Speaker 1 00:00:12 Hello. Welcome to the roundhouse podcast with Paul SOOP of Wichita state university's strategic communications. We have Wichita state volleyball, Chris lamb, with us to wrap up spring practices. Uh, the shocker scrimmage, Kansas on Wednesday night, that wrapped up about two months of workouts and scrimmages. Uh, they played against opponents, such as Kansas state, Colorado state, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Missouri state, all refreshed your memories about last fall, the shockers went 19 and 10. They were 13 and seven in the American athletic conference, uh, outside hitter Riley, Kelly sat her Casey Liau and middle Natalie Foster earned spots on the all conference teams. Those three are back several shockers who battled injuries in 2021 are healthy. And Chris lamb has an experienced team ready to go in the fall. Let's start with Wednesday. The Jay Hawks were in town. What did you learn from, from the finale there?
Speaker 2 00:01:07 So each spring I have my list of experiments, things I'd like to, you know, we're trying to grow each athlete each semester, fall spring, fall spring. Some of that growth is just getting better. Her at current pieces to their job description. Uh, in other cases, I call it the Kim Wadsworth example, former shocker, um, where literally every semester she'd say, okay, what's my job this semester. Cuz she, she through her career here, you know, she played so many different roles on our team position wise and um, I'll always, I'll always use her as, as my poster child for that. So nobody, nobody this year had, you know, too, too many things off the beaten path for what they do, but you know, we were trying some stuff, um, you know, and you, you kinda, if, if you like it, you stick with it. If not, and I don't wanna waste time and I wanna, you get to other things.
Speaker 2 00:02:10 So we ride that wave, uh, during the spring and for us this year, we got to have a definitely better than average spring in terms of we got, we got four play dates as the last few years. It's uh, a few, I'd say for a while now it's been hard for us to get four, uh, you know, it's a cost to it and logistically you gotta be, you gotta be available when other people are available nearby, you know, regional teams. So this year we were able to get four play dates. We got two of those four at home and we got really good competition. So, you know, then you, then you really know if it's working here. It probably has a chance to, you know, work at the conference level. Um, so yeah, I was really happy with, um, I'm, I'm answering your question generally. I'm real, I'm real happy with, uh, how the spring went from beginning to end there. Several shockers who I'm sure will talk about. Definitely, um, have sort of moved their way up the ladder. Um, during the spring,
Speaker 1 00:03:13 Did you go into Wednesday with any specific goals in mind, something you wanted to see, you really take a hard or look at?
Speaker 2 00:03:19 Yeah. Uh, unfortunately, uh, Sophia was unable to go spill under the weather and everybody's really sensitive about that these days, as you know, so we didn't get to try a few things that we had in store, cuz if she's not gonna be in the wheel or the lineup, as we say the rotation, um, that changes other things. So we, we had to, we had to sort of not do, uh, some stuff we were excited to try, but we were, we had plenty of things to choose from plenty of clubs in the golf bag we could, you know, use and um, and you know, and we did Morgan Weber had a different job. We, we wanted to see how could competitive we could be with Sophie Childs in what's called the L one spot or the, the O H one spot in the lineup. Um, and you know, that went well. Uh, we let Laura, uh, be the LiRo for the night and um, you have to say that went really, really well. Um, those are those few things. And I'll just tell you from the, from the evening that I thought were, uh, bright spots,
Speaker 1 00:04:26 Was there a match or a day from the, the four play dates that stood out something, uh, you know, a performance you were particularly pleased with from a team perspective?
Speaker 2 00:04:34 Well, I think, I think it's right off the bat with only a couple days of practice before we played K state before spring break. Um, I know it's early, we didn't have much time to practice. They didn't have much time to practice. So both of us were just getting started with spring and we played in Manhattan and we won three of the four sets that we played and the final set, the one that we lost, I, I used the, that really was just to get some playing time for some kids, not so much something that really had a, a plan to it. So yeah, that's for the record, I'm not saying, oh, we're better than case state, but in these little races to 25 on that day, I mean, okay, we're close, you know, we, we were competitive. Um, and that's really what I'm asking for.
