Speaker 1 00:00:12 Hello and welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Sutro of Wichita State University Strategic Communications. Our guest is volleyball coach Chris Lamb. He will wrap up spring practices for us. Chris is entering his 24th season at Wichita State in the fall of 2023. Chris, have you started thinking about your all 25 year team? You know, I'm gonna ask you about that as we, as we get closer to that.
Speaker 2 00:00:38 I don't think it's so much as if I had to put a team together as just, um, some of the impact players and people over the years that I thought were just, uh, so important to their teams, uh, for different reasons. I think about that a lot. Um, every now and then we'll get into a conversation with other coaches. You know, what would be, what would your starting lineup be if you could bring everybody out in their prime and that's fun to do. Um, I, I, yeah, I can imagine that we could probably have fun with that conversation.
Speaker 1 00:01:14 25 years of Lambeau, that would be an interesting thing to think about. I guess Kelly Brard at Lobero would be my only thing that I would feel strongly about, just cuz I enjoyed watching her playing so much. There may have been better ones, but she, she would, one I really enjoyed. All right. Let's talk about the shockers. Uh, they played in the, uh, niv V C last season, finished with an 1813 record, just to remind people, 13 and six in the American Athletic Conference, uh, middle Natalie Foster and left Riley Kelly earned all conference honors right side. Sophia Rowling was on the second team. So last season, let's, uh, bring people up to date, refresh their memories. You beat Iowa State, that was a big deal. Uh, you finished really strong, winning seven of the final eight, uh, in the regular season, a win at smu. Those would be among the highlights. What was your takeaway from last fall that led you into spring practices?
Speaker 2 00:02:07 Well, I feel like if I don't say this out loud, it, it gets a little lost, but never, never really look at our overall record. I, I clearly schedule tougher than most what I say for a very calculated reason. We have this thing called R p I. Um, it's the most important piece, uh, is to that the most important piece of that formula is your non-conference schedule. I mean, I was arguing with some college coaches recently in a conference call. I mean, you're trying to make apple pie without apples to do it any other way. I mean, the apple pie is, is, uh, rpi, well, the main ingredient is non-conference schedules. So you, you're benefited by playing good teams win or lose. So go play 'em. And the people that chase 21 seasons, I hope you get there, but not at the expense of not having apples in your apple pie.
Speaker 2 00:03:10 It doesn't make any sense. So, um, you know, a, a record a record a little better than 500 is very possible in, um, doing this. And that might even be a losing non-con record. And then hopefully, you know, doing a good job in conference, that's very possible. So if you're able to do a good job in conference and come out ahead above 500 with a good apple filled non-conference schedule, then you've done a lot. But people who just look at records would never see that. Um, I, I pay attention to that. I pay attention to strength of schedule and result, not just records. So when, when people, when people set a predetermined number for, hey, we wanna win this many games, and you don't really look into who those opponents were, you're really missing the point. You're missing a lot. So, you know, I hear you say 18 and 13, and I think that might just seem to be average to a lot of people.
Speaker 2 00:04:07 But when you consider who those games were against, and you consider that we've been trying to save money around here since Covid, so we're not flying on airplanes to go around and get the best apples in our schedule. Uh, I think we've done a heck of a job, me and my staff building the schedule we've made the last couple of years. I mean, just look at our non-con winning percentage, the teams we play and how they've done most, most, most bubble teams. You go look at that, that that number's about 52, 53, 54, 4%. Well, so they're all in the bubble and they're, they're all hovering around the bubble. But the teams that go out and play a better non-con, that's the gift that keeps on giving. So throughout the year, their RPIs are going up because their non-con teams, non-conference matches are against teams that are doing a good job and they're winning.
Speaker 2 00:04:55 So then, then that, that pays dividends to your rpi. So, you know, for you, you mentioned, you mentioned our record and that's because you're just doing what everybody does. But you should be saying is, you know, we were 58 in the rpi. That's, that's what I want to hear cuz that's the apples, uh, the conference schedule. Uh, I'm sorry. The overall, the overall result, the overall record, um, is really secondary to what really matters. So I will throw that out there. It's one thing to say 18 and 13 last year. It's an entirely other thing to say that we had a really high rpi.
