Courtesy of Wichita State Athletics
EL PASO, Texas -- Wichita State silenced a raucous sell-out crowd, sweeping UTEP 25-14, 25-22, 25-22 to claim the NIVC championship and the program's first national postseason title.
The Shockers (26-8) dominated the match virtually from start to finish, trailing just 1-0 in the first set and by just three points in the second on their way to another sweep. Wichita State dropped only one total set in the entire tournament, sweeping four of five matches on their way to the title.
UTEP (25-10) entered the match 14-0 at home this season and brought out 3,271 fans to witness the championship. But the Shockers kept the fans silent with a thorough first set performance, holding the Miners potent offense to a -.053 hitting percentage while hitting .321 themselves. A 9-2 run in the middle of the set proved to be the knockout blow, turning a 9-7 lead into an 18-9 advantage. The Shockers lefts carried much of the load, as Emerson Wilford and Barbara Koehler combined for seven kills on 14 swings without making an error. The Shockers had four blocks in the set, leading to 12 UTEP attack errors. The last of those four blocks, courtesy of Izzi Strand and Natalie Foster, clinched a 25-14 win for the Shockers in the opener.
The Shockers had to dig out of an early 5-2 hole in the second set, but the offense kicked into another gear to make up the deficit. Wichita State hit a blistering .429 in the frame, highlighted by five kills on 11 error-free swings from Wilford. The Shockers trailed as late as 18-17 but rattled off a crucial 5-0 run with Gabi Maas at the service line to take control, 22-18. Wilford delivered a trio of kills down the stretch to give the Shockers a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
Wichita State left no doubt in the third set, grabbing the lead on point one via a Natalie Foster kill and holding it the rest of the way. UTEP made a handful of late charges to cut into the WSU lead, pulling to within one at 18-17 following a Shocker attack error. But Wichita State gave themselves room for error by scoring five of the next seven points, capped off by an emphatic kill from Morgan Stout that stretched the advantage to 23-18. UTEP scored three in a row to force a Wichita State timeout, but Wilford stopped the bleeding with a kill to reach match point, 24-21. UTEP scored on the ensuing point to stay alive, setting up an unexpected moment of heroism for the Shockers. Morgan Weber, who had not attempted an attack all match, lined a ball off the block and down to the floor to set off a wild celebration.
The Shockers hit .292 to UTEP's .135, 139 points below their season average. Wilford led all scorers with 11 kills and 13 points, while Sophia Rohling added eight, Foster seven and Koehler six. Strand tallied 29 assists to go along with a pair of kills and seven digs, while Maas racked up a match-high 12 digs and one of WSU's two service aces.
Strand was named the NIVC MVP following the match, joined on the All-Tournament Team by Stout and Maas.
Wichita State ends the season on a six-match winning streak and winners of nine of their last ten matches. The 26 total victories are the most since the 2017 season.