Speaker 2 00:05:22 I mean, I, I'm not, I'm not gonna read more into it than that, but you know, it was, it was just fun to see when you look across the net as, as with Colorado state or as with Oklahoma or KU who we played last night, K state, for sure. I mean person for person. Yeah. They're more talented. They're more physical. Uh, ball speed is usually in their favor, certainly saw that last night with, with Kansas. So, you know, a lot of things have to go right in our sport when the talent's on the other side of the net. So to be able to keep up and, or get to 25 first, some things went well,
Speaker 3 00:06:11 Hi, this is Rick Neuma president of Wichita state university, check out the latest episode of the four. It together podcast, each episode, I sit down with different guests from shocker nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita state university. Listen, wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 1 00:06:39 So one of your goals, you want Wichita state to be the best defensive team in the American athletic conference. Talked a lot about that with the, with the littles. How did that go this spring?
Speaker 2 00:06:51 So, uh, what I think you're referring to is, you know, I think there's an opportunity in our league. Um, if I was to give you some comparisons between the Missouri valley, where we came from to this conference, I can, I can tell you different styles of play and just how one conference mathematically let's say is different than the other. Um, you know, and I just feel like there's an opportunity in this league, uh, to really be, you know, one of the top teams defensively, um, to be the best team next year. Um, well, UCF with all their experience and talent is gonna have something to say about that. And Cincinnati who last year, I thought put enough to out on paper to make me say, I'd give them the crown. So I don't think it'll come easy, but I think that I could, I think we could really find ourselves maybe up there in that top three or four, two or three or four, where I think then there's a gap between them and everybody else.
Speaker 2 00:07:56 And it would be nice to, to ourselves there you'd heard the expression that defense travels, well, that kind of thing in football or, or basketball or, or whatever. But I, you know, I, I, I, I tend to agree that if, if, once you put the, once you get your scouting report in place and you play, you know, team defense in a system, now it really comes down to, into individual players making plays. And so that's where we've really put our the most time is we just dedicated way more time in our practice routine to individual defense, just, just each player being a better Digger. Um, the blocking stuff will come, but we, we wanted to know that we could raise, you know, our, our, our dig percentage, uh, certainly a different versus different, uh, types of attacks. And I, I feel that's, that's moving along nicely.
Speaker 1 00:08:51 Tell us a little bit about the littles. You'll have an experienced group back there. Lilly Lakeway leading the way, what, what went on with that group this spring?
Speaker 2 00:08:58 Well, Lilly and Laura, uh, are actually distancing themselves from, uh, Annalee and Kylie right now. And there's some, some good to be said about that. I mean, I, I, I hope for, for Annalee and Kylie that, um, continued, but Lily Lil needs Lily and Laura, uh, walk in the door with the most high level experience and they need to be impact players on the floor for us. And they need to be in the equation for, you know, top seven or eight, you know, defenders in the, in the, you everybody's got their LiRo and then the next DS off the bench, uh, cuz just about, everybody's playing with at least two littles, as we say, so, you know, can, can you want, can you win the little battle when you line up the littles on the floor for each team using the, the, the normal, you know, metrics, you know, how, how, where do they stand in serving and passing and, and digging. And I, I wanna believe that these two have worked their way into the upper third of our conference. And if they do that, um, our team defensive numbers will, will be up in that group I believe. Uh, and we will be a better team for it. So, um, yeah, it it's, it it's their, it's their time to start to be recognized. Let's say that way amongst the top defenders in the conference and now they're gonna have to go out and prove it.
Speaker 1 00:10:34 So the Laura that you referenced, uh, pronounced her last name. Yeah. She's sophomore. She was from Turkey. She played in 21 matches last season. So fans got to look at her. They may not be totally familiar with her. Tell us a little bit about her, uh, in her first season, the adjustment.
