Volleyball recruits

[jimshocker]

So….

7 DS/L next season with half of them under 5’6”.

And 1 pin recruit signed.

EEK.

[WuDrWu]

I have also seen in a couple places that Simone Grieser a 5-11 OH/S was committed to Wichita State but not sure that is still a thing or not I do not recall seeing her mentioned anywhere on GoShockers.com or on Shockernet.net

.https://prepdig.com/college/wichita-state/

https://sportsrecruits.com/athletic-scholarships/womens-volleyball/kansas/wichita_state_university

Her Instagram has recent pics wearing WSU gear (last month) and thanking Lambo and Katie so it seems legit to assume, but I suppose one never knows in this day of AI.

[1972Shocker]

WuDrWu you are a connoisseur of fine serving. Any thoughts on Sarah Musial?

[WstateU]

[1972Shocker]

Ava Anderson 6-0, 160 OH highlights: https://sportsrecruits.com/athlete/ava_anderson13

Doesn't look overly athletic. Some top notch collegiate training and conditioning would probably help that. Does look like a physically strong player.

[1972Shocker]

Gracie Morrow, 6-0 OH/DS out of Maize South makes it official:

https://shockernet.net/forum/wichita...12#post1401912

https://www.hudl.com/profile/14934393/Gracie-Morrow

[1972Shocker]

And here is the one I was wondering about:

https://sportsrecruits.com/athlete/simone_grieser

https://www.hudl.com/profile/15646897/Simone-Grieser

It will be interesting to see how Lambo utilizes Simone. She is a bit undersized at 5-11 for an OH and appears to be an average jumper. However, the Sports Recruits list he as and OH and a setter and she is lefthanded. I think Lambo likes lefthanded setters. Or perhaps he will utilize her as a lefthanded version of Morgan Weber. Hard to say.

[1972Shocker]

Recap of the Class of 2024 high school signings:

Sarah Musial (6-1, S) - St. Charles East HS, St. Charles, Illinois; Approach Touch 1 Arm - 118"
Nadia Wasilewski (6-1, OH) - Jackson High School, Jackson, Missouri; Block Touch 2 Arms = 109"; Approach Touch 1 Arm - 117"
Olivia Brown (5-3. L/DS) - Flower Mound High School, Flower Mound, TX
Grace Hett (5-5, L/DS) - Marion High School, Marion, KS
Ava Anderson (6-0, OH) - Bishop Miege High School, Overland Park, KS
Gracie Morrow (6-0, OH, DS) - Maize South High School, Maize, KS; Block Touch 2 Arms = 114"; Approach Touch 1 Arm - 121"
Simone Grieser (5-11 RSH, OH, S) - North Creek High School, Woodinville, WA; Block Touch 2 Arms = 112"; Approach Touch 1 Arm = 114"

That is actually a pretty big signing class since we only have 2 players, as far as I know, completing their eligibility this year. Brylee Kelley and Sophia Rohling. Izzie Strand is a senior this year as well but she still has 1 year of eligibility remaining if she chooses to use it at WSU.

Kylie Marneris is a redshirt junior with a year of eligibility remaining but I she has not played much at Wichita State and if she has her degree I would expect her to move on.

With such a large roster of 21 players with only 12 on volleyball scholarships there is a good chance some will move on looking for more playing time.

Not sure how many in this signing class are coming in on scholarship and how many will be non-scholarship roster slots.

Considering we have a pretty good crowd at the L/DS spots with Gabi, Annalie, Katie and Reagan available to return with Annalie being the only senior-to-be in that group I am guessing the 2 littles in this signing class are most likely walk-ons.

I am thinking Lambo probably would want to redshirt this entire class unless one of the outside hitters proves to be effective on the left side. Gracie Morrow seems like the most likely to do that although that is just a wild guess.

If Izzi comes back Lambo might want to redshirt Sarah Musial although, if Sarah is ready Lambo might decide to go with a 6-2. If Izzi gets her degree at the end of this school year I guess she has the option to transfer under the grad transfer rules or she might decide to move on from playing volleyball. If she does not get her degree by the end of this school year she would have to play at Wichita State if she wants to use her final year of eligibility. If Izzi does not come back than Sarah will be competing for a starting role.

As mentioned before not sure how Lambo may be thinking about the lefthanded Simone Grieser. I don't know why there is only 2 inches between her reported two arm block touch and her 1 arm approach touch. Makes me think her reported 1 arm approach touch is perhaps in error.

