Wichita State Athletics
DALLAS -- The 2024 Wichita State volleyball season came to an end on Thursday night with a 28-26, 25-17, 25-14 loss to SMU in the NCAA Championship First Round at Moody Coliseum.
The Shockers finish the season with an 18-14 overall record. SMU advances to the Second Round to take on Missouri on Friday night at 7:00 pm CT.
Wichita State went blow-for-blow with the Mustangs in the opening set, building a 10-7 lead when Maddie Wilson delivered a block and kill in quick succession. A rapid-fire 3-0 burst later in the set restored the lead to three at 18-15, and the Shockers held a slim 23-22 advantage after Naya Shime misfired on an attack for SMU. But the Mustangs scored the next two points, giving them the first of several set point opportunities at 24-23, 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26. Kills from Brooklyn Leggett and Morgan Stout, sandwiched around a Natalie Foster service error, kept WSU alive, but Casey Batenhorst dropped in a service ace to finally clinch the set for SMU.
The Shockers fell into a 12-7 hole early in the second set that grew to 17-9 and 20-11 as the Mustangs hit a blistering .462 in the set. Leggett hammered four kills in short order to help the Shockers pull back within seven at 24-17, but a Maya Tabron termination gave SMU a 2-0 lead at intermission.
SMU and WSU traded points to open set three, with the Mustangs holding a 5-4 edge before a decisive 4-0 spurt gave SMU a lead they did not concede. A Stout kill got Wichita State to as close as 13-10, but the Mustangs responded with three straight points to lengthen the lead back to six and cruised to the finish line.
Wichita State hit .141 in the match to .309 for SMU. Leggett led the Shockers with nine kills while Stout had eight in her final collegiate match. Fellow seniors Izzi Strand (27 assists) and Annalie Heliste (six digs) also played well in defeat. Katie Galligan paced WSU with 14 digs.
SMU was led by Tabron's 14 kills and 11 from Shime. The Mustangs totaled 12.5 team blocks, while WSU finished with 8.0.