Speaker 2 00:10:51 Yeah. So when you're recruiting volleyball players from overseas, the, the chances that you ever got to see him live is pretty small Georgia Gita from Italy, one of the best players ever to play volleyball, which does stayed everything we have on hurricane from video. So one of the things that you're attracted to in your evaluation is for the most part, when you're recruiting liberos in the United States, you're recruiting, 'em playing, you know, 16 and under club volleyball, 17 and under club volleyball, probably done recruiting 'em by the time they playing 18 and under club volleyball. Well, when you recruit the foreign kids where they don't play, you know, necessarily with their age group, the better ones are, you know, filtered upward onto, you know, older teams. So Georgia was in matches where there's pros on the other side of the net. I mean, high flying physical attackers far better than what we would see in our conference.
Speaker 2 00:11:57 So you, you have a chance with some of these foreign players, regardless of what your, your evaluation of is of them as an individual player. Many of them, just the, the level of play, the matches that they're involved in are beyond 16, 17, and 18 year old club volleyball here. So there's something to be said for that. Um, like if I was to say, yeah, you've played against high school pitching somebody else played against college pitching, but somebody else might have played against professional pitching. You might say, well, if you could hit that at, you know, pretty good. Well, so Laura and Georgia, we were able to evaluate them versus powerful women that are crushing volleyballs. And you're watching them dig that and receive, serve against better serving. So it's a, it's a, it's a while you're not watching, 'em in person, you know, the level of play they're playing, you can see their statistics and there's a reason to get excited about it.
Speaker 2 00:13:01 Um, now that said, you don't, you don't exactly always get what you think you're getting, but the chances are, they're still pretty good because they've been tested at, at a higher level. So Laura and Georgia, Georgia both were left back defenders, um, on teams that channeled balls towards them. So they were, they were taking everybody's best shot on a regular basis and they were successful doing so. So, um, and that's why you get excited about it in recruiting, but then when they get here, what you find is they don't really play exotic defenses. It's sort of just man, to man, everybody just play your spot and make play. So getting them organized on how we wanna play team defense here is really the, the, the biggest step in my mind is all right, well, they walk into door. Can we really execute more than one defense?
Speaker 2 00:14:00 Can we play two or three defenses or even a different defense just because the attack came from a different spot or what we call an in system situation or outta system situation. So many of those teams don't even bother. It's just talented players making plays is, um, we are gonna look for, we are gonna look for opportunities in our study of game film on how different defenses affect different offenses. On the other side of the net. If we think that we can put more pressure on a team or on a player, uh, because of the defensive system are certainly gonna explore that. So with the, with the two Leros that we've had now in our program from overseas, that was the greatest adjustment, uh, getting them to understand how we're trying to play. Uh, as a team, Georgia was used to being the only legitimate defender on a team full of offensive weapons.
Speaker 2 00:14:55 So she was running around trying to dig everything. It would be like a center fielder, knocking, a left fielder out of the way, just to try to make a play. And we'd be like, well, Hey Hannah, Shelton's right here. This is her ball and Georgia, you know, Georgia was literally trying to get 'em all. And so it was really teaching her, her to be great in our system was the biggest challenge. And, and Laura, Laura, uh, not is, is still involved in trying to, you know, really be not the last to figure out what we're actually doing when we're making changes on the fly. But individually her, her service leave is, is reaching the standard. Her digging is reach the standard, but serving for her is where she has the most, uh, ground to gain to catch up,
Speaker 1 00:15:36 Has the amount of video and the quality of video increased over the last 10 years or so to make you more confident about what you're getting from an overseas
Speaker 2 00:15:46 Point. I, yeah, I mean, before we didn't even have access to so much, and now it's wake up in the morning and watch 50 videos of kids sending me stuff and recruiting services, sending me stuff now, I mean, let's be honest, you and I can go to the golf course today. And if we spent long enough, we could, we could string together video that shows us making 60 foot putts. And it might look like that. We knock 'em down all day long, but it's literally just highlights of us making the 60 foot putts. And so when you're, when you're, when you're seeing videotape, but they're sending you their highlights, you do look for full games when you can and, and really start counting all the contacts there, but there is some, the highlights do, uh, she show you something. I mean, there there's, there's still ball speed. You're having to deal with, there's still defensive range. You're having to, to, uh, uh, show that you can do. Um, but yeah, a hundred percent better than it was a few years ago. More than that,
Speaker 1 00:16:46 Bradley Kelly had a strong 20, 21 what's next for her.
