Wichita State volleyball sweeps Indiana State, advances to MVC semifinals
Wichita State’s volleyball team swept Indiana State for the third time Thursday and advanced to the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The third-seeded Shockers (20-9) will play second-seeded Northern Iowa, the host school, at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI (20-10) defeated the Shockers twice during the regular season, 3-1 each time.
WSU reached the 20-win mark for the 12th straight season with its 25-16, 25-19, 25-20 victory over sixth-seeded Indiana State (17-14).
MaryAshton Floyd led WSU with 14 kills with an attack percentage of .406. She added four digs and a block, six days after she recorded a career-high 21 kills in a win at Indiana State. Ashlyn Driskill added 12 kills and hit .370.
Setter Emily Hiebert had 37 assists and eight digs. WSU hit .353 for the match with only nine errors in 102 swings.
The Shockers pulled away in the first set with a 4-0 run that gave them an 11-5 lead. Another 4-0 run made it 18-8 and the Shockers easily finished off the first set. In the second set, a kill by Hiebert gave WSU a 12-9 lead and started an 8-2 run. WSU trailed 11-7 in the third set before an ace by Dani Mostrom turned the momentum. Three kills by Driskill and a ball-handling error by the Sycamores tied the set 11-all. A kill by Floyd broke a 14-all tie and gave WSU the lead for good. The Sycamores rallied to cut the lead to 21-20 before a kill by Driskill started a 4-0 run to end the match.
Kynedi Nalls led Indiana State with nine kills. WSU held the Sycamores to a .160 attack percentage, helped by 18 errors by Indiana State.
Friday’s match can be heard on goshockers.com. All tournament matches are available on ESPN3.
Floyd, Lehman earn All-MVC — Floyd and Abbie Lehman earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors on Thursday.
Floyd, a junior outside hitter, averaged 2.74 kills a set and totaled 238 with an attack percentage of .213. Her 25 service aces rank second on the team. In MVC matches, she averaged 3.15 kills, eighth in the conference. Lehman, a middle blocker, led the Shockers with 255 kills and an attack percentage of .382, second in the MVC during the regular season. In conference matches, her attack percentage of .451 ranked first. She was also chosen to the All-Freshman team.
Driskill was named to the All-MVC second team. She averaged 2.75 kills a set and hit .229. Hiebert was also named to the All-Freshman team. She ranked sixth in the MVC with an average of 10.16 assists.
Illinois State’s Kaitlyn Early received Player and Setter of the year honors. Illinois State’s Melissa Myers was named Coach of the Year.
All-MVC
First team
Olivia Brand, OH, Missouri State; Kaitlyn Early, S, Illinois State; MaryAshton Floyd, OH, Wichita State; Kayla Haneline, MB, Northern Iowa; Eryca Hingtgen, OH, Northern Iowa; Lily Johnson, OH, Missouri State; Jaeyln Keene, MB, Illinois State; Abbie Lehman, MB, Wichita State; Emily Orrick, L, Illinois State; Taylor Pippen, MB, Southern Illinois; Ashley Ring, OH, Evansville; Bree Spangler, OH, Indiana State
Second team
Andrea Beaty, MB, Missouri State; Kinsey Caldwell, S, Northern Iowa; Ashlyn Driskill, OH, Wichita State; Amie Held, L, Northern Iowa; Emily Schneider, MB, Illinois State; Meg Viggars, S/RS, Southern Illinois
All-Freshman
Emily Hieber, S, Wichita State; Andrea Estrada, OH, Southern Illinois; Kyle Inderski, OH, Drake; Genesis Miranda, OH, Evansville; Lynsey Wright, MB, Missouri State; Lehman, Johnson, Keene.
Player of the Year — Early
Libero of the Year — Orrick
Setter of the Year — Early
Freshman of the Year — Johnson
Coach of the Year — Melissa Myers, Illinois State
This story was originally published November 27, 2014 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Wichita State volleyball sweeps Indiana State, advances to MVC semifinals."