Wichita State Volleyball: Flying High in the Air Capital

Wichita State Volleyball’s season ended abruptly on Saturday, but 2017 will be remembered as one of the best years in the program’s history.

Chris Lamb is to Wichita State Volleyball what Gregg Marshall is to Wichita State Basketball. That’s how big a deal it is to have “Lambo” calling the shots for the volleyball program. Lamb just finished his 18th season as the Lady Shox head coach. They may have fallen short of their ultimate goal, but there is no doubt this team has left their mark.

There is so much to say about what Lamb has done for the program. I don’t even know where to start, so I guess the beginning is the logical place. I first met Chris on what must have felt like his first day on the job. He showed up at my 18’s club practice and introduced himself as the Head Coach at Wichita State. I was both dumb-founded & pleasantly surprised to see him there.

What stuck out to me about that day was his demeanor. Energetic, confident in himself, humble in his approach, and willing to do whatever it took to build the program. He took the time to introduce himself to the local volleyball community and that’s exactly why that community is now behind him and his program, 100%.

Attendance is at an all-time high

The attendance record at Charles Koch Arena is a huge testament to that fact. In his first year, the total attendance for the entire year was 3,571 over 12 home matches. That’s an average of just under 300 fans per game. In a stadium that seats over 10,500, you could hear crickets chirping in between points. In 2016, the total attendance was up to 27,163, which is over 2,200 per game.

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To add to that, this year the Shockers were able to host their first ever NCAA Tourney matches, and set all-time school attendance records for volleyball. The Shocker Faithful packed the roundhouse with 7,257 on Friday Night. They eclipsed that number on Saturday Night, albeit by one person, but setting the all-time mark at 7,258. Very impressive numbers for a program that is now one of the top 10 programs in the country in attendance.

In the beginning

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s talk about volleyball. When Lamb took over the Lady Shockers in 2000, the program was coming off of an overall record of 9-22 and 5-13 in the conference. His first year was even tougher, going 8-23 and 2-16 in the Missouri Valley.

By his second year things were getting slightly better, going 11-16. They still struggled in conference play, taking 13 of their 16 losses in Missouri Valley competition. The addition of a big time freshman recruit, and future All-American Sara Younes certainly moved things in the right direction. Younes, with her powerful jump serve, holds the all-time record for service aces in a year & service aces for her career.

Turning things around

By his third year things had turned around, going 18-13 overall & 11-7 in the MVC. Younes was a big part of that turn around. She drastically improved her Kill-to-error ratio, and improving her kill percentage from .201 all the way up to .353. The team itself was also improving, going from an abysmal .145 team hitting percentage, up nearly 100 points to .244 in 2003.

In 2004, Lamb led the Lady Shox to their first ever MVC championship, and followed that up by winning the conference tournament, and getting their first ever bid into the NCAA Volleyball tournament. It would not end there, as Lamb was able to record his first ever NCAA tournament win. The team was knocked out of the tournament in the second round, but the Lady Shox were able to build year after year from there.

Lamb was able to improve his record and his conference standing each of his first six years as head coach, earning him MVC Coach-of-the-Year honors in 04 & 05. Lamb has now led the team to 15 straight 20-win seasons, including one trip to the sweet sixteen. The rest is history, and you can read all about it here.

The Heartbreak is real.

Recent Achievements

Now that you know all about Shocker Volleyball history, it’s time to get you caught up on more recent achievements. With all the great players & teams to have come through the Shocker system, the 2017 team will certainly stand out as one of the best. While going undefeated in conference play is quite an accomplishment, it is not unprecedented for one of Lamb’s teams.

The big difference between this year’s team & teams of the past has been their move to the American Athletic Conference. I don’t think anyone could have dreamt that going undefeated in a tougher conference was a possibility, but both players and coaches from this year’s team would have certainly argued that.

The 2017 Shockers set out to accomplish some pretty lofty goals, including an undefeated regular season and a trip to the sweet sixteen. While they did come up just short, they were able to do what many thought was impossible: winning the AAC in their inaugural season in a new conference, and doing so in unbeaten fashion.

Going back and reading through all of the accomplishments of Chris Lamb and the Shocker Volleyball program, I have to say it was eye-pooping to say the least. This year’s Shockers were among the best ever to step foot on Devlin Court.

Even more recent achievements

Last but certainly not least, you can never take away the accomplishments of players like All-American Abbie Lehman, whose .441 hitting average was 5th best in the country. Setter Emily Heibert, who was ranked 13th in the country in assists per set, and Giorgia Civita, who was ranked in the top 35 in the country for both total digs & digs per set.

Not to mention the fire & passion that Mikaela Raudsepp brings to the team. Add Tabitha Brown, Alex Koon, and Emma Wright to the mix, and you have yourself one of the top 20 teams in the country, who gave everything they had, and left it all on the court in their final game together.

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While Heibert, Lehman, & Raudsepp will all be graduating this year, we are looking forward to a new batch of star players that Chris Lamb will be putting on the floor next year. Until then, thank you for putting a quality product on the floor for the Shocker Faithful to enjoy & support. And maybe, just maybe, next year will be our year.

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