Shocks Host Jayhawks in PreSeason Exhibition Match

[1972Shocker]

The Shocks will take on the Kansas Jayhawks in a preseason exhibition match at 3:00 pm this coming Saturday, August 17th, at 3:00 pm in Koch Arena. To the best of my recollection I believe this is the first time the Shocks have played a preseason exhibition although I think this is something relatively new for volleyball. I know some of our opponents played exhibition matches last year.

it will be interesting to see what kind of a crowd this exhibition match will draw. The game is also televised on Cox Yurview.

There are certainly a lot of new faces, a lot of learning and lot of questions for this Shocker team. With all the newcomers I would expect to Shocker nerves could be a factor.

KU, like the Shockers, missed out on the NCAA Tournament last year but they had a bit more success than the Shocks as they finished 15-12 overall and 8-8 in conference play. After a 9 match winning streak in the middle of the seaon including a 6-0 start in Big 12 play including a win over Texas the Jayhawks lost 8 of the final 10 matches. Not sure if they had any injuries or not that might have contributed to this. The Shocks losty 6 of the final 8 matches.

KU only lost 1 significant player to graduation last year in Gabby Simpson a 6-3 OH/S. Looks like she shared setting duties with 6-0 Fr. Camryn Ennis last year most likely in a 6-2 offense. However, KU did lose a couple of notable players to transfer. Most significantly Jada Burse, a 6-1 Jr. OH who lead KU in kills and scoring, has transferred to Arizona State for her senior year. Also Mmachi Nwoke, a 6-1 Jr. MB who played in 21 (starting 18) of KU's 27 matches last year averaging 1.22 kills and 1.08 blocks per set, has transferred to North Carolina State for her senior year.

Both teams have some holes to fill and questions to answer. The teams will only have about 1 week of fall practice under their belts but thait probably has been 2-a-days.

For Match Club members there will be a pre-game Chalk Talk with Lambo prior to this match.

[1972Shocker]

Taylor Eldridge: After redshirt year, Brylee Kelly wants to be next up for Shockers on the outside

Brylee Kelly hoping to follow the same path as Megan Taflinger with a solid year as a redshirt freshman outisde hitter.

“With Brylee, her volleyball curve is probably going to follow her strength,” Lamb said. “When the game is moving slower, she looks pretty powerful. But it’s when the game speeds up and it changes direction, she’s got to be prepared to be powerful with a shorter approach. I think as she continues to get stronger, the more and more powerful she’s going to be in those less-than-perfect situations.”

In the video embedded in this article Lambo spoke very highly of a trio of freshmen outside hitters including 5-11 Sina Ulave, who he went so far as to compare to Emily Stockman, 6-0 Nicole Anderson and 6-3 Sophia Rohling. Really looking forward to seeing these newcomers in action.

[1972Shocker]

https://goshockers.com/news/2019/8/16/the-roundhouse-rh-shockers-play-kansas-in-exhibition-match.aspx

Jr. Emma Wright did her hot yoga and her spin class and worked on jumping off one foot this summer in Phoenix.

Many things motivated her. She is one of two returning starters – and one of four returners who played in 20 or more matches in 2018 - for the Wichita State volleyball team. She made a decision early in her career to put in the extra time required to improve.

She also knows playing time at middle blocker isn't guaranteed, despite her experience.

"If I want to play, I need to get my stuff together," she said. "I know Damadj (Johnson) is probably a better slide hitter than me. Chinelo (Ogogor) is way more physical than me. Brooke (Smith) is a good all-around player."

"She's in the best shape of her life," Lamb said. ""Emma's always had pretty good arm talent. Now she's better with her hand on the ball. She's better with her eyes. She makes quicker decisions. That makes you a quicker athlete."

"When I came in as a freshman, I probably didn't realize how much work was needed," she said.

Lamb also notices growth in her leadership. She speaks out when practice slips or to guide a teammate.

"Now she's more concerned about our performance," Lamb said. "She's more willing to step out of her lane and get involved with the team. It's so validating to hear leaders on the team acknowledge how things are going. It's frustrating as a coach to feel like you're all by yourself rowing a boat."

Saturday's match gives Lamb a chance to see his young team – 11 newcomers – and plan for the opener on Aug. 30 against Holy Cross. Playing time at middle blocker is one of the areas that will start to define itself. Also of interest will be libero and setter, both places where the Shockers are looking at newcomers.

[1972Shocker]

Something to do post-KU match if your inclined:

[WuShock16]

Wasn’t able to make it 21st and Hillside today, so I just planned to watch the online stream...except it was cancelled due to transmission issues.

[WuDrWu]

Thoughts from those in attendance?