Speaker 1 00:05:32 So over the years you've been able to bring in really good non-conference opponents to, uh, to Wichita. I can think back to Washington, Michigan State, Kentucky, BYU Creighton, on and on. How has scheduling changed Hawaii? How has scheduling changed in your
Speaker 2 00:05:48 Time here? Um, just needing, we'll, we we're gonna have to start having guarantees now with everybody throwing money around. You know, we give people 10 rooms for three nights when other schools will give 'em 10 rooms for three nights and $5,000. Um, but the key is getting another good team. One, once I get a Texas here or a Tennessee and a Colorado state, then I get Texas. When I got Creighton in South Dakota, both 20 game winners, then I got Hawaii. We're the only school to get Hawaii off the island for a non-con in 20 years. But I, I proved to them that it was a good RPI tournament. Well, the three of us would win 20 plus games and it would help them with seating come RPI seating time at the end of the year. And it did. So, um, the number one thing is to get a really good team on the books.
Speaker 2 00:06:42 So you can do that by going to their place and hopefully getting a return when you're negotiating your, your schedule in the future. So, you know, this year we got Kansas coming on a return. Well, that got us Colorado. Now we, we lost Santa Clara. We're still hoping for a third team. We might not get it, but you know, on that weekend, Wichita State, Kansas and Colorado, we're all gonna be here. You know, good, good luck finding other mid-majors like us with that same kind of fire power at a home tournament. You know, and most of, most of the teams schedule home tournaments. They, they, they go, they try to schedule a two in one record or a three and o record. I, i, I don't really care about it. The important part is that they're here and that they're on our schedule. If we can beat 'em, great. But like I said, the dividends are coming from, hey, we're bringing good teams to our, our fans. We get to have home games against real opponents. When I say real, I mean heavyweights. Um, and then down the road it should pay off with, you know, they go out and have good seasons at a high level, it should help us with our rpi.
Speaker 1 00:07:42 Do recruits wanna play against that type of schedule if
Speaker 2 00:07:45 They're competitors? They do. No, we, we sell that all the time in recruiting. I go, we don't run and hide in scheduling. I mean, the worst, the worst opponent, I hate saying it out loud, the worst opponent we've had in a non-con in years was Holy Cross at Penn State. But Hofstra was winning 20 games. Penn State was a top 10 team. And then Penn State gave me a return. Bad news is they haven't done it yet, now we haven't gotten 'em back here. They had a coaching change, but that's a lot. I'm getting Penn State a top 10 program to come play Wichita State eventually. But at the end, they lost a team. I forget who, and added Holy Cross. I would never have put a five and 20 team on our schedule. We got the win, of course, but like I said, that's actually hurting us, not helping us. Um, but you know, that's what we ended up getting. We'd already agreed to the tournament. The tournament changed, those things happened. Um, but, you know, we got a, a win against a, a very good hoffs for team and we hopefully in the near future we'll have Penn State here a a top 10 program that will attract another amazing team and we'll get to bring that to Wichita.
Speaker 1 00:08:48 So back to last, last December, season's over, what's tops on your priority list As you start thinking about what you want, want to accomplish in the spring,
Speaker 2 00:08:58 You're talking about what I wanted to accomplish last spring. So
Speaker 1 00:09:01 You were to take us back to December and you were making your plans for the spring schedule. Spring practices.
Speaker 2 00:09:05 Okay, so last year, uh, pretty hard not to go here first. You know, we were super young when covid hit, when everybody started getting a, an extra year, uh, around the ncaa around college athletics. And at the same time, this new variable fund, new variable enters the equation called the transfer portal. Well, we weren't really a part of the portal in any December when so many volleyball players are transient coming and going. So this year we had an opportunity to be in the transfer portal and we were aggressive and I think we changed our roster for the better. Um, I say that because in our own backyard, just watching other schools in our area and evaluating my thoughts on how the transfer portal has affected those programs. I guess I could say this out loud, but you know, kids that left K State were better than the kids.
Speaker 2 00:09:58 They got kids that left Missouri were a lot better than the kids. They got kids that left Oklahoma were better than the ones they got. I think those three programs in our backyard were in deficit in the transfer portal. However, I think Kansas got it better. I think Creighton got better and I think Nebraska got better. So I'm saying, well this transfer portal thing in our backyard seems to be 50 50. Let's take our chances at it and see how we do well in our first effort this last December. Um, I'm pretty positive that our roster has upgraded with Casey Litz out having hurt her foot and was gonna miss the spring to basically rehab a a a a a foot injury. Um, we knew we needed to track down another center and did. And I think, uh, I think Izzy Strand has been terrific.
