Wichita State Athletics
WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State middle blocker Morgan Stout and setter Izzi Strand were named First Team All-American Athletic Conference on Thursday.
Regular season champion South Florida brought home three of the five major awards: Player of the Year (Maria Clara Andrade, Jr., OH), Setter of the Year (Caroline Dykes, Sr., S) and Coach of the Year (Jolene Shepardson). Tulsa's Marta Pecalli claimed Libero of the Year and Sydney Jones of Temple secured Freshman of the Year.
The Shocker tandem was selected Second Team All-Conference in 2023 and have delivered another standout campaign in their final seasons at Wichita State.
Stout leads all middle blockers nationally in kills per set (3.10) and ranks second at the position in points per set (3.90) hitting a team-best .316 in the process. Her performance in conference play is even more impressive, as the native of Fowler, Kansas is averaging 3.46 kills per set and 4.38 points per set at a .343 hitting percentage. Over the final nine matches of the regular season, Stout recorded 13 kills or more in every match and had outings of 20 (2x), 22, and 23 terminations, establishing a new career high in the final regular season match against UTSA. She was named to the NCAA Volleyball Rotation of the Week after racking up consecutive kills-blocks double-doubles against Memphis and UAB, earning the first of two American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week Awards.
Stout has also developed into a legitimate weapon from the service line, firing 27 aces after totaling 14 in her first three seasons combined. In addition to her offensive prowess, the redshirt senior is averaging 1.00 block per set with a career-best 14 solo blocks and 101 block assists and has even set new career highs in both digs (98) and digs per set (0.85).
Strand continues to pile up assists at a dizzying rate, ranking 11th nationally with 1,119 helpers entering play on Friday. Her 9.73 assists per set are third in the American Athletic Conference, and the 5th year senior is averaging 10.31 assists since the start of conference play. She has reached 40 assists in each of the last nine matches of the regular season, highlighted by a season-best 54 assists against North Texas on November 15. Strand has already eclipsed 100 kills for a second consecutive season (105) and has increased her kills per set to 0.91. The native of Carlsbad, California is also putting together another consistent campaign at the service line, with 17 aces and a 1:1 aces:error ratio.
Defensively, Strand is in the midst of her most complete season as both a blocker and digger. Her 0.47 blocks per set represents a new career high, featuring three matches with five rejections. Her 2.51 digs per set match her career high established last season and include six matches with 15 or more digs. Strand was one kill away from her first career triple-double against Memphis on October 25, when she finished with nine kills, 44 assists and 20 digs.