[WuDrWu]

Personally, I was extremely encouraged. We found 2 setters. We have some girls with some desire to win, some fighters. We can block. Got to find some more scoring no doubt but we're SO far ahead of last year it's not even funny.

Emma Wright looked very good. Megan is solid. The transfer from ISUb Damadj Johnson is very solid. Did not see Chinelo Ogogor or Lexi Hogan. Assuming Chinelo was dinged up because I've heard too many good things about her to think if healthy she couldn't play today. McKayla and Kayce both looked the part at setter (barring injury I don't see Kora playing much). Spotty play in the back, but Kara was fine and Arianna Arjomand had her moments.

The exciting parts were the play of freshmen Nicole Anderson from Texas (player) Sina Uluave (serious player) and Sofia Rohling (way further along than I anticipated). These 3 young ladies can play. And they compete hard and want to win. We're going to be fun to watch. I thought Bryee Kelly had her moments too but needs more strength.

Should have swept Ku and would have won if we kept the starters together but that wasn't the goal. Also Sina limped off in the middle of the match, hopefully nothing serious.

[1972Shocker]

Pretty much agree with those obsevations WuDrWu. There is definitely some talent in the freshman class. OTOH their inexperience showed at times as well. But it is really, really early in the season. Only about a week since they started fall practices. Freshman OH Sina Uluave and Nicole Anderson both look to be 6 rotation-type players and both are going to see a lot of time on the court for the Shocks. Sophia Rohling is going to be a player as well.. Also at 6-3 she has a positive attribute that you can't coach. She is still a little rough but she might be the Shockers best small town diamond in the rough since Sara Lungren. Sina reminds me a little bit of a right-handed hitting version of Sara Younes complete with a nasty jump serve. Nicole reminds me of a somewhat more atheltic version of Jody Larson although probably not as good of a setter. As you say Brylee showed flashes of what she can be but she maybe needs another year of seasoning and development. She needs to be more consistent. As far as returning players on the pins Megan definitely took the most powerful swings and looks like she would be our go to on the outside when you need a big point.

I agree with your take on the setter position. McKayla and Kayce look like they will handle the great majority of the setting duty this year. Kora would appear to be on the outside looking in this year. It seems like Lambo is leaning towards running a 6-2 this year but with Lambo nothing is cast in stone. We could see a little of both during the year.

In the middle Emma is clearly our best offensive threat. Damadj is not that big but she is very athletic. She is quick and atheltic and gets off the floor quickly. As you mentioned Chinelo did not play. I had previously heard she was dealing with a shoulder injury so we'll just have to see how that develops but word is she is a top-notch athlete. Assuming Chinelo is healthy I would expect Brooke to play primarily in a supporting role.

I did think our blocking looked pretty decent. An area we struggled with last year.

Clearly we will miss the irrepressible Gio at the Libero. Looks like that will be a battle between Sr. Kara Bown and Fr. Arianna Arjomand. Arianna did not see action until the 3rd set when she took over at the libero postion from Kara. She was another impressive looking freshman. Shea and Lily look like a couple of spitfires as well but they may not quitre be ready for primetime.

I too came away feeling pretty good about this team especially considering how early in the season it is. Not sure that will result in big improvement in our win-loss record vs last year especially considering what is one of the toughest non-con schedules in the country. But if you look beyond this season you might want to don a pair of sunglasses.

[1972Shocker]

PS: The ball girls/boy weren't exactly in mid-season form either. So this was a good learning experience for all.

BTW, was anyone else cold in the arena. My cohones were chattering by the end of the match.

Also 3,004 fans in attendance. Playing KU helped but still that is pretty solid for an exhibition match.

[flyingMoose]

I had similar observations. Sina and Nicole were impressive for their first time on the court, especially early. The Shocks ran a nice 6-2 in the first two sets and then McKayla ran a 5-1 in the third set. Kora only played half of the fourth set before they had to take her out. She may only see the court if there are two injured setters. It has just never happened for her. I also agree that Arianna looked good - she seemed to be in the right spot a lot and never seemed lost.

For the Shockers, only three(? - it was more on the LiveStats) of the sixteen players to see the court played in all five sets. For KU, it was ten of fourteen.

The ball boy was awesome, as he was last year. He should be giving a clinic to all of those girls.

[boyshocker]

Agree that the 6-2 is probably the way to go, thought setters did a decent job with the pins but work still needed to connect with the middles. Like our depth at the middle spot. A little hesitant to start comparing to the Sarah's and Jody. Can't really remember Lungren as a freshman. SY serves was always something nasty, don't remember seeing too many aces Saturday. Nicole looked very impressive early, hoping it wasn't an injury that pulled her out. Probably not the setter Jody was or the passer yet. I will say if these three can match the alumni in a couple of years we will be a top 20 team for sure.