Speaker 2 00:10:50 Um, really, really good. I think, uh, I'm not exactly sure when and where everybody will be, but I think shocker fans will see some new faces in the fall and they will, um, say, well, whatever neck girl come from, well, she came to the transfer portal, it's kind of the new normal and we've seen it around here in basketball. Um, but the volleyball fans will see it for the first time. And, and Barbara, Kohl's a a great athlete and he's gonna help our program right away. Um, couple of the girls I think are gonna help in time. Gabby Mos most likely be our starting libero, uh, as we set sale in August. Um, and a few others. I think their time will come. They're young. Matt Wilson, uh, Brooklyn Leggett for sure, uh, will have their time, but we may, we may look to red shirt Madison because we can.
Speaker 2 00:11:45 Um, but she also could be a starter in, in a position or two. So we've got options. So the spring brought us some new, um, athletes and uh, the spring went really well because our lo because our roster was large enough, we were able to enter these spring competitions as two different teams. And while it's spring and you can't draw too many conclusions from spring, I'll tell you that when we split our team in half at the Kansas City Tournament, well one of those teams, uh, beat U M K split with U mkc, beat Rockhurst and then beat Arkansas, Northern Iowa. The other team beat Missouri, Arkansas, Northern Iowa and Tulsa. And those were two shocker teams that were split in half. So not every team is up full strength in the spring, I get that. But I know what I'm looking at on the other side of the net.
Speaker 2 00:12:42 I know who I'm seeing. And it was pretty refreshing to make you feel good about your methods when you are stacking up against teams and competing with them, let alone coming away with a victory. And um, you know, we finished at Nebraska and we lost 20, 20, 21, I believe without really preparing for a team. And they didn't either. I mean, let's be honest, but you know, it's just my observation with how physical, cause they were a final 14 last year and they're better now than they were then. So, um, I thought that was a nice way to put a bow on our springing to go up there and, and really compete well against what I think will be a preseason top five or better team in Nebraska. Huskers,
Speaker 1 00:13:31 Let me run through these newcomers to catch people up. Uh, you mentioned Barbara Kohler. Kohler. Yep. Uh, junior College Transfer from Florida Southwestern, uh, Brooklyn Leggett is an outside hitter from Colorado Mesa, NCAA Division two school. Um, Matt Wilson is a middle from Idaho, transfer from Idaho. Izzy Strand, you mentioned the Setter. She's a transfer from uc, San Diego and Gabby Moss, Lobero DS transfer from tcu and Megan Riley and outside from Arizona State. So you've had semester editions before, uh, Mary Elizabeth Hooper may be the most prominent of them. When you have this many, how do you go about, you know, structuring things, integrating those, all those new people?
Speaker 2 00:14:21 Well, I trust my instincts and walk in the gym. I see what I got. I, I I, my staff and I, while we're pretty fluid, um, pretty nimble. We do have a, we do have sort of a philosophy for the spring. This year's philo, this springs philosophy had more to do with point scoring. Uh, we've got a few shockers as good as we did last year as well as we did last year. Um, the shockers still needed to score more and more spots, uh, kill percentage. I'm talking about kill percentage. We, we played clean, we played good defense. Serving pass certainly got better as we went along. But I'm looking at my team saying the difference between us and SMU and Houston and UCF is Firepower. And, and, and you're talking recruiting. You're talking about just more physical players at these schools. So Firepower is on their side, but to beat 'em, if they're getting 17, 18 points a game, you gotta get close and you're gonna block two a game.
Speaker 2 00:15:29 You're gonna get an ace and a half a game, you know, so there's three and a half points that are probably gonna be there, but the rest are gonna come from kills. So where are your 13, where your 1415 kills gonna come from? Right? With with with five attackers? Well, so that averages out to be three A game. Well, alright, who's gonna get three a game? You, you know, I mean you got a setter that can get you one. Now you got five attackers. Well, Bri last year got over four. Sophia was three and a half, but you know, so many others were in the twos. Frosty could get up there if we could keep her busy. But the shockers needed to in need to improve kill percentage and then what we call the M one position, if we're in a five one offense, the middle next to the setter in volleyball is called the M one position.
