Wichita State plays Kansas State in NCAA volleyball tournament

Owning an automatic bid removes all of the bad kind of nerves from watching an NCAA selection show, while leaving room for surprise.

Wichita State’s volleyball team enjoyed that luxury on Sunday while it waited for ESPNU to reveal its assignment for the NCAA Tournament. The Shockers (26-8) locked up a spot by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. On Sunday night, the NCAA sent them to play Kansas State in Lincoln, Neb.

“It’s definitely more exciting than being anxious,” WSU senior middle Katie Reilly said. “It was fun knowing we would see our name on the screen.”

The teams meet at 4:30 p.m. Friday. No. 4 national seed Nebraska (26-4) plays Harvard (15-10) in the other side of the bracket. The winners play at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Shockers (26-8) return to Lincoln for the fourth time in NCAA Tournament play. Kansas State (17-11) earned an at-large bid to the tournament. In 2011, the teams met in Lincoln and Kansas State swept the Shockers.

With NCAA volleyball using a heavy geographic emphasis for its bracket, WSU coach Chris Lamb bet on a trip to Lincoln.

“You can almost set your watch to Lincoln if K-State makes the tournament and we make the tournament,” he said.

The Wildcats and Shockers share one opponent. Kansas State defeated Illinois State 3-2. WSU defeated Illinois State 3-1 at Koch Arena and 3-2 on the road.

Sunday’s bracket reveal made the Missouri Valley Conference look strong. Southern Illinois, Missouri State and Northern Iowa grabbed at-large bids. The Valley also totaled four NCAA teams in 2010 and 2007.

SIU (23-9) is making its first NCAA appearance. It plays Illinois on Friday in Louisville, Ken. MSU (24-10) plays Missouri on Thursday in Lawrence. UNI (19-14) plays Marquette on Friday in Minneapolis, Minn.

Lamb credited tough non-conference schedules with helping Valley schools build at-large resumes.

“I thought we would get two for sure and, depending on the philosophy of the committee, it could definitely be four,” he said. “UNI had a great non-conference schedule.”

This story was originally published November 29, 2015 at 8:39 PM with the headline "Wichita State plays Kansas State in NCAA volleyball tournament."