[Critter's Pa]

I think the transfer portal starts up in December. Wonder how many will come and go via the portal. I suppose Lamb will be looking there for a replacement for Sophia. I'm not sure how much of a drop off our right side backup is (Brooklyn?). She might be better than average, Sophia is just better, so she doesn't see much time.

[1972Shocker]

I think the transfer portal starts up in December. Wonder how many will come and go via the portal. I suppose Lamb will be looking there for a replacement for Sophia. I'm not sure how much of a drop off our right side backup is (Brooklyn?). She might be better than average, Sophia is just better, so she doesn't see much time.

There are 2 transfer windows for entering the portal for Volleyball. This year the first window is from 12/03/23 through 01/01/24 and then there is a window in the spring from 05/01/24 through 05/15/24.

For example last year Izzi Strand went into the portal in December and her addition was officially announced in January. When Lambo refused to guarantee Kayce Litzua would be the starting setter Kayce entered the portal during the May window. Fortunately, Izzi proved to be an able replacement for Kayce.

Obviously what you do with portal signings from the December windows may have repercussions when the May window rolls around.

Gabi and Izzi proved to be key pieces that Lambo picked up in January. The other 4 players not so much: Barbara Koehler (although she had her moments) and Brooklyn Leggett got into 5 sets this year so so she burned a year of eligibility. Maddie Wilson, a 6-1 MB and Megan Reilly a 6-0 OH did not play this year but they both used a year of their 5-year clock. Not a big deal for Maddie but Megan is now 3 years into her clock (I think) and has not played yet. I wonder if Maddie trained any at OH this year.

it won't be long and we should have an idea of which players will be transferring. I think the Shocks have around half dozen players that are candidates for transferring.

I don't think Lambo will bring in more than a couple from the portal. A left side and a right side OH if he can find and attract strong candidates. I don't know what kind of NIL money he as to work with.

[1972Shocker]

2025 6'1" Lefty Pin/Six Pack 17s & Prairie High School- #44/Wichita State '29
Fairfax, IA

https://www.maxpreps.com/ia/cedar-rapids/prairie-hawks/athletes/carly-wazac/?careerid=4lgns5d9i1kp9

[1972Shocker]

Lamb Announces Incoming Class

Wichita State University head volleyball coach Chris Lamb announced on Friday the signing of OH Ava Anderson, L/DS Olivia Brown, S Simone Grieser, OH Alyssa Gonzales, L/DS Grace Hett, OH Gracie Morrow, S Sarah Musial and OH Nadia Wasilewski. Gonzales and Musial are enrolled at Wichita State for the 2024 spring semester, while the remaining six incoming freshman will join the Shockers beginning with the fall semester.

I wonder if Ava Anderson is the first WSU volleyball recruit that did not play volleyball in high school. She did play club volleyball which is probably more valuable than high school ball: https://sportsrecruits.com/athlete/ava_anderson13

I expect a good chunk of this class will redshirt next season. I'm guessing Alyssa Gonzales, who has already used a redshirt year will be in the mix for playing time.

We are pretty set at the L/DS spot so if the two DS recruits are able to find playing time next year then they must be quite good. But I am not expecting that.

Even though Sarah Musial is here for the spring semester and, at this point is our only setter behind Izzi, I suspect Lambo is hoping Izzi can carry the load by herself next year and give Sarah a year to acclimate to his system. That approach worked well for Emily Hiebert who was the only other setter behind Chelsey Feekin in her first year (10 years ago, believe it or not) when she redshirted.

Local girl Grace Morrow looks to be a pretty good athlete from what little I have seen of her.

[WuDrWu]

While there are certainly exceptions to every rule, there is essentially no comparison between high school and club volleyball. It's like apples and geology.

[1972Shocker]

While there are certainly exceptions to every rule, there is essentially no comparison between high school and club volleyball. It's like apples and geology.

I will say that Bishop Miege is a pretty solid high school volleyball program. It's possible she wasn't good enough to play for Miege. Perhaps a bit of a project maybe.

IIRC, we did have one pretty good player who only played high school ball but not club ball. I don't think Sara Lungren Walkup played club ball but I could be wrong about that. In any case, that was probably more common back in those days than it is today.

[shoxlax]

While there are certainly exceptions to every rule, there is essentially no comparison between high school and club volleyball. It's like apples and geology.

Same with softball.