Speaker 2 00:16:17 Frosty played Natalie Foster played that for us last year, but she's, she's, that's not her lane. She's good at it. First team all conference. But she's great in the two spot. And we felt if we could make M one better without it being Natalie Foster, that might be as good as of anything we can do. But it requires work training. So basically you're saying let's get Maddie Wilson up to speed, let's get Morgan Stout up to speed, let's get Lauren McMahon up, let's just train the heck out of this thing. And in doing so, we also made Natalie Foster better at that job. But we made a huge commitment to preparing that piece. And along the way it also helps you defend it. So where we, we played a lot of scenarios involving growth at that position. That was, that was job number one of our spraying. And it, it, it paid off.
Speaker 2 00:17:12 Explain the difference between M one and M two. Okay, so if you're in a five one offense, you got one setter, not two. So when the setter gets to the front row, she's a setter. And you have two hitters. When they're in the back row, she's in the back row. So you have three hitters. So 99% of the volleyball teams in America will have that setter be it right front 99.9. And so now you've got a middle blocker slash middle attacker and an outside hitter. And if you're lucky you've got a back row attacker. But it's two hitters. So people, if the M one, the person who is in the front row with the setter two rotations, it's the girl that's called the M one and one rotation that girl's in the back row. And it's the other middle that's up in the front row with the setter labeled as the M two.
Speaker 2 00:18:00 But now playing in the M one role as a front row middle, the front row middle routes are usually a little different than the M two s cuz the M two s have a right side player next to 'em. So they pretty much stay in the middle where the M one s run middle and right. So they're run all over the place. I'm just being very, very vague. This is kind of just sort of spitballing this here suitcase terms so so to speak. But the idea of identifying where the pass is, where the dig and can you choose a good route, get to it and can your center and you connect with power. And that's one thing to set 'em, that's another thing that to swing with power. So it's been a job of ours a a responsibility of ours to get that upgraded, improve it and you know, you recruit for it but you certainly hope you can find it cuz there's not a lot of 'em out there.
Speaker 2 00:18:59 Um, you know, it's, uh, I follow NFL football a a lot and, uh, I'm obsessed with the NFL draft and you hear all the time these guys say, Hey, walk into a bar. There's a whole bunch of guys standing in a bar that look like defensive backs, you know, and, and then linebackers. But how many, how many people look like an NFL offensive lineman? There's only so many on the planet <laugh>. You, you better get a few. Well, the m one role requires, you know, jumping ability like triple jumpers. I mean, they're running and they're going lateral and they're, they're flying all over the place. And, and they gotta be quick decision makers because they gotta identify a dig and then find somewhere to go. Um, if you want to be good at it, you can just roll out the dice and say, Hey, just play straight up.
Speaker 2 00:19:47 But if you really wanna make an impact there, it's gonna require some talent and some skill and a lot of work. And I, Abby Layman was great there, uh, underrated. You named some, you, you asked earlier about, you know, great shockers. One of the most underrated shockers is, is Sarah, uh, McGee, um, for not being very physically talented. She was brilliant with her decision making and brilliant with her hand on the ball contact. Um, I mean she got the most out of her talent at that position. And, and three, three time all conference player first teamer, um, it was a walk on. I mean it's proud of, proud of Sarah McGee. Uh, that story means a lot and I'm real proud of that. It's so bit, so, so you gotta develop it and if you want to really be impactful there. So I know I've said a lot to answer that question, but, you know, Morgan Stout is the kind of athlete that she can go as far in volleyball as she wants to. She's, she's a gifted volleyball talent. And I'll, I'll tell you what, shocker. Fans will be happy to see what, uh, Madison Wilson brings to the table in that role. And she's sort of built for it, the way she runs and jumps and swings. And so, you know, if, if we are able to red shirt Maddie this year with three more years to go, we, we probably feel pretty comfortable that we have an M one in the top third of our league for years to come. And that's important.
Speaker 1 00:21:14 So take us through the center position. Now you mentioned Izzy Strand. Casey Litz, how is transferring to the University of Washington? How's that position look at the end of the spring?
Speaker 2 00:21:22 Well, I always like having three centers in the gym and this is a bit of a, it hurts to, to to imagine that, you know, I'm never gonna see, uh, Casey Litell on senior night. Um, but you know, the transfer portal and all these kids getting that fifth year, I mean, you got, you got kids going all over the place to play one season of volleyball everywhere coming and going. So it's, you know, for, for all of us older fans and coaches, it's just gotta get used to it. Um, she was, you know, not, not so sure she'd be starting for us next year. I told her I couldn't promise her that I don't promised anybody starting positions, but, you know, was given an opportunity at Washington where heck, they're gonna pay for her to get a master's degree, they're gonna pay for fall, spring, fall, spring.
