Wichita State volleyball claims first postseason championship on road with NIVC title win
In the end, Chris Lamb ended up hoisting a championship trophy after all.
After narrowly missing out on the American Athletic Conference title and a bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Wichita State volleyball team rattled off five straight wins in the postseason to claim the National Invitational Volleyball Championship trophy on Tuesday night.
WSU was dominant in handling business at Koch Arena for the past two weeks, then scored its first postseason road victory since 2012 and just the second ever in program history with a three-set sweep — 25-14, 25-22, 25-22 — over UTEP in a rowdy Memorial Gym with 3,271 watching in El Paso, Texas.
“We felt like we should have been in the NCAA Tournament and we were sad we didn’t make it, but the next best thing was to win this tournament,” said WSU senior setter Izzi Strand, who was named the tournament MVP. “I feel like we definitely proved what we came here to prove and we showed people that we should have been in that other tournament.”
A charged-up crowd on Tuesday was ready to see the Miners continue their home-court dominance, which included a perfect 14-0 record and a total of just five sets dropped this season.
But in a match between two of the best teams left out of the NCAA Tournament, the Shockers (RPI of 62) were more disciplined than the Miners (RPI of 64) on Tuesday. UTEP finished with 23 attacking errors and 10 service errors, while Strand helped WSU run a tidy offense that finished with a .292 hitting percentage and 16 fewer combined errors.
“We talked about playing clean and composed and not letting anything get too big,” Lamb said. “I told Izzi to just keep us swinging, no matter what, just keep us swinging. I thought if she could get to a 40% assist rate, we would win and she ended up at 42%. We tried to be the clean, steady team and it ended up working out for us.”
WSU sophomore outside hitter Emerson Wilford came up clutch with one of the best games of her young career, finishing with a team-high 11 kills. It was the most kills in a match for the 6-foot-2 hitter from Laguna Hills, California, since she recorded 13 kills against Memphis on Oct. 29.
Wilford delivered four kills and three blocks in a dominant opening set for the Shockers, although the 12 errors by UTEP aided them in a 25-14 victory. Errors once again helped WSU separate from an 18-all tie in the second set, then three kills by Wilford, including the finishing blow, helped the Shockers claim a 25-22 second-set victory.
“I think a lot of our girls thrive off those intense situations,” Strand said. “I know serving back there, they were calling our our names and kind of talking to us. I love that type of stuff. I think it fueled us.”
The third set played out in similar fashion, as WSU was clinging to an 18-17 lead when UTEP sailed a serve wide and had two more errant swings to help give the Shockers a four-point cushion. UTEP clawed back to within 23-21, but Wilford delivered another kill and Morgan Weber put down the kill that secured the Shockers the championship.
“Emerson isn’t going to make a lot of the flashy plays, but she’s always going to be there when you need her,” said Strand, who finished with 28 assists. “She was always coming through for us in clutch moments and she really stepped up her game for us when we needed her.”
Strand kept WSU’s offense balanced with Sophia Rohling, Natalie Foster, Ba Koehler and Morgan Stout combining for 26 kills. Meanwhile, WSU’s back line was spearheaded by the superb play of Gabi Maas, who finished with 12 digs.
UTEP’s top hitter this season was Bluestem graduate Torrance Lovesee, a sophomore who finished with a team-high 333 kills this season. She added eight kills on 26 swings on Tuesday against the Shockers.
WSU finished the season with a 26-8 record, which was good for Lamb’s 10th 25-win season with the Shockers and first since 2017. The Shockers were dominant in their run to the NIVC title, dropping just one set in five victories.
“I’ve always thought a long run through a secondary tournament is as rewarding as an early exit in the NCAA Tournament,” Lamb said. “It’s just fun to be in a bracket like this and face new teams and new challenges. You don’t get very many chances to have a long run through a bracket. Usually we always face Nebraska or Texas in the NCAA, so I thought a long run in this tournament would be very rewarding and it absolutely was. I feel really, really good about the way this team finished.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2023 at 9:37 PM.
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