Speaker 2 00:16:51 Oh, what's next for Bri is, is a back row role, um, at, at an, at an elevated level. And she certainly has to be on the list of most improved player in the spring. Um, and I have a list by the way of kids. I thought really grew this spring. Uh, but Bri's, Bri's back row play is night and day better than where it was, uh, serving with more confidence, serve, received, numbers are coming way up and then just being more confident and, and aggressive as an attacker, we played Kansas last night. They certainly were keyed in on her. They weren't gonna let it be easy. They did a nice job on her. And I was just noticing how she was responding to of the elevated difficulty and challenge, cuz they certainly weren't gonna let her have much. And she was gonna have to fight her way out of it. And I'm happy to report that, you know, they didn't break her. She, she kept swinging through the duration of the night and that's what you want to see. You want, you wanna see that, you know, getting blocked a couple times, doesn't make you, you know, throw in the towel. And, and so I think, I think the American conference is gonna see a hungrier, you know, more aggressive attacker for Riley next year
Speaker 1 00:18:06 Two or three weeks ago, we talked about Natalie Foster. You were gonna do a lot of experimenting with her now that, uh, the spring is over. What, what did you learn about Natalie?
Speaker 2 00:18:14 So while I think she could do that role, I don't know if it's best for us. I think what I think what we've learned is we probably can have a few wrinkles where she takes side out swingings on, on the left side, I think sure. We could make some blocking changes in a match, which might leave her out there, but it same go back to Abby layman. There there's a lot of things Abby could have done for us, but there's other people that need to be in certain spots. So, uh, Natalie, like Abby layman probably needs to go do a different job because know someone's gotta do that job too. And that job right now appears to be the job. They earned her all conference honors last year, what we call the M two spot, um, the, the middle that typically stays in front of the set. Um, and I think the conference will see a better version of Natalie next year, as I just said about Bri,
Speaker 1 00:19:08 You mentioned your most improved list, hit us with, uh, a name or two that jump out at you.
Speaker 2 00:19:13 Well, at the, as the, as the spring got longer, um, Sophie Childs who had a great weekend out in Goodland, Kansas versus Colorado state last week also did a really nice job last night. If Sophie child's, uh, is a on the floor for us, we are a more physical team. We've got another blocking presence at left and, or right front, never, never a bad thing to have, you know, that kind of a resistance out there on the pins, as we say. Um, but she's just more powerful, more often. And she's, uh, a to, with more range and little by little by little, her back row defense is, is getting there. And while I would say the same about Bri, I would say that relative to Bri, I think Sophie is a year ahead of where Bri was just a year into the program or, or more she's farther along at the same age.
Speaker 2 00:20:12 And, and that's a good sign cuz Riley's getting there. And I think Sophie's getting there sooner if I could throw that out there. And that's a, that's a nice thing to be able to say. Um, uh, Laura, we just talked about Laura from, from Turkey. Uh, I think that she's, you know, we, we had a time hard time communicating with her a language barrier was an issue in the fall. So, um, she's certainly a better server than she was a hundred percent or more, uh, service received numbers. It's not so much that what we call the perfect past percentage. She's minimizing her heirs. The HES have come way down, which is a big deal. Um, you know, and then being able to play more than just the left back position where it's just where she pitched her tent, her whole career. We were, we're looking at moving her around a little bit because Lily might maybe be the right person to play in the left back spot a lot of times.
Speaker 2 00:21:07 So Laura has, uh, found that, uh, Natalie Foster, um, strength wise, I, I think Natalie is just a stronger athlete. I think she's, um, gained a lot, uh, in the weight room this spring. Um, and I think it's noticeable. I think, uh, her, her <affirmative> conditioning to last through rallies is better than it was. And I think she's laterally faster than she was and quicker off the floor than she was. And because we mentioned earlier in this interview that, you know, we've experimented with her on the left side a little bit, that's only gotten better. So that, that, that little piece right there is in our back pocket. Should we choose to go that way for certain matchups, um, in the fall? Uh, that certainly has to be, um, indicated Sophia rolling didn't get to play last night, uh, was, was under the weather, but a couple weeks ago I thought she was fantastic, uh, in our home tournament here.