Speaker 2 00:22:12 I mean, I don't know how people are doing that, but that's change if, if, if, if that's the new normal. Um, wow, look out that people can offer that kind of academic money down the road. Um, I mean I talk, I we keep thinking that NLI is the, the, the next, you know, playground to play on. Well, don't forget about things like this, if this is, if this is what's going on. Uh, and and she and she had that opportunity I think with Creighton and San Jose State also in her recruiting process. So I, I've gotta dig in and find out a little bit more about that cuz it kind of caught me off guard. Uh, we don't have the, i I don't have the ability as a coach to sit there and tell people where academic money could come from for them at least, at least beyond the, the spring semester. So, you know, these athletes are finding themselves some, some pretty nice situations that, you know, they might not be able to get at home. Um, so that's changing and recruiting also. But, um, excited for her and she, she came into the office and, and, you know, told us what her, her thoughts were and we support her on it. But we certainly now are in the market to, to try to still get another shutter in the gym. And we're, we're still working at that.
Speaker 1 00:23:26 So you've got Izzy Strand, the transfer, and you've got, uh, one wheeler returner Lo Lauren Wheeler. Uh, tell us about Izzy. When I saw her, the Kansas State scrimmage drop in practices every once in a while. She, she looks, the part is what kept popping into my brain.
Speaker 2 00:23:43 Yeah, I mean, she's, she's fun in the gym. She's got good silly energy. Kind of reminds me of Andy Hardig that way. There's kind of a, there's kind of a silliness to her that once you, once you get it, it, it, it kind of keeps things going. Um, Andy Hardig was the best at that. Um, Izzy's got a lot of talent. I mean, I, I I I I, I'd liken her to Chelsea Fecon in this regard. And Fecon was terrific, obviously one of the best ever. But Fecon didn't have great feet, but her hands made up for what her feet didn't do for her. Izzy's got amazing hands. She, she can fling this thing from all over the place. Um, even though she's not really there with her feet and body just extremely strong in the arms and the elbows and the wrists and, um, and, and good, good with lawn balls.
Speaker 2 00:24:43 So not that she can just chuck it out there. She's accurate and consistent with her rhythm tempo, as we say in volleyball. So I, I can just imagine that Sophia Rowling's attempts are gonna go up because Izzy can find her from more places and it's a consistent ball that, that Sophia with physical advantage can go up and get. Also, um, we, you know, in volleyball there's sort of this a set to the middles away from the setter called the three or a 31 or different shoot set. I mean, different coaches will have different titles, but it's still a long set. And a lot of, a lot of people don't encourage that. Cuz the longer the ball's in the air, the easier it is for, you know, blockers to get to it. So, you know, either love it or you hate it. Well, it's unbelievable to me the success that, uh, Izzy has with this long three set long three gap set as we call here.
Speaker 2 00:25:41 Um, you know, on paper you're like, maybe bad decision. Well, it was a kill. That was a bad decision. That was another kill. So, you know, you find stuff like that too. You play to your athlete's strengths and she's good at it. Her, her and Maddie Wilson. I mean, if Maddie finds herself onto the floor, I'll tell you what those, the way those two comfortably hook up with that route, you know, you see, you imagine quarterbacks and receivers and there's just some routes that just, you know, it's coming and you can't stop it. There's, I have a little bit of that feeling going on, uh, with Lauren McMahon and that sat and with, uh, Natalie, I mean, I'm sorry, with, uh, Matt Wilson with Izzy. They're, they're very good at it. It's something that just sticks out to me.
Speaker 1 00:26:22 Lauren Wheeler Redshirted as a freshman last fall. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, how did she progress?
