2023 NIVC Tournament

[1972Shocker]

Shocks sweep Arkansas State 17, 20, and 19 and will face Tulsa, a 3-1 winner over Kansas City, for the 3rd time this season tomorrow at 1:30 pm in Koch Arena.

Good balanced scoring with Swifty, Sophia and Ba getting 9 kills each, Frosty had 8 and Brylie had 7.

Swifty at 9-0-12 = .750 and Frosty at 8-0-16 = .500 were by far the most efficient. The .750 hitting % for Swifty was a new career high for her.

[flyingMoose]

Shockers
17 20 19

Neither team was very impressive in the first set. Shockers upped their game as did the Red Wolves in the last two sets.


Shockers will have to play better than that to get very far, even past tomorrow maybe.


EDIT: Oops! Missed '72's comments above.

[flyingMoose]

Tulsa 3-1 UMKC
22 (18) 16 19

Drake 3-0 DePaul
19 20 15

[Critter's Pa]

From the Bracketology geek on VT -

I'll take Wichita State, Pacific, Clemson, and St. John's for the Final Four.



Sadly, I doubt the Shockers can keep their act together for that long. If they can get out of their pod and past Drake, then I can start being a believer. :)

I have it as a mostly AAC final four. Shockers, Wyoming, South Florida, and North Texas.

[Critter's Pa]

Sacramento State beat UNLV 3-0 (18) (17) (21). Hailey Plugge had 3 aces, 15 assists and 4 digs. Sacramento was running a 6-2. They play Montana State after they knocked off Pacific. I had Pacific beating UNLV to win the Sacramento pod. I really picked wrong here.

[1972Shocker]

Shockers will have to play better than that to get very far, even past tomorrow maybe.

I agree. Statistically, they numbers vs Arkansas State were pretty solid. But there just seemed to be a lack of something. Perhaps intensity and focus.

The Shocks handled Tulsa pretty well in the regular season wining 3-1 [13, (17), 14, 22] and 3-0 [17, 14, 17].

In the 4 set match Brylee was pretty good hitting 12-3-28 = .321 but Sophia was not very good hitting 18-4-38 = .368. Natalie and Morgan were okay but a little below standard for them.

In the 3 set match the following day Brylee did not play and Sophia only hit 8-5-24 = .125 but Emerson Wilford stepped up with one of her best matches of the year hitting 13-1-31 = .387 while Frosty and Swifty combined to hit 20-2-32 = .563.

Who knows what we will get from the left side today. Brylee was just okay against Arkansas State and Ba was pretty good, especially early on in that match. Sophia got off to a very slow start but picked it up late getting 5 of her 9 kills over the Shockers final 15 points of the match. With Brylee and Sophia you just never know how they are feeling physically.

It may come down to which team is the most interested in wanting to continue their seasons. This may particularly be a mental challenge for Brylee and Sophia.

[1972Shocker]

RH: Back in Class For Morgan Stout - Shockers Sweep Arkansas State

Even within the outstanding balance that defines Wichita State this season, junior middle Morgan Stout is on a trajectory that stands out.

She showed it again Thursday in Wichita State's 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-19) win over Arkansas State in the first round of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship at Koch Arena.

"It's been beautiful to watch," Wichita State coach Chris Lamb said. "I said, last match, that was her master class. Add this one to it and now we're kind of on a roll where she is playing at an elite level."

Stout led the Shockers with a .750 attack percentage, recording nine kills on 12 swings with no errors. Last week, she dented UAB for 13 kills and a .524 attack percentage.

Those numbers show a player who is finding the right routes and timing and using her superior athletic skills to put the ball on the floor in a variety of ways. Stout possessed that jumping ability and powerful swing in her first two seasons She lacked experience and refinement. She hit .202 as a freshman and .178 last season. Thursday's match raised her attack percentage to .342.

Stout, who played volleyball and basketball at Nickerson High, started playing volleyball in sixth grade. Leg injuries derailed two seasons and she redshirted in 2021 at Wichita State. The injuries limited her practice time to protect her legs.

