Volleyball Preview: Tulsa – Wichita State Athletics

WICHITA STATE (12-10, 7-3 American)

Friday, Nov. 1 (6:00 p.m. CT) at Tulsa (15-7, 7-3 American)
Tulsa, Okla. (Reynolds Center)
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Sunday, Nov. 3 (1:00 p.m. CT) vs. Tulsa (15-7, 7-3 American)
Wichita, Kan. (Charles Koch Arena)
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Fresh off a pair of hard-fought home victories, Wichita State takes on Tulsa in a split series on Friday and Sunday. The Shockers and Golden Hurricane square off on Friday in Tulsa and Sunday in Wichita.

Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats for both matches can be found at shockerstats.com.

SCENE SETTERS:

• Wichita State enters the stretch run of the 2024 regular season with consecutive matches against longtime rival Tulsa. The two sides will battle on Friday night at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa before squaring off again on Sunday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena.
• A stunning upset on Sunday has put the regular season conference title race back in limbo. UTSA, which entered the weekend in last place at 1-8, upset conference-leading South Florida 3-2 on Sunday in San Antonio. Rice and South Florida are now tied for the top spot at 8-2, though the Bulls do hold the tiebreaker via their win against Rice. East Carolina, Tulsa and Wichita State are all just one game back at 7-3.
• Wofford transfer Sarah Barham passed 1,000 career kills on Sunday, racking up 12 terminations on just 20 swings. Barham has 28 kills in her last three matches after recording 39 kills in the previous 19 matches.
• Redshirt senior middle blocker Morgan Stout was named to the NCAA Rotation of the Week and AAC Offensive Player of the Week after putting together two historic performances. Stout set new career highs for kills in consecutive matches and had double-digit blocks in both, going for 18 and 10 against Memphis and 22 and 10 against UAB.
• The Shockers rank third in the AAC in the latest RPI  rankings. Rice tops the conference at 34, while South Florida checks in at 69. Wichita State is 75, just ahead of Tulsa at 78.
• Head coach Chris Lamb is in his 25th season at the helm of the Shockers. Known affectionately as “Lambo,” the veteran head coach owns a career record of 520-246, good for a .679 winning percentage and the most wins in the American Athletic Conference.

LOOKING BACK:

• Morgan Stout established a new career high with 22 kills and Sarah Barham added 12 terminations of her own as Wichita State bested UAB 30-28, 24-26, 25-19, 25-20 on Sunday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena.
• Both Stout and Barham hit .450, helping the Shockers to a .233 team hitting percentage. UAB was limited to a .211 clip thanks to 12 WSU blocks. Wichita State also took advantage of 17 Blazers service errors.
• Wichita State survived a marathon first set in which UAB had five set point chances. The Shockers trailed 24-23, 25-24, 26-25, 27-26 and 28-27, but rattled off three straight points to steal the set. A UAB service error tied the set at 28-28, then Jorda Crook misfired to put Wichita State in front, 29-28. Emerson Wilford managed to slice a ball off the net and in for the set winner.
• The Blazers made the plays down the stretch in set two to even the match, pulling out a 26-24 win. With the score tied 24-24, Crook terminated to give UAB a 25-24 edge and on the ensuing point Gracie Morrow tipped just wide.
• The Shockers separated late in set three to regain control of the match. UAB had clawed to within 18-17 via an Abby Jones kill, but Wichita State scored six of the next seven points to expand their lead to a comfortable 24-18 margin. One point later, Stout slammed a quick set to the floor for a 2-1 advantage.
• WSU kept the momentum going into the early stages of the fourth set, racing to a 6-1 lead thanks to three consecutive blocks. UAB got back within two on multiple occasions in the middle stages of the stanza, but WSU had an answer for each rally. Stout racked up five kills and five block assists in the set. UAB’s 17th service error of the afternoon secured the win for Wichita State.

WSU-TULSA SERIES:

• The Shockers hold a 41-15 lead in the all-time series. At one point, WSU won 23 of 24 matches in the series from 1985 to 1996.
• WSU is 8-0 against the Golden Hurricane in Wichita since joining the AAC and 5-2 in Tulsa.
• The Shockers won both matches against Tulsa during the 2023 regular season, 3-1 in the series opener and 3-0 the following day. The two teams met again in the second round of the NIVC, with Wichita State downing the Golden Hurricane, 3-1.
• Only two of the 11 sets between the two teams were decided by fewer than eight points (4th set of Oct. 20 meeting, 25-22, and 4th set of Dec. 1 meeting, 25-21).
• Wichita State’s last home loss to Tulsa came in 1980. The Shockers are 23-2 all-time against the Golden Hurricane in Wichita and have won 20 straight.

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN HURRICANE:

• The Golden Hurricane check into play on Friday with an overall record of 15-7, including a 7-3 mark in AAC play that is tied with Wichita State an East Carolina for third place in the conference standings.
• Tulsa is riding a three-match winning streak, all of which have come in straight sets. The Golden Hurricane went on the road to sweep UTSA and then took care of UAB and Memphis at home this past week.
• The Golden Hurricane are one of the surprises in the conference after they were picked 10th in the AAC Preseason Poll. Tulsa was faced with the loss of three-time First Team All-Conference outside hitter Kayley Cassaday, who finished her career with 1,913 kills to rank second on the Tulsa career leaderboard.
• Senior libero Marta Pecalli spearheads an excellent defensive unit. The Italian passed 2,000 career digs  last week and was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week. As a whole, the Golden Hurricane rank 14th nationally in digs per set (17.31), while Pecalli is 24th individually (4.88).
• Tulsa’s balanced offense is led by Southern Illinois transfer Tatum Tornatta (3.17 points per set, .200 hitting percentage).
• Head coach Lauren Ramatowski is in her second season with the Golden Hurricane, coming off an 18-15 debut campaign. A Kansas State alum, Ramatowski spent one season at her alma mater as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator before taking over the reins at Tulsa. She coached previously at Arkansas, Washburn, Houston Christian, UTRGV and Truman State.

UP NEXT:

• The Shockers embark on their longest road swing of the 2024 conference season, going to Rice and Tulane next week ahead of another road match at North Texas the following Friday.