[1972Shocker]

i just saw this Sully report on goShockers.com after making my post above. Lambo's observations carry a bit more gravitas than mine:

https://goshockers.com/news/2019/8/17/the-roundhouse-rh-shockers-fall-in-five-sets.aspx

For Wichita State sophomore left Megan Taflinger, the key evaluation from Saturday's exhibition was easy to see. The Shockers looked like a team much more capable of defending on the front row, active and organized against a bigger opponent.

"I came out of that game going 'We know how to block,' which is fabulous to see compared to last year," she said. "We out-blocked them 2 to 1 and compared to last year, that was great."

With two weeks before the opener, Lamb viewed the performance as a positive data point on his way to the regular season. He liked his team's energy. He agreed with Taflinger about the improved blocking – opponents hit .235 against the Shockers last season – after WSU out-blocked Kansas 13-7. He filled the lineup with newcomers early in the match and they, in general, looked like they belonged in a college match.

"When we had our probable starters in, I felt competitive," Lamb said. "Against a more physical opponent, I felt we were able to be very competitive. I want to see these guys learn a little more about each other. You're learning to compete side by side and that's a valuable experience and I watched it go very well today."

"When I first walked in the gym, it was very surreal," Anderson said. "I had never experienced anything like that. But, honestly, after I got my first touch of the ball it kind of went away. I was focused on the game."

"I couldn't be happier," Lamb said. "(The newcomers) didn't look rattled to me. I'm pretty happy they just fought and it looked like we were together while doing that."

---

If Lambo's happy then I'm happy.

[WuDrWu]

Nice crowd with a bunch of ku honks in attendance. If you were new, you had to be impressed. I wasn't cold at all, but I sat a bit higher than normal and I'm having a bit of a time regulating temperature of late. Not sure what's going on there.

Wifi was tremendous yet again. I know they have someone new on board and he's doing an outstanding job.

[1972Shocker]

Nice to have a big crowd for these newcomers to experience and good to see then hanlde that aspect pretty well. As Nicole Anderson said "I had never experienced anything like that."

I'm sure she wasn't alone as she was joined by 7 other true freshman in getting their first taste of a Shocker crowd in Koch Arena.

I wonder how Damadj Johnson felt about her first experience with a Koch Arena home crowd. I guess she probably played here once as a freshman at Indiana State. In her 3 years at Indiana State Damadj played in front of an average home crowd of around 275.

The Shocks played 16 fo the 19 players on their roster. Gio (out for the season) and Chinelo (shoulder) did not play nor did Hutch Juco transfer Lexi Hogan, although no one on the Shocker bench was more animated than Lexi. Emma, Damdj and Kara where the only two players that played in all 5 sets. Megan only played in sets 1 and 2.

Probably starting lineup based on what I saw today: McKayla, Emma, Damadj, Megan, Sina and Nicole with Kara at the libero. Don't discount Arianna's chances at the libero or Kayce's chances at setter but I think McKayla and Kara have the edge right now based on their experience. And this may be only if Chinelo is still on the shelf in two weeks.Brylee and Brooke will get their chances in supporting roles I think.

Probably redshirts are Skylar Goering, and Shea Lauria. Lily Liekweg and Sophia Rohling are also potential redshirts but it might be hard to keep Sophia off the court. And, of course, injuries could play a role in that as well. Whether or not he will redshirt both Shea and Lily at the DS position may depend largely on how confident he is in Sina and Nicole to play the back row. At ths point he seems to feel pretty good about that.

As WuDrWu mentioned perhaps the biggest challenge for this team is developing the ability to terminate points with kills. I think Megan and Emma are the only two proven players with that ability at this point. Sina, Nicole, Brylee and Sophia all have the potnetial for that but it may take a while to develop that consistently. One thing that did catch my eye today was our back row attacking ability. In the pastd seems like we may have had on option we would generally use for that kind of attack. Today Megan, Sina and NIcole all showed signs that will be something they can do.

[Rixtoy1]

That was a fun match to watch. A lot to be excited about, I think.

I think Sina is going to be a star for this team. Talking to Lamb at the MAtch Club reception a week or so ago, he said a high school teammate of hers plays for Texas and the Texas coach called Lamb and said no one is recruiting this girl. You need to look at her. Enough said. What a fireball and the girls HIT the ball on their kills today, not just getting it over the net. Lambo also said he takes crap from people about the tough schedule early. He says they are crazy - who ELSE would you want to play but the best teams in the country? I think it's going to be a fun year.

[ShockTalk]

We've been going from a few to several matches for a number of years, but didn't start as season ticket holders until last year. So, I'll give my 2 cents worth, but that's about all it's worth as I'm still very much a newbie when it comes to breaking down the play rather than just enjoying the entertainment.

