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That just means you could be a serious candidate for POTUS or the U.S. Senate or House if you want to be. -
RH: "She's Definitely Elevated Our Group"
Maas jumped into those roles immediately in the spring. Coach Chris Lamb loves her background of playing in a high-level club in Colorado and a season in the Big 12 with TCU. She sees the attackers and the court in ways that help her get to the right spots to keep volleyballs off the floor.
"Seeing her make plays and her consistently pass well has raised the bar for all of us," Heliste said. "As soon as she came in, we were like 'Wow, she's definitely elevated our group.'"
Lamb compares her instincts to former Shocker Giorgia Civita, the 2018 American Athletic Conference Libero of the Year.
"(Maas) reads very well, very mature," Lamb said. "When her platform touches the ball, the result is good. Accurate digging and passing."
That comes from her devotion to volleyball and its defensive skills, despite growing up in a baseball/softball family. Dustin Maas played baseball at Gustavus Adolphus (Minn.) College. Jana Maas played softball at Snow (Utah) College and brother Jack is a senior outfielder at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora, Colo.
"Broke my parents' hearts because I chose volleyball over softball," she said. "Softball is a little bit more individual. In volleyball, you can't do anything without your teammates. I need the blockers to dig. The hitters need the setters. The setters need me to pass. I fell in love with the team aspect of it and the sisterhood of volleyball."
Gabi Maas chose volleyball over softball in high school. She played similar roles – libero and catcher. Both positions are largely responsible for defense and athletes endure a physical toll that can go unnoticed. Both are involved in the bulk of the action on the field or the court.
"I love playing libero," she said. "I like to do the dirty work behind the scenes and let other people shine. My dad tried to put me on the pitchers (circle) when I played softball. Oh – I did not need all those eyes on me."
A good pass is one of the biggest keys, if not the biggest, for a team like the Shocks, that aren't loaded with a bunch of Jordan Thompson-esque kind of players that can bail you out, to be effective attacking.
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Lame.Originally posted by WstateU View PostThere are three rules that I live by: never get less than twelve hours sleep; never play cards with a guy who has the same first name as a city; and never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body. Now you stick to that, and everything else is cream cheese.Comment
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Sophie Chids new team, Texas State, swept #13 Houston today 18, 22 and 18 in San Marcos. Sophie was hit 7-1-14 = .429 as she is been a solid contributor for Texas State.Comment
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That's crazy. Houston dismantled USC last week. Texas State, certainly not a bad team, was not competitive against a good Tennessee team. It doesn't appear that Houston had any injuries as the lineup looked the same at first glance. Good for Texas State and great for Sophie!Originally posted by 1972Shocker View PostComment
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Go Shockers - RH: Podcast with Morgan Stout, Sophia Rohling on Shocker Volleyball
Listen to the podcast
Wichita State's Morgan Stout and Sophia Rohling stop by to chat about a big volleyball weekend in Illinois, the stellar play of the back row and how setter Izzi Strand is boosting the offense.
We discuss "Smoothie Queen," and "Mama Bear" and how those nicknames relate to Shocker volleyball. Also, what's a protagonist?
The Shockers are 3-2 after defeating Illinois and Illinois State last weekend. They play No 22 Kansas at 7 p.m. Thursday at Koch Arena and Colorado at 7 p.m. Saturday.Infinity Art Glass - Fantastic local artist and Shocker fan
RIP Guy Always A Shocker
Carpenter Place - A blessing to many young girls/women
ICT S.O.S - Great local cause fighting against human trafficking
Wartick Insurance Agency - Saved me money with more coverage.
Save Shocker Sports - A rallying cryComment
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Of interest from the AAC-
Tue 5 Sep - Stanford at Rice
Stanford 3-0 Rice
17, 24, 21
Wed 6 Sep - #14 Baylor at SMU
Baylor 2-3 SMU
(21), 23, (21), 23, 10Comment
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RH: Junior (Morgan Stout) Shines in Two Wins in Illinois
Morgan Stout's experience and instincts are catching up to her physical skills and passion.
The results are what Wichita State volleyball coach Chris Lamb hoped for when he recruited her out of Nickerson High School. Stout, a redshirt junior middle blocker, endured injuries and COVID-19 restrictions that limited her practice time for much of three years.