Speaker 2 00:22:11 Um, we play it all day and the reason I'm saying most improve or on the improvement list is Sophie didn't have a good fall campaign last year, uh, coming off an all conference, uh, performance the year before lot was on her shoulders, high expectation. And I don't think she was at side with, uh, her season. Um, and it was just nice to see her, you know, sort of let a lot of that go and, um, find the fun again and just play. I, I, I, I sort of, I sort of gave her the analogy of Andrew Wiggins on my golden state warriors, where someone was on his shoulders as a first pick in the NBA draft, going to the timber wolves and they're, they, they were asking him to be a 30 point, you know, scorer and, and, um, you know, a bunch of rebounds and a bunch of assists and whether or not he's that player or not seeing him on the warriors where he's, you know, some nights our number four option, maybe three, a lot of nights with having had clay Thompson out.
Speaker 2 00:23:15 But I know I'm probably drifting here a little bit, but my point is he, he, he was elected to be a starter in the all-star game this year in a diminished role on his own team. So he, he, I think, I think it took a lot off his shoulders. He just got to go be under Wiggins to do what Steve ke had in mind for him. And I don't think he wore so much, uh, responsibility, um, and just played basketball. And, uh, that was my advice to Sophie. Uh, rolling. Uh, I didn't, I didn't expect her to even know who Andrew Wiggins was, but I was describing this exact thing to her. And I said, why don't you let a few other girls, you know, carry the limelight for a while, let let Bri and, and you know, your best friend, Natalie, you know, and others let, let let's, let's have them shoulder more of that responsibility.
Speaker 2 00:24:08 And why don't you just go play volleyball for a while? And, uh, I, I think she's finding that, uh, to work well for her. And she got off to a, a really good spraying. And then, like I said, not feeling well, we didn't get to finish with her on the floor, but, um, definitely, uh, comeback player of the year material, uh, from fall to this spring. And, and, uh, we need that cuz she's a physical presence. Uh, she can be a first team, all conference player again. And, um, of course we're hoping we can get her there.
Speaker 1 00:24:38 You talked about wanting to see this team project more, I'll use the word swagger or confidence acting like they belong at the top of the American athletic conference. How did that uh, process go throughout the spring?
Speaker 2 00:24:51 Yeah. I always feel like this is a, a weird way to say it because I run in coaching circles and this is what coaches always say. So when, when I say this out loud, people like people, I wonder if people, you know, take it in a different, but you know, the shocker volleyball right now is made up of a, of a bunch of really nice young ladies. And what, what might come from that might be a, you know, an agreeable personality, um, maybe a little more docile. Um, and, and sometimes you're just hoping to find a little more of an aggressor. Someone that's a little more selfish, I want this, I want this and I'm gonna go get it a little more killer instinct. And I it's hard cuz when you start asking for that, you're, you're sort of attacking their nature. You're sort of attacking their personality.
Speaker 2 00:25:43 But again, if you had my job, if you <affirmative> coach for a living and if the circles you, you speak in, uh, all, all week long are, are other coaches that, that say the same thing, it's almost like, well you might not get it unless you were there. And if you were there you say, yeah, that's what they mean. I mean, I, I, I really want the girls as we spoke last night after our scrimmage with the Jayhawks, you know? Okay. So you ready? You guys ready to raise expectations and they all no their head. Yes. All right. Well what do you think comes with that? And um, just, just don't think for a second, it's gonna be easy. Don't think for a second that it's, it's always gonna be happy and, and, and, uh, light. I mean, there's, there's 11 other is out there that or 10 other teams in our league that wanna have something to say about it and who's gonna really roll over for you.
