Wichita State sweeps Bradley to set up showdown with Loyola

Wichita State practiced a two-setter offense last spring and kept training it this fall. It stayed a practice thing, rattling around in coach Chris Lamb’s long-range plans, until Friday.

The 5-1 works well for WSU. Lamb believes using two setters in the 6-2 raises the possibilities for the Shockers, who swept Bradley 25-13, 25-16, 25-21 on Friday at Koch Arena.

“It’s us having 6-2 on the brain since the spring,” he said. “The 5-1 may be right for us, but we’re going to keep building the 6-2 until one day it may be right for us. Are we there yet? Probably for some matchups, yes, and for some matchups, no.”

If nothing else, Lamb put the 6-2 in the minds of Loyola, which defeated Missouri State 3-1 on Friday to stay tied with WSU. The Ramblers visit Koch Arena on Saturday in a battle for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Shockers (15-6, 6-1 MVC) defeated Bradley (5-15, 0-8) for the 25th straight time and picked a low-risk opponent to experiment against. With Emily Hiebert and McKenzie Fyfe alternating at setter, WSU rolled to a .410 attack percentage, its best in MVC play.

The primary advantage of the 6-2 is that it keeps three attackers on the front row to give the setter more prime offensive options. In the 5-1, the setter rotates through the front row and limits her option to two attackers.

“Most coaches would tell you that you’ve got a chance to have more firepower,” Lamb said. “But can you ball-control in it? We’ve proven that we have capable outside hitters and middles that can score in the 5-1. You just wonder if you couldn’t score more.”

On Friday, the Shockers scored plenty. Right-side Jody Larson had 13 kills, her most since Sept. 4 against New Mexico State, with a season-high .632 attack percentage. Middle Katie Reilly added 10 kills and hit .533. Outside hitters Shimen Fayad (nine kills) and Mikaela Raudsepp (eight) also produced.

Lamb likes Larson and Jenny Whitledge in the back row for their passing skills.

“I’d have a hard time getting away from that,” he said. “It might give us more firepower and I think I can make an argument that we defend better in it.”

Middle Abbie Lehman’s quiet night — two kills — went unnoticed because of the depth.

“Since we do get more hitters out on the court, it spreads our offense out,” Larson said. “A lot of people hit really well on the pins. And even though Abbie may have had an off night … the rest of the team tries to pick it up and that’s what we did.”

Bradley struggled to a .157 attack percentage, totaling 24 kills and 13 errors. The Braves also had four service errors and didn’t record an ace.

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 9:27 PM with the headline "Wichita State sweeps Bradley to set up showdown with Loyola."