WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State survived a thrilling, back-and-forth fourth set to clip Temple 25-20, 20-25, 25-16, 27-25 on Friday night at Charles Koch Arena.
Alyssa Gonzales fired a season-high 17 kills and hit .355, helping the Shockers hit .302 as a team on the night. They’d need every one of those kills to emerge victorious in the fourth set, which featured 14 ties, six lead changes, and set point opportunities for both teams.
Temple (6-7, 0-1) had the set’s biggest lead at 19-16, but Wichita State (7-7, 2-0) surged back to take a 22-20 advantage thanks to kills from Maddie Wilson, Morgan Stout and Brooklyn Leggett. The Owls responded by scoring four of the next five points to reach set point, 24-23, but Lexi Yoza misfired on the ensuing serve to give the Shockers new life. Stout’s kill made it 25-24, answered by a kill from Temple’s Chelci Banks to level the ledger, 25-25. Gonzales then tipped home her 17th kill of the night to reach match point and a Temple overpass was slammed down by Wilson for the match winner.
Wichita State sprinted out of the gates in the opening set, scoring six straight points to open the evening. Temple did not roll over, thrice cutting the WSU lead to three late in the set at 20-17, 22-19 and 23-20, but a pair of attack errors helped the Shockers close out the frame, 25-20.
A tense second set hung in the balance until late in the stanza when Temple delivered a decisive run. The Owls led just 21-20 after a Leggett kill but were able to put the foot down with four straight points, highlighted by a service ace from Mickhaila Murray that evened the match at a set apiece.
The only comfortable set of the evening came in the third, when Wichita State turned a 12-8 lead into 19-11 and cruised the rest of the way. WSU hit .450 in the set, getting four kills from Stout and limiting Temple to an .033 hitting percentage, the lowest for either side in a single set.
In addition to the offensive output from Gonzales, Wichita State got 13 kills from Emerson Wilford, 12 from Leggett, 11 from Stout and eight from Wilson, all distributed by 48 assists from Izzi Strand. WSU piled up 65 digs to Temple’s 49, getting double-digit performances from Annalie Heliste (18), Strand (13), Katie Galligan (10) and Reagan Anderson (10).
Wichita State is back in action next Friday at UAB. First serve from Birmingham is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
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