Speaker 2 00:26:34 So you're gonna have to start, you know, learning how to go get something, take something, you know, and maybe the analogy it's, you know, it's, it's one thing to survive by, you know, sneaking up on a Berry and picking it off a branch far a different thing to try to track down a gazelle, you know, and, and, and, and, and, and, and get that. So, um, I hope that made sense, but that, that's what we're talking about here. The, the low hanging fruit, you know, okay, well now, now show me, you can go get the gazelle, you know, in, in sort of a corny analogy and it's not gonna be as easy. Uh, there's a couple teams out there that are, are as talented or more than we are that we know. Um, so what are we gonna do about it? Well, we're gonna have to gain at some areas of we're gonna have to play hard.
Speaker 2 00:27:25 And when it gets tight, like last night, right off the bat game one with KU, I, I could tell that the, the, uh, the nerves were, it was tense. You know, they were feeling it. You could see the look in their eye, the way they were talking, like, okay, well, that's part of it. Now, when that becomes comfortable, then we've gotten somewhere. So it felt a little discomfort. It's a difference between stress and pressure. And this is a coaching thing, but, you know, pressure you can handle because, you know, you sort of sell it like, well, that's what you're prepared for. But when things come up that you're not prepared for, well, here comes stress and that's, that's just at the different deal. So if you're prepared, if you know it's coming, yeah, there's always gonna be pressure, but you tend to, you tend to sell it that way. You tend to think of it that way. And then, okay. Yeah. It's not gonna be easy, but at least we're not, you know, creating our own obstacles on our side than that because, you know, people start to freak out and that's just, you, that's just part of the growing pains, which by the way, are the best pains to me PA. Pain's gonna be there. I, I hope it's growing pains that we're talking about.
Speaker 1 00:28:33 So if you could infuse this team with the attitude or the spirit of a former shocker, who, who got all that, who, who jumps to mind,
Speaker 2 00:28:43 Um, if I'm going <affirmative> chronological order backwards, uh, Georgia, chief, it's a pro I mean, she's a pro professional. She, she gets it. She, uh, she ain't backing down to anybody, including her own teammates who might not wanna meet her halfway. And for some it's hard to, it is hard to deal with, but I claim she's right. Uh, Jody, Jody, um, well, I might be jumping ahead here. Uh, you, you, you had Emily Hebert, uh, learn that, I think from Georgia, Georgia was younger, but Emily and Hebert became friends and Emily's teeth got sharper and her claws got sharper her junior in senior year. And I, and I think that, um, Georgia had a lot to do with it. Uh, it was, it was a little different than Georgia. It wasn't as noticeable, but she started fighting more than she did prior. And then Jody Larson has always been, let's go get the gazelle, the carnivore and Jody Larson a couple years, um, ago.
Speaker 2 00:29:49 I think she graduated maybe in 16. Um, you know, but over the years, we've, we've definitely at Sarah lure going back to Darcy VAs, going way back. I mean, the, they, they are whatever it takes, Emily Stockman. Um, good to see, uh, uh, Kelly Brard, um, just, just almost angry at the people on the other side of the net. They, they're not getting anything from me kind of attitude. And, you know, it's while, while not always easy to deal with from, you know, maybe even a majority of your teammates, that's an influence I'm telling you that that coaches hope, uh, gets to most of your players. And, and it's not always easy, but yeah, we're gonna, we're gonna need some of that. I hate the cliche stuff, but that killer instinct, the, the, the, you know, the sort of the athletic selfish, you, you, you think selfish is a bad thing right up until you understand. No, it's kind of a good thing, cuz they want something for themselves. And that thing they want is victory. The thing they want is scoreboard. Uh, the thing they want is results at all costs. And you know, that's the business we found ourselves in. So, um, some, sometimes it's a, a conflict and personality, but hopefully we are a little visually hungrier this year than last.
Speaker 1 00:31:21 Thank you for listening to the house podcast, courtesy of Wichita state university's strategic communications. We appreciate your time. We encourage you to rate reviews, subscribe wherever you get your podcast, such as on iTunes or Google play. You can find more roundhouse
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Speaker 4 00:31:43 And they let pass it up court and then it gets picked off along three by Pango. No good. One second. It's over its over and Wichita state has beaten the number one team in the nation to go to the sweet go crazy Wichita. I know you are.
