Wichita State volleyball upsets top seed to play for AAC title, NCAA bid at home
The Wichita State volleyball team has a golden opportunity to punch its ticket back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017.
The Shockers will be playing for the American Athletic Conference tournament championship on their home floor at Koch Arena at noon Sunday against No. 6 seed Florida Atlantic after another sweeping top-seeded South Florida (25-21, 26-24, 25-22) in the Roundhouse on Saturday.
WSU looked like a team running out of steam at the end of the regular season, having lost three of four matches entering the postseason. But a chance to earn an NCAA bid on its home floor has seemingly revived the team.
The Shockers were dominant in Friday’s sweep of Tulsa in the quarterfinals, then elevated their play again on Saturday. They took down the conference champions that ran through the AAC with a 14-2 record, including a four-set victory over the Shockers at Koch Arena on Oct. 11.
After a somewhat disappointing 15-13 regular season for a team coming off a NIVC championship last year, the Shockers tapped into their potential on Saturday.
Senior all-conference hitter Morgan Stout led WSU with 11 kills, while Mady Wilson added nine kills and outside hitter Alyssa Gonzalez chipped in seven. Setter Izzi Strand dished out 30 assists and had 13 digs, while Katie Galligan added 10 digs to help hold USF to just a .112 hitting percentage.
The teams traded long runs in the first set, as the Shockers won nine of 10 points, featuring three kills by Stout, to open up a 19-11 lead. But USF answered back with a 7-0 run of its own to make it 21-20. But a service error followed by an attack error helped WSU secure a 25-21 win.
WSU fell behind 5-1 early in the second set, but three kills from Wilson helped spark a run that put the Shockers in front, 10-9. It was a back-and-forth tussle from there, as neither side led by more than two points the rest of the way.
Once again, it was errors by USF that aided the Shockers. Back-to-back mistakes by the Bulls gave WSU a 22-21 lead, while a kill by Stout put WSU up 23-22 and another error put WSU up 24-23. After USF tied the score, Gonzalez put down a momentum-swinging kill for the lead and another attack mistake by USF secured the second set.
WSU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, courtesy of two straight blocks by Stout followed by a kill by the senior and a service ace from Emerson Wilford. USF steadily climbed back in the game and eventually took a 19-18 lead.
But WSU immediately answered back with kills from Brooklyn Leggett and Izzi Strand to go up 21-20. A service error by the Bulls gave WSU a 23-22 lead, then a kill by Wilson set up match point and another error by USF clinched the upset win by the Shockers.
This story was originally published November 23, 2024 at 3:52 PM.
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