Speaker 2 00:26:27 Yeah, so I mean, shocker fans might remember Haley Pluggy, well, Haley Pluggy did transfer it semester cuz, cuz because, uh, Casey litz out decided to come back for her fifth year, and Haley just wanted to play. So she transferred back to Cali and she's going to Sack state. So when Hayley left, that's why we felt we ought to recruit another set. And that's where Izzy Strand came from. But when, when Lauren Wheeler got here in the summer and the girls were playing open gyms, we had, we had shocker volleyball players come into my office telling me that they thought Lauren Willie would start over, Casey and Hailey. And right off the bat, to me it was Casey's job all the way. And she never looked back. But right off the bat, I thought, man, Wheeler's wave's going to pass Hayley here. I think that lasted a couple of weeks and then I think Hayley kicked it into gear and the college routine and the college grind also catches up to a lot of freshmen. And I think Lauren Wheeler had to learn how to ride that wave. But, um, when I said earlier that we'd split our team into two teams, I mean, Lauren Wheeler was on the other side of that from Nebraska, I mean from, uh, Arkansas bringing home a win, nor Lauren Wheeler was on the other side of the net from Northern Iowa.
Speaker 3 00:28:03 Hi, this is Rick Yuma, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast. Each episode I sit down with different guests from Chaker Nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen, wherever you get your podcasts,
Speaker 2 00:28:31 May asked her in her year end meeting what her greatest accomplishment was as an athlete slash volleyball player. And she started pointing to some high school matches and some club matches. I said, well, I go, I know we've left the Missouri Valley, but you're, you're, you're talking to a man that has great respect for my northern Iowa Panthers. And I go, I don't know, I don't know what you know about northern Iowa, but I know how I feel about northern Iowa. And I go, Lauren, I've watched you and your team beat what I believe is a starting lineup for northern Iowa outside of maybe a freshman or two walking in the door. But I go, I go, those things matter to me. You, you were on the floor during a win. It's one, it's one thing, you know, it's one thing to be a starter on a college team.
Speaker 2 00:29:21 It's another thing to be on a starter on a college team that can win, right? I mean, so, you know, I pay attention to these stuff like that. And for me as an evaluator, for me as having the great honor and responsibility to be Lauren's coach and all these young women's coach, I mean, I, as an evaluator, which I, I bring my evaluation hat to practice every single day. Uh, I'm going, okay, look what you just did. You need to consider that a step up the ladder. And I don't even know if she noticed it that way, but that's a good thing because, you know, let's say is he, let's say, is he, you know, as he got bonked on the head this year and missed some practice with a parent concussion, I mean, we got the protocols now, you know, it's okay Lauren, because Casey was out with her foot.
Speaker 2 00:30:09 Lauren, Lauren, it's on you now. Are you ready? And a lot of people, a lot of programs in college would take a step back when, uh, you know, softball when the other pitcher has to pitch or in volleyball when the other setter, the younger setter has to take over. So yeah, it matters that you can improve at that in that role. And I hope that she feels good about it. She also probably is in the best shape of her life now. It's every volleyball player's responsibility to be in their best shape of the life each spring. Cuz we have nothing else really to do, but get in tiptop shape and hold onto to as much of that as you can through the summer coming into the fall. And the fall is just attrition. It's a weathering down of our bodies from August to December. So you, you do the best you can. Well, I think Warren got as serious about her body and getting herself ready and created some good habits for herself. So she should come in in August, ready to fight, ready to go.
Speaker 1 00:31:05 So the description I kept hearing during spring practices was the gym got deeper, the gym got more competitive, talking about using gym as a term for the roster, the practice sessions. Yeah. Describe that. What did, what did that look like on a day-to-day basis for the coaches?
Speaker 2 00:31:19 So, I mean, not just legitimate scrimmages, but moving kids around and having it in almost any configuration, having it be very competitive. So people playing on different sides in the net of each other, not keeping a single lineup together for very long. I mean, literally development on the brain more so than fine tuning a lineup. And um, you know, you'd have to walk into the gym and decide for yourself who our starters were. I mean, you might know because, you know, shocker volleyball, you know who the usual suspects are. But you know, you could walk in on any given day and, and go, well maybe that girl's aro, maybe that girl's a stronger, I mean, you, you, you watch my Lobero squad right now and you tell me who the best one is because on any given day it's three or four of 'em are right in it.
Speaker 2 00:32:10 I mean, those, those, that group has been terrific. Um, you know, and that's, that's what I want to see. And, and you know, everybody knows Sophia on the right and there is a difference there. She's a, she's a physical gifted talent, but statistically Brooklyn legacy's not far behind on paper. You might not notice her in a gym, but on paper, wow. She might be the heir apparent to the great Sophie rolling. Um, and wouldn't that be nice? Um, because you know, everybody, you know, even even Babe Ruth got replaced in Wright Field by somebody and it's not every year you can go, well, Joe Montana out, Steve Young in, I mean, good luck with that. Brett farve out. Aaron Rodgers in, I mean, we all try, but you know, I'm sitting here looking at, you know, it's gonna be a lot saying goodbye to Sophia a lot. But what if, what if, uh, Brooklyn or Maddie Wilson, who I also think could play on the right, um, was to go over there and the numbers were close. That'd be an incredible transition and I think it's possible.
