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The Lady Shocks (24-3, 16-0) continue the late season guantlet presented by their AAC schedule as the head to Tulsa (14-14, 8-8) for a 7:00 pm Friday match and then to Dallas to face 2nd place SMU (19-8, 13-3) on Sunday at 1:00 pm. Last week's trip to ECU and Cincy and this weeks road swing to Tulsa and SMU are probably the two toughest travel pairs in the AAC and the Shocks get them on the road on consecutive weekends.
The Shocks lead SMU by 3 games with 4 to play. Their magic number to clinch the AAC Championship and the NCAA Auto-Bid is 2. Any combination of Shockerr wins and SMU lossess totaling 2 will do it. So the Shocks have the opportunity to clinch this weekend.
The Shocks faced Tulsa in Koch Arena about a month ago. After eeking out a very tough 26-24 win in Set 1 the Shocks cruised to the sweep with 25-11 and 25-12 wins in Sets 2 and 3.
Scouting Tulsa
The Golden Hurricane is 14-14 overall and 8-8 in The American. Wins this season have come against UTEP, UMKC, SIUE, Wright State, Texas Southern, Oral Roberts, Houston twice, UCF, Memphis, UConn twice, ECU, and Tulane. Losses have come against North Texas, Montana, Colgate, Stephen F. Austin, Wyoming, Central Arkansas, Tulane, Cincinnati twice, ECU, USF, No. 22 Wichita State, and Temple twice. Tulsa is led by Emily Thorson who is averaging 4.02 kills per set, while Lindsey Ledyard averages 5.57 assists and Taylor Horsfall averages 6.05 digs per set. As a team, the Golden Hurricane is hitting .184, while holding opponents to a .183 clip. Tulsa is led by head coach Ryan Wills.
Two days before playing Tulsa at home the Shocks faced off with the 2nd place Mustangs in Koch Arena with somewhat similar results. The Shocks lost a tight 1st Set 23-25 and pulled away late in a competitive Set 2 to tie the match with a 25-18 win. After the intermission the Shocks got it going and cruised to a pair of 25-12 wins in Sets 3 and 4.
Scouting SMU
The Mustangs are 19-8 overall and 13-3 in the The American. Wins this season have come against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Ole Miss, Arkansas State, UTSA, Texas State, UMass Lowell, Tulane twice, Houston twice, ECU twice, Cincinnati twice, USF and UCF. Losses have come against Mississippi State, Rice, Virginia Tech, TCU, Arkansas, No. 22 Wichita State and Temple twice. SMU is led by Lauren Mills who is averaging 3.44 kills and 3.38 digs per set. Kendall Patterson is averaging 10.29 assists and Montana Watts is averaging 4.93 digs per set. As a team, the Mustangs are hitting .211, while holding opponents to a .184 clip. SMU is led by head coach Lisa Seifert.
Obviously, the Shocks will be favored in these matches but both Tulsa and SMU have the potential to make things difficult for the Shocks. Hope the Shocks come out focused and determined to put this Championship in the deep freeze this weekend.
Of much less importance but a very significant milestone and achievement is that according to my calculations Emily Hiebert needs 66 more assists to pass Mary Elizabeth Hooper as the career total assist leader at Wichita State. Mary Elizabeth finished her career (2008-2011) with 4,820 career assists. Emily is currently at 4,755 career assists. If the Shocks only play 6 sets this weekend the new records may or may not be set. 7 or more sets and mostly likely Emily would break the record. Mary Elizabeth averaged 10.54 assists per set in her career. Emily is currently averaging 10.61 assists per set over her career to date.
:poster_shocks:
The Shocks lead SMU by 3 games with 4 to play. Their magic number to clinch the AAC Championship and the NCAA Auto-Bid is 2. Any combination of Shockerr wins and SMU lossess totaling 2 will do it. So the Shocks have the opportunity to clinch this weekend.
The Shocks faced Tulsa in Koch Arena about a month ago. After eeking out a very tough 26-24 win in Set 1 the Shocks cruised to the sweep with 25-11 and 25-12 wins in Sets 2 and 3.
Scouting Tulsa
The Golden Hurricane is 14-14 overall and 8-8 in The American. Wins this season have come against UTEP, UMKC, SIUE, Wright State, Texas Southern, Oral Roberts, Houston twice, UCF, Memphis, UConn twice, ECU, and Tulane. Losses have come against North Texas, Montana, Colgate, Stephen F. Austin, Wyoming, Central Arkansas, Tulane, Cincinnati twice, ECU, USF, No. 22 Wichita State, and Temple twice. Tulsa is led by Emily Thorson who is averaging 4.02 kills per set, while Lindsey Ledyard averages 5.57 assists and Taylor Horsfall averages 6.05 digs per set. As a team, the Golden Hurricane is hitting .184, while holding opponents to a .183 clip. Tulsa is led by head coach Ryan Wills.
Two days before playing Tulsa at home the Shocks faced off with the 2nd place Mustangs in Koch Arena with somewhat similar results. The Shocks lost a tight 1st Set 23-25 and pulled away late in a competitive Set 2 to tie the match with a 25-18 win. After the intermission the Shocks got it going and cruised to a pair of 25-12 wins in Sets 3 and 4.
Scouting SMU
The Mustangs are 19-8 overall and 13-3 in the The American. Wins this season have come against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Ole Miss, Arkansas State, UTSA, Texas State, UMass Lowell, Tulane twice, Houston twice, ECU twice, Cincinnati twice, USF and UCF. Losses have come against Mississippi State, Rice, Virginia Tech, TCU, Arkansas, No. 22 Wichita State and Temple twice. SMU is led by Lauren Mills who is averaging 3.44 kills and 3.38 digs per set. Kendall Patterson is averaging 10.29 assists and Montana Watts is averaging 4.93 digs per set. As a team, the Mustangs are hitting .211, while holding opponents to a .184 clip. SMU is led by head coach Lisa Seifert.
Obviously, the Shocks will be favored in these matches but both Tulsa and SMU have the potential to make things difficult for the Shocks. Hope the Shocks come out focused and determined to put this Championship in the deep freeze this weekend.
Of much less importance but a very significant milestone and achievement is that according to my calculations Emily Hiebert needs 66 more assists to pass Mary Elizabeth Hooper as the career total assist leader at Wichita State. Mary Elizabeth finished her career (2008-2011) with 4,820 career assists. Emily is currently at 4,755 career assists. If the Shocks only play 6 sets this weekend the new records may or may not be set. 7 or more sets and mostly likely Emily would break the record. Mary Elizabeth averaged 10.54 assists per set in her career. Emily is currently averaging 10.61 assists per set over her career to date.
:poster_shocks:
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