lamb’s chief concern at this point is the team’s focus.

“I want them to be able to maintain a winning focus every single match,” Lamb said. “Streaks are streaks, but you can’t get comfortable. My hope is that they’re staying competitively interested, which is silly I have to say that, but when you do this for a living you wonder about focus and intensity.”

Even though the Shockers sometimes have to settle for just a close set to get their competitive juices flowing, senior setter Emily Hiebert said the team’s experience — all five seniors are key pieces to the team — has allowed Wichita State to maintain a high level in practices as it prepares for a NCAA tournament run in December.

“We have a lot of old people on our team and we all want this so bad,” Hiebert said. “Each team in this conference is trying to beat us and we know they’re going to come out and play their best against us. That motivates us even more because we know we’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”

So Wichita State labors in practice to expand beyond its certainties in middle Abbie Lehman, who leads the AAC with her .543 hitting percentage in conference play, and Hiebert, who hits .432 and leads the conference in assists per set at 12.2.

Outside hitters Tabitha Brown (3.3 kills, .239 hitting) and Mikaela Raudsepp (2.7 kills, .228 hitting) have been the team’s top scorers outside of Lehman, but their hitting percentage is lower than ideal. They’re both working on taking more efficient swings, something made easier by a setter like Hiebert.

“It’s amazing how much confidence and ease in which you attack the opponent when you have a phenomenal setter like Emily,” Raudsepp said. “It allows you to relax because I trust Emily with the game just as much as I trust the coaches. I trust her decision-making and I trust her hands to get the ball to where it needs to go.”

But Lamb isn’t telling Hiebert to spread the ball around just so Wichita State can have balance. Above all, Lamb and Hiebert are on the hunt for the swings that give the Shockers the best chance at scoring.

“We’re going to focus on where points can come from,” Lamb said. “This doesn’t have to be a democratic process. We’re going to play to our strengths when we believe that’s the right thing to do.”

This story was originally published October 26, 2017 at 2:58 PM with the headline "AAC-leading WSU volleyball looking to stay ‘competitively interested’."