Speaker 1 00:33:11 Tell us more about the Libero position. We talked about Gabby Moss, the transfer from TCU a little bit. Uh, how's that group
Speaker 2 00:33:17 Play out? I am as proud of them. I have no problem saying this. I don't mean it good or bad or indifferent. I just, I'm so proud of Kylie and Anna Lee. You know, Gabby comes in here walking in the door with just another level of, uh, sort of experience. When I say that, I don't just mean, oh well she came from T C u Gabby was playing on a really good club team that was, you know, the, you know, playing in the open division and Katie Galligan got some of that with her club team. Anna Lee didn't play at the highest level. Kylie didn't play at the highest level.
Speaker 2 00:33:55 Um, but to see how far Annalee and Kylie and, and Katie have come, uh, cuz when ga, when Gabby got here, I mean, you could just see she, she's seen this before. She, she, she was ready seasoned. Um, but these girls just got better. Paul, they, we, we played a lot this spring. So it wasn't so much just individual type drills where we're just working on a skill digging for a long time or passing or just a lot of technical work. We do that. We get a lot of that at times. We didn't, as I said earlier, we had a different philosophy, a different man, a recipe I guess for this spring. Um, so it, it did involve them being busy at their position in terms of training. It involved them being busy at their position in terms of reading skills and taking over the serve reception game, like literally being an alpha back there as we receive serve, um, and personality.
Speaker 2 00:34:59 I wa I if that's not the right word, if there's a better word, but I wanted a, I wanted a, an impact from them in, in a leadership role regardless of their hierarchy and status amongst players. I wanted the liberos to be easily recognized and heard by everybody. Uh, I wanted charismatic leadership from all of 'em. And boy did they nail it. Um, just, I mean, just to, just, just for my own eval, just, you know, you're watching Wichita State play Nebraska in our last opportunity a month ago up there in Nebraska and, and watching Natalie, you know, I know where she was two years ago and now I'm watching her out there holding her own against some of the best players in the country, a couple of future Olympians, no doubt. And she looks like she belongs. And uh, it's just makes me happy and, and she's all in.
Speaker 2 00:36:01 Well that's, I I just, I just named that. I just gave, I threw her name out there. But Galligan is got leadership and she's rangy now. And, and Kylie is playing defense at our level now. Um, and, and Gabby's probably the most polished and complete, but it's gonna be a battle. And we've got a, we've got a killer walking in the door, like a Kansas kid coming in here pretty soon. That's, uh, gonna add to our, uh, mix also. So just feeling really good that we're gonna, I feel like that group has gotta be a top third collective of Liberos in our conference. I, I, I feel like I can say that middle Morgan Stout tell all the people about her spring.
Speaker 2 00:36:51 Yeah, so I'm an analogy guy. So, you know, if you had a tractor in your yard but it didn't run and you're shoveling and moving firewood or whatever and you're looking over there going, well, if I could get that going, this task would be a lot easier. So maybe you ought to invest in fixing up that old tractor. Cuz if you have that working for you, it'll be a lot better. Well, so when I say not working, I don't mean literally she can't run, but Morgan came to us as kind of a raw but talented volleyball player. Loses her junior year of high school to an acl, loses her senior year to Covid and then loses her freshman year at Wichita State. Because when she got here, we, we've learned about the stress fracture in her foot that she probably had had for a long, long time based on the calcification that I'm told by the doctor.
Speaker 2 00:37:55 So we needed to get that right. So the raw kid that needed to train really was removed from volleyball for the better part of three years. So let's just, let's just start with that. But yet, like that tractor sitting out in the field, it's capable of so much. So when I say our philosophy was to get the M one position going, we're talking about literally we're saying we get Morgan Stout up to speed. We've got something here and how can we help her with that? Well we made most of our practice about that job description and helping her get there and it made everybody else better also, but it was really, let's improve at that position. And hopefully a lot of that goes towards Morgan just getting better. She finished with a, she, she had a nice season last year, but I know we could do more.