I really like the energy we came out with the first 3 sets. The very long point we won late in the 1st set, while we were down, was pivotal to our comeback win. However, in the second set the turning point was a service error while up 4 at 22. I understand that Lambo likes to be aggressive, but I hate service errors. particularly in key spots. KU was on the ropes (almost dead in the water) and that didn't even give them a chance to mess up. I really liked how we came out in the 3rd after that tough 2nd set loss. In the 4th and 5th sets our chemistry, energy, and confidence went away. Odd given our 3rd set dominance. I'm not sure our combination of players work as well early in the 4th and after that, we never got it back. With Kora out there as setter, we looked like 4 bigs and 2 littles, slower and not covering as much floor.

I was impressed by the freshmen. Particularly, Sina, Kayce, Arianna, Nicole, and Lily. Actually, I thought all the freshmen did more than I expected. I didn't notice Sina's exit, but she was making more errors later on and became the target of KU's serves.

Thought Kara did yeoman work as the libero in the first two sets. Even though Damadj is new to the program, as a senior, I was hoping for more steady work on offense. McKayla was a rock! For me, I was a little disappointed with the consistency of our experienced bigs. Of course, there could be a number of reasons for that with so many newbies.

I almost forgot. I'd like to see more sets to the middle at the net. I thought we were too predictable and not sure how well I like the deeper middle sets. Ok, you guys can give me an edjamacation now.

[1972Shocker]

No education needed. Good observations. If you really want an education join the Match Club, if you haven't already, and attend Lambo's pre-game chalk talks. Not always easy to get there an hour before match time but it is always worth the effort if you can. Not only educational, but very entertaining as well.

[ShockTalk]

WE DID!! Went to one last year as guests and was hooked. It does make for a long game day (particularly if there is 5 sets), but is very entertaining and educational. And thanks for your kind words.

[flyingMoose]

I echo the remark about not as many sets in the middle (or slides, for that matter) as we are accustomed to seeing from a Lambo offense. Late in the match (fifth set?), there were back-to-back slides. The set was too low on the first one, but the second set was high enough and resulted in a kill. There were also a couple of good quicks late in the match.

[SuSHOCK]

We've been going from a few to several matches for a number of years, but didn't start as season ticket holders until last year. So, I'll give my 2 cents worth, but that's about all it's worth as I'm still very much a newbie when it comes to breaking down the play rather than just enjoying the entertainment.

I really like the energy we came out with the first 3 sets. The very long point we won late in the 1st set, while we were down, was pivotal to our comeback win. However, in the second set the turning point was a service error while up 4 at 22. I understand that Lambo likes to be aggressive, but I hate service errors. particularly in key spots. KU was on the ropes (almost dead in the water) and that didn't even give them a chance to mess up. I really liked how we came out in the 3rd after that tough 2nd set loss. In the 4th and 5th sets our chemistry, energy, and confidence went away. Odd given our 3rd set dominance. I'm not sure our combination of players work as well early in the 4th and after that, we never got it back. With Kora out there as setter, we looked like 4 bigs and 2 littles, slower and not covering as much floor.

I was impressed by the freshmen. Particularly, Sina, Kayce, Arianna, Nicole, and Lily. Actually, I thought all the freshmen did more than I expected. I didn't notice Sina's exit, but she was making more errors later on and became the target of KU's serves.

Thought Kara did yeoman work as the libero in the first two sets. Even though Damadj is new to the program, as a senior, I was hoping for more steady work on offense. McKayla was a rock! For me, I was a little disappointed with the consistency of our experienced bigs. Of course, there could be a number of reasons for that with so many newbies.

I almost forgot. I'd like to see more sets to the middle at the net. I thought we were too predictable and not sure how well I like the deeper middle sets. Ok, you guys can give me an edjamacation now.

[Shockerman]

I wish we had the cash to build a 4000-5000 seat arena for Woman's Volleyball. It would be awesome to develop this program into a consistent sweet 16 contender. Tier 1 facilities would go a long ways to getting us there and it seems to be the missing link. We have the coach, budget, and the fan base to pull it off. We just need the Kimmy and Kate's to get it done. A purpose built arena with a Volleyball specific floor that could be removed and used for Woman's basketball games would be tremendous.

[1972Shocker]

I suppose such a facility would be nice although perhaps a bit limiting for NCAA volleball regional play. Although I suppose we could use Koch Arena for regional hosting purposes. But not sure I see it as a missing link or ingredient in the way of the program's success. It might hapen some day if some wealthy donor who loves volleyball wants their name on a building. Otherwise, I don't think this is something that's in the cards.