"I lacked a lot of confidence last year," Stout said. "This season has really been a confidence-booster for me in finding my inner dog on the court."
With consistent practice and good health, Stout's timing on attack routes and contact with the ball are improving. She is hitting .280 (up from .178 in 2022) after wins over Illinois and Illinois State.
"You talk about stacking good days," Lamb said. "As Morgan is putting more and more good days together, that is a really good sign. She certainly had a better volleyball rhythm about her (last weekend) than at any time in her career."
That rhythm is important as Stout learns how to put her jumping ability and powerful swing to best use by timing her routes. Stout is connecting with setter Izzi Strand, helping her meet the ball and put a good swing on it, instead of a tepid or off-balance swing to save contact.
"She was a bit of a bull in a china shop when she got here," Lamb said. "Volleyball has a slow to fast desire with your approach and she is often early and decelerating."
Stout also registered a career-high 15 kills, with a .344 attack percentage, in a loss at Texas Tech this season.
"In the past year or two, her hand on the ball has really grown," teammate Sophia Rohling said. "She's started hitting a lot more balls down and really become a great offensive threat."
That timing and hand contact puts Stout in position to hit more powerfully and with greater variety. Footwork and patience let her see blockers and maneuver around defenders.
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With conference play starting this week, here the top Pablo numbers in the AAC -
5940 SMU
5770 Shockers
5730 Rice
5430 East Carolina
5360 Tulsa
5230 USF
5210 North Texas
Pablo is structured so that 5000 is an average team. I think Pablo now uses this year's results only - I think.
The VT geek that calculates an end-of-season RPI using the Pablo values has -
34 SMU
53 Rice
71 Shockers
88 Tulsa
etc.
All of this is very early, of course, and subject to dramatic changes.Comment
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East Carolina 0-0 .000 9-2 .818 2-1 2-1 5-0 W5 Temple 0-0 .000 9-2 .818 5-1 1-1 3-0 W3 Tulsa 0-0 .000 7-4 .636 3-0 0-3 4-1 W1 UTSA 0-0 .000 7-4 .636 4-2 1-1 2-1 W2 Florida Atlantic 0-0 .000 8-5 .615 5-1 1-2 2-2 L2 Rice 0-0 .000 6-4 .600 4-2 1-2 1-0 W2 Wichita State 0-0 .000 6-4 .600 0-2 2-1 4-1 W3 Charlotte 0-0 .000 7-5 .583 3-0 1-3 3-2 W2 South Florida 0-0 .000 6-5 .545 2-3 1-1 3-1 W3 SMU 0-0 .000 6-5 .545 4-0 1-2 1-3 W3 North Texas 0-0 .000 6-7 .462 2-1 0-4 4-2 W2 Memphis 0-0 .000 4-8 .333 3-3 0-2 1-3 W1 Tulane 0-0 .000 4-8 .333 1-5 0-1 3-2 L3 UAB 0-0 .000 2-10 .167 1-5 0-3 1-2 L6
Looks like East Carolina is in 1st place heading into conference play. Virginia State is definitely the toughest team they have played.
Both EC and Charlotte blocks could give WSU some trouble if the Shocker team that couldn't be not blocked shows up.Comment
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I think ECU is an improving program and are certainly capable of beating the Shocks, especially at home and with the Shocks beating Northern Colorado late on Saturday night followed by a long bus ride home only to face one of their 2 longest road trips (maybe the longets time-wise) of the AAC season after short rest and short practice. The Northern Colorado tournament schedule was in place before the AAC released the conference schedule. Lambo said had it been released before the NOCO tournment schecule had been set he would not have agreed to play NoCo late don Saturday.Originally posted by Critter's Pa View Post
Between that, and the AAC scheduling both matches with SMU and both matches with Rice on the road thiss season has done no favors the Shocks.
However, going strictly by won-loss records in the non-con to declare who is in 1st place doesn't hold much water. The five set win over Virginia Tech is a decent win but the rest of ECU's non-con schedule is not very impressive, as is pretty common for them. Their 2 losses are to Georgia Southern and Appalachian State. BTW, Virginia Tech's non-schedule is probably even weaker then ECU's.
Your best bet for evaluating the team's relative strength at this time would be to look at the Pablo Ratings that flyingMoose tracks.Comment
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