2023 Volleyball Season

[SubGod22]

Practice has begun.

[Veritas]

Hope they have a GREAT and very successful season!!!

[1972Shocker]

Only 9 days to go before the Oklahoma exhibition match (August 17th) and 17 days until the season opener vs Notre Dame in Lubbock.

Bought my season tickets this morning. With the new AAC scheduling I only have conflicts with high school football for 3 matches this year (sorry Shocks, the grandsons take precedent) but I will make sure those tickets get used.

Time for this group to fully reach their potential. A nice mix of returning players, experience and newcomers. I think only Brylee and Sophia will be finishing up their eligibility this year. Izzi is a senior but I believe has 1 more year of eligibility after this year.

Has the potential to be a really good year. Despite the departure of UCF, Houston and Cincinnati I think the AAC will continue to be a very good volleyball league and the non-conference schedule is pretty challenging as well.

Based on last year's timing I would expect the coaches' preseason picks to be out around August 23rd.

[WstateU]

[1972Shocker]

Swimming does look like it it would be good workout for volleyball players.

BTW, I don't think I was aware of this facility in the Heskett Center:

https://www.wichita.edu/student_life/campus_recreation/venues/natatorium.php

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - Shockers, Mustangs Tabbed for ESPNU

Wichita State's volleyball match at SMU on Sunday, October 1 has been selected to air nationwide on ESPNU. Originally scheduled for a 1:00 pm CST first serve, the match will now get underway at noon.

The most recent meeting between the Shockers and Mustangs also aired on ESPNU last season, a thrilling five-set victory for Wichita State on November 23. The Shockers trailed two sets to one and 17-15 late in the fourth set, but rallied for the win as six different players recorded six or more kills. Dallas native Lauren McMahon contributed two crucial terminations in the deciding fifth set to help WSU to the victory.

The Shockers open the 2023 season with a home exhibition match on Thursday, August 17 against Oklahoma. The regular season opener is Friday, August 25 against Notre Dame as part of the Under Armour Challenge in Lubbock, Texas.

[1972Shocker]

The OU Exhibition match is just around the corner. The 4:00 pm start time on a Thursday will no doubt impact attendance. The match is on ESPN+ and I assume will also be available for replay.

[1972Shocker]

One possible reason for the 4:00 pm start is the Shocker Band and the Shocker Sound Machine are rehearsing each night from 7:30 to 9:30 on Monday through Thursday this week. Although, I am not totally sure the rehearsals are being done in Koch Arena.

https://www.wichita.edu/academics/fi...s_athletic.php

Also, good chance OU wanted to get back to Norman at a decent hour on a weekday.

[SubGod22]

Eagle - How Chris Lamb set up Wichita State volleyball schedule to chase NCAA Tournament return

With a core group of hitters back for their fourth season playing together, the Wichita State volleyball team is primed to make a run at the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017.

The Shockers won seven of their final eight matches in American Athletic Conference play to end last season, finishing with an 18-13 record and an NIVC bid. They open their 2023 season with an exhibition slated against Oklahoma at 4 p.m. Thursday at Koch Arena.

Returning from last year’s squad are three all-conference performers in sixth-year senior outside hitter Brylee Kelly, fifth-year senior opposite hitter Sophia Rohling and fourth-year junior middle blocker Natalie Foster.

Throw in a handful of immediate-impact transfers in outside hitter Barbara Koehler (Florida Southwestern), senior setter Izzi Strand (UC San Diego) and sophomore defensive specialist Gabi Maas (TCU) and WSU has realistic expectations to push newcomer Rice, which received a No. 23 national preseason ranking, for the conference title this season.

“This is a better volleyball team than last year,” said WSU head coach Chris Lamb, who enters his 24th season in charge. “That works for me because I know what I’m working with, but the outside world judges everything on your record. And this team has a lot in front of it.”

We're also on the tougher side of the American with Rice and SMU. So we'll get some chances in and out of conference to make a statement.

[WuDrWu]

Nothing more than a reference point here. The preseason B12 Volleyball rankings came out more than a month ago and are as follows:

School (First Place Votes)	Points
1. Texas (12)	144
2. BYU (1)	125
3. Baylor	123
4. TCU	106
5. Kansas	105
6. Houston	91
7. Iowa State	81
8. K-State	63
9. UCF	51
10. Oklahoma	45
11. Texas Tech	37
12. Cincinnati	23
13. West Virginia	20

[1972Shocker]

For me this was the most interesting observation from Lambo from the Eagle article:

Lamb says he and other coaches in the league are a bit miffed at the American’s decision to crown a conference champion through unbalanced scheduling between two divisions instead of hosting a conference tournament at the end of the season.

After Cincinnati, Houston and UCF departed for the Big 12 this past summer, the AAC added Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA and changed to seven-team divisions. As a result of the geography-based system, the three expected top teams in the American — Rice (RPI No. 15), SMU (No. 59) and WSU (No. 60) — will battle one another in the West division, while UAB (No. 149) is the highest-ranked team from last season in the East division.

"Mathematically, it seems irresponsible to me,” Lamb said. “Somebody is going to have an easier schedule than somebody else. If somebody runs the table on the other side, good luck keeping up when we’re going to cannibalize ourselves in the West.

Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/sports/colleg...#storylink=cpy

[WuDrWu]

In my opinion, the Conference really dropped the ball here. I expect it's just going to be a 1 season mistake (next year, I expect a conference tournament of some sort, perhaps even hosted by this season's champion) but it's a doozy of a mistake.

I don't blame Lambo for being upset. He should be.

[SubGod22]

Go Shockers - RH: "I've got a lot of questions to answer"

Wichita State plays Oklahoma in a volleyball exhibition at 4 p.m. Thursday (ESPN plus) at Koch Arena. All regular-season rules apply to the exhibition.

The Shockers went 18-13 last season, 13-6 in the American Athletic Conference. Wichita State returns middle Natalie Foster, outside hitter Brylee Kelly and right-side Sophia Rohling, all of whom earned All-AAC honors. OU went 15-13, 5-11 in the Big 12.

The Shockers open the season vs. Notre Dame on Aug. 25 in Lubbock, Texas. Wichita State coach Chris Lamb will use the exhibition to get a good look at his starters and top of his rotation.

"I'd really like (Thursday) to send us back to practice knowing some things that are working up to the standard and that we've got a few days to tune up," Lamb said. "I've got a lot of questions to answer."

Three items to watch:

1. Lamb was not pleased with his team's serve-and-pass game in the spring match against Nebraska.

"I have this feeling we're going to pass well, but we've been passing against our own servers," he said. "It was obvious (Nebraska) beat us in serve-and-pass, so hopefully we've closed the gap a little bit."

That puts the burden on defensive specialists such as Gabi Maas and Annalie Heliste. Attackers such as Morgan Weber, Brylee Kelly and Barbara Koehler will also get plenty of action in the back row.

2. Maas, a transfer from TCU, and Heliste lead the candidates at libero and Lamb is happy with his depth behind those two. Heliste, a junior, played in 22 matches with three starts last season.

"(Maas) is a high I.Q. player and a skilled player," Lamb said. "She came in the door here used to volleyball at a very high level. She played in the open division as a club player (in Colorado). At TCU, she was on the floor with great ball speed.

3. Setter Izzi Strand will take the lead with an experienced group of scoring threats. Strand is a senior transfer from UC San Diego, where she averaged 9.4 assists a set last season.

"I think she is wired for the way this team should play offense," Lamb said. "She really complements things that we do. She can keep Sophia busy. She's got great range with her hands, so she can sideline-to-sideline. That's going to be good for Brylee. I think it's going to be good for (middle) Morgan Stout."

Lamb is also interested to see how the Shockers score against the Sooners.

"Right now, our offensive numbers on the pins are low, because I suspect we're playing good defense," he said. "If I find that we're able to score on the pins against Oklahoma, that would be very encouraging."

[flyingMoose]

For me this was the most interesting observation from Lambo from the Eagle article:

Lamb says he and other coaches in the league are a bit miffed at the American’s decision to crown a conference champion through unbalanced scheduling between two divisions instead of hosting a conference tournament at the end of the season.

After Cincinnati, Houston and UCF departed for the Big 12 this past summer, the AAC added Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB and UTSA and changed to seven-team divisions. As a result of the geography-based system, the three expected top teams in the American — Rice (RPI No. 15), SMU (No. 59) and WSU (No. 60) — will battle one another in the West division, while UAB (No. 149) is the highest-ranked team from last season in the East division.

"Mathematically, it seems irresponsible to me,” Lamb said. “Somebody is going to have an easier schedule than somebody else. If somebody runs the table on the other side, good luck keeping up when we’re going to cannibalize ourselves in the West.

Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/sports/colleg...#storylink=cpy

UAB is on the road for one game v each of the Shockers, SMU, and Rice. It is the East that will be cannibalizing each other because none of them are very good. If Rice or SMU were in the East for lots of easy pickings, then he would have a better argument.

But saying that, yes, the AAC not having a tournament is poor.

[1972Shocker]

What to Watch for in the OU Exhibition Match

Three items to watch:

1. Lamb was not pleased with his team's serve-and-pass game in the spring match against Nebraska.

"I have this feeling we're going to pass well, but we've been passing against our own servers," he said. "It was obvious (Nebraska) beat us in serve-and-pass, so hopefully we've closed the gap a little bit."

That puts the burden on defensive specialists such as Gabi Maas and Annalie Heliste. Attackers such as Morgan Weber, Brylee Kelly and Barbara Koehler will also get plenty of action in the back row.

2. Maas, a transfer from TCU, and Heliste lead the candidates at libero and Lamb is happy with his depth behind those two. Heliste, a junior, played in 22 matches with three starts last season.

"(Maas) is a high I.Q. player and a skilled player," Lamb said. "She came in the door here used to volleyball at a very high level. She played in the open division as a club player (in Colorado). At TCU, she was on the floor with great ball speed.

3. Setter Izzi Strand will take the lead with an experienced group of scoring threats. Strand is a senior transfer from UC San Diego, where she averaged 9.4 assists a set last season.

"I think she is wired for the way this team should play offense," Lamb said. "She really complements things that we do. She can keep Sophia busy. She's got great range with her hands, so she can sideline-to-sideline. That's going to be good for Brylee. I think it's going to be good for (middle) Morgan Stout."

Lamb is also interested to see how the Shockers score against the Sooners.

"Right now, our offensive numbers on the pins are low, because I suspect we're playing good defense," he said. "If I find that we're able to score on the pins against Oklahoma, that would be very encouraging."

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