This season, she is healthy and showing what work and practice time can create.

"Morgan Stout's just learning volleyball," Lamb said. "We committed a lot of time this spring to the needs of Morgan Stout. We did a drill every single day just in the hopes it would accelerate her comfort level. Can you identify something and go on a route?"

The answer more and more often this season is Stout can do all that and in sometimes spectacular ways. She even added two service aces in the third set to help the Shockers pull away from a 17-all tie.

As has been the pattern, the Shockers spread out their attack.

Left Barbara Koehler also had nine kills and hit .333 Her nine digs demonstrate her comfort playing all six rotations and Lamb's need for more scoring. Middle Natalie Foster added eight kills on 16 swings, also with no errors. Katie Galligan debuted at libero and recorded 11 digs, as did setter Izzi Strand.

"We've noticed (Koehler) is owning this opportunity and been aggressive and hasn't let it get to her when there's been a mistake or two," Lamb said. "Ba has really emerged in the last few weeks as being the most consistent outside hitter at a high level."

The Shockers, after finishing second in the American Athletic Conference and with a No. 62 RPI, believe they're an NCAA-quality team that didn't quite compile the necessary resume. The best way to back that up is to win NIVC matches.

[1972Shocker]

Shocks cruise in Set 1 winning 25-12 but are in the process of a total reversal trailing 11-21 in set 2.

Haven't checked in unitl just now. Looks like Sophia is playing well hitting 7-0-12 = .583 and Natalie is at .400 but only on 5 swings. Everyone else pretty much sucks.

Lambo better have some magic up his sleeve to implement during the intermission.

Tulsa close out Set 2 at 25-15.

Brylee and Emerson picked it up from the left side in Set 3 and Sophia is still Rohling. Shocks win set by a score of 25-16.

Crazy match so far. Not sure how well the Shocks defense is playing but Tulsa is only hitting .101 for the match vs .267 for the Shocks after 3 sets.

Hopefully, the Shocks can keep it going and finish this off in 4 sets.

[WuDrWu]

I thought Katie was playing well at libero but Gabi moves there for set 3. Shocks turn it back around (Emerson in for a struggling Ba was pivotal imho) and take set 3 fairly easily 25-16. Shocks have struggled to set the middles but have done a good job defending Cassaday.

Friends and family only here for the matinee. I assume the winner goes to Des Moines (Drake swept DePaul), but I am a big pessimist lately.

[1972Shocker]

Tulsa made a late run but the Shocks finish it off in 4 with a 25-21 win in the 4th set.

Shocks will host Drake on next Wednesday at 6:30 pm (I think that is was Mike said).

Looking forward to watching the match sometime this weekend.

[BAShocker]

The 1st, 3rd and 4th sets were fun to watch. Thought Emerson came in and did great. Hope they can do it all again on Wednesday.

[1972Shocker]

The 1st, 3rd and 4th sets were fun to watch. Thought Emerson came in and did great. Hope they can do it all again on Wednesday.

What happened in Set 2?

[flyingMoose]

What happened in Set 2?

As usual in those circumstances, we couldn't pass the ball. Tulsa stunk up Set One. There was a 12-0 Shocker run in there. The Shockers stunk up Set Two. After that, both teams played reasonably well; we just have more horses than they do.

This is twice in recent matches that Lambo has made adjustments at intermission that worked out great.

[BAShocker]

What happened in Set 2?

What Moose said. Went downhill fast. Passing, setting, hitting, serving…was all bad. Changes at “halftime” was a good move.

[Critter's Pa]

22-0. It's been a few years since we played Drake. Drake lost the NIVC championship last year, so this team might be better than the Drake of the old MVC days.

Drake beat both Tulsa and South Florida in non-con, both 3-0. They also swept WSU non-con foes Bradley and Illinois State in their conference schedule.

Hope this team carries on the tradition to make it 23.