Speaker 2 00:38:56 I know we can get more. The previous year she was on a jump count. She was only getting so many jumps a day, knock on wood. But we were able to practice every day with Morgan this spring. Um, just what a difference. So, um, if, if things go right and her skill and volleyball IQ catch up to her talent, well, you're talking about the sky's the limit, as I said, sooner. So, um, yeah, I, I, I don't know if the way I said it came across kind of weird, but I mean we, we, we, we thought that that old tractor needed a tune-up. Let's go fix her up and get, get, get, reap the benefits of what it can do for us. And she was great wire to wire.
Speaker 1 00:39:42 So you will enter the off season, uh, with assistant coaches, Brian Hossfeld, Katie Zimmerman, they're back for their second season, second go round. How does that help? How does that change things? Having some, you know, continuity in that spot?
Speaker 2 00:39:57 Yeah, and, and and comfort for them. I mean, I just, you, you, you know, they talk more when you walk away, when you, when you first, when when assistants show up and you want to see 'em working, don't be surprised if you get more out of 'em. If you just walk away than they, then they assume the role. So, you know, I, I'm smart enough to trust what Brian and Katie can do. So, hey, you got this group over there, go knock yourself out. Um, and you know, I didn't invent that and I, I used to be in their, their role. So, you know, I figured that was the best way for our players to get to know them and the best way for them to feel comfortable about, um, offering up all the gifts they have for us. So, you know, I tried to try to, uh, put them in a position where they had a group in front of 'em each day and they could, uh, you know, the kids could learn them and they could learn the, the athletes learn, learn from each other and get to know each other.
Speaker 2 00:40:57 And hopefully we can have a, a seamless transition, uh, into the season. And, you know, the coaches in our league, you know, point to us finishing better than people thought. I mean, the shockers in, in the volleyball circles had a, had a really nice year and we had lost Sophia for a proportion of that. We had lost, we had lost Lily liquid for a portion of that. So, um, pretty excited about it. And also an entire new staff. Um, we're great. We, we are a very functional group. We, we spend a lot of time together. We enjoy each other a lot. We have a lot to talk about on and off the court. Um, and you know what I, I have to say this, uh, if, if anybody's had their ear to the tracks, you'll know that the NCAA just took away what's called volunteer coaches throughout.
Speaker 2 00:41:50 Cuz you know, different programs have different, had had a number of people you know on, on the, in the gym or on the track or on the football field. Well there's been so many changes at the NCAA level at the division one level. And so now that the volunteer coaches are going away, schools with resources want to make that a paid position. So volleyball now has a fourth assistant, and I'm old enough to tell you, but when volleyball just had one, he had a head coach and an assistant. There are only two people who could recruit, you know, only two people who could train. Then we added a second assistant. Now you could have head coach and two assistants. So three people could coach and train. Three people can go out and recruit, but it didn't mean everybody was on board at the time. So you volunteers would fill those roles, they just wouldn't get paid.
Speaker 2 00:42:44 They would just be there in the gym training. So anyhow, fast forward to now starting July 1st. Volleyball will now add the fourth assistant. Wichita State will not have a paid position there, but what you can do is take your director of ops and have them be one of the coaches. So that's exactly what we're gonna do. So super excited to announce that on July 1st, Ashley Holten will be, uh, now an assistant coach by title, uh, in the gym training and recruiting Dream come her, come true for her. And, um, so happy that I get to be here, you know, for her first crack at, at this, cuz she's certainly paid her dues all along the way. She's done everything right. Um, every, every place she's been, everybody has adored and appreciated what she's brought to the programs and uh, you know, we'll just absorb amongst our staff, all those director of op jobs anyways, just like we used. Heck, it used to just be me and Shannon doing all the jobs. So no big deal. But I'm really excited, uh, that Ashley gets to have that opportunity and, uh, that's where we'll be as we set sail in August. Okay. Chris, thanks very much for your time. We appreciate it. Anytime Paul,
Speaker 4 00:44:24 Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast. Courtesy of Wichita State University's strategic communications. We encourage you to rate, review, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
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Speaker 5 00:44:40 It's over. It's over. Ladies and gentlemen. Say it slowly and savor it. Wichita State is going to the final four for the first time in 48
Speaker 6 00:44:53 Years. Unbelievable. What a scene folks. The shocker fans are just going crazy in the stands.
Speaker 5 00:45:00 Just maybe the greatest win in the history of Wichita State Basketball.