How Wichita State volleyball is approaching showdown vs. No. 1 Stanford
The Wichita State volleyball team showed some grit to open the season last weekend, rallying to win two matches in the fifth set after losing momentum by dropping the fourth set.
For a mostly inexperienced team, that was an encouraging sign for coach Chris Lamb this early in the season.
“We kept fighting and that’s a holdover from last year’s team,” Lamb said. “If you want to keep good cultures, then you’ve got to protect that. People come and go, but you’ve got to find a way to hold onto everything that’s good. It was nice to see we still have that expectation to win.”
That mentality will be put to the test against a pair of top-10 teams this weekend, as the Shockers (3-0) head west to Provo, Utah, for three matches in two days at the BYU Nike Invitational, starting with Friday’s match against West Virginia.
WSU will take on the No. 1 team in the country, Stanford (2-0), at 11 a.m. Saturday, then play No. 9 BYU (3-0) later that day at 8 p.m. Both matches will be livestreamed on WatchStadium.com.
“We’re really excited about the challenge,” WSU sophomore Emma Wright said. “The thing about games like this is that they’re supposed to be fun. No one thinks we’re supposed to win. So we’re going to go in with high energy and it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s a chance to get better.”
Although he knew the Shockers were going to be young and inexperienced, Lamb didn’t hesitate to schedule the tournament. Regardless of the results of this weekend, Lamb thinks WSU comes out a winner.
“I know we’re going to learn and that’s why we’re doing this,” Lamb said. “And let’s be honest, I’m over here getting RPI and return volleyball matches. This has bigger consequences than playing Stanford on the other side of the net.”
Stanford and BYU both finished in the top-15 of the RPI last season and are once again expected to be there this season. While West Virginia is expected to be a bottom team in the Big 12, it still should be a top-100 opponent.
The players gained confidence last weekend by overcoming adversity against the likes of James Madison and VCU in five-set victories. This weekend will prove to be a step-up in competition, but the Shockers hope that mental toughness shown will carry over.
“Now we know that we can definitely fight through those times where nothing is going our way,” Wright said. “We didn’t give up. We didn’t keep bad attitudes. When we started a new game, it was a new mindset. I think that’s a real strength for this team.”
And if there were any worries about the team being intimidated going into the weekend, Lamb quickly dispelled that notion.
“Everything these girls know about college volleyball is the expectation for us to get after things,” Lamb said. “I don’t think we’re scared we’re not going to perform. We’re going to go out there and try our hardest and throw some things out there and see how it works and make adjustments.”
This story was originally published August 31, 2018 at 2:17 PM.