Shockwaves

Wichita State libero Jackie Church.

WSU plays No. 6 Southern California at 5 p.m. Friday. No. 3 Texas plays No. 14 Floriday at 7 p.m. The winners meet Saturday at 8 p.m.

Texas plays in 4,000-seat Gregory Gymnasium.

Tickets available here. I’m sure WSU will get an allotment, as well.

Wichita State senior-to-be Jackie Church heads into the fall as the team's top libero.

Wichita State  ended its spring volleyball schedule last weekend with a scrimmage day against Kansas. As always, coach Chris Lamb used the spring to try new things and put players in unfamiliar positions. The Shockers played matches against Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and others. “I learned a lot,” Lamb said. “We had some failed experiments. We had some successful experiments.”

• WSU’s back row will look different with the departure of Sarah Waldorf. Lamb is pleased with the work of Jackie Church, who should assume the libero role. Her defense is improved, Lamb said, and her serving and passing has always been a strong point. She is more assertive on defense, and Lamb said Kansas coach Ray Bechard called her the best defender in the gym last weekend.   Kelsey Banwart, Jordan Hinkle and Gaby Urban all made improvement. “We may go as far as our littles take us next year,” Lamb said. “They’re better than they were two months ago, but they need to get better. The talent is there. When I look at Jackie, I think she can be as good as any in the Valley.” Banwart, Hinkle and Urban, all sophomores-t0-be are behind Church and Lamb wants them to be more aggressive and defer less. Read More »

In contrast to MVC sports such as men’s and women’s basketball and baseball, volleyball is booming. Four Valley schools played in the NCAA Tournament in 2010, the fifth straight season the conference earned at least one at-large spot.

Here is The Wichita Eagle/Kansas.com preview for WSU, where liberos Sarah Waldorf and Jackie Church expect to play closer to amazing this season. The Shockers play Arizona tonight in Hawaii. Read More »

WSU's Sarah Waldorf (4) and Jackie Church (10).

Some bullets from a few minutes with Wichita State volleyball coach Chris Lamb this morning to wrap up his team’s spring season. The Shockers played in four tournaments, facing competition such as Texas, Nebraska, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Kansas State, UMKC and Baylor. Results are secondary to the experimenting and shuffling that goes on in preparation for the fall.

• Setter Mary Elizabeth Hooper (stress fractures) and middle Ashley Andrade (knee surgery) didn’t play in tournaments. Hooper did limited practicing, not jumping to protect her legs. Andrade didn’t practice. Read More »

Wichita State heads to Norman on Friday for the NCAA Tournament.

Schedule

Friday

LSU vs. Tulsa, 5 p.m.

Wichita State at Oklahoma, 7:30 p.m. Read More »