[00:00:14] Speaker A: Hello. Welcome to the Roundhouse podcast with Paul Solentrop of Wichita State University strategic communications. Thanks for listening. Our guests are Katie Zimmerman and Ashley Holton. They are assistant coaches on Wichita state volleyball team the shockers. They are early in their spring practices. They'll start their spring scrimmages in March and they'll face schools such as Oklahoma, Kansas State, Kansas, Kansas City, Missouri. Those will all be on the road. Katie and Ashley are both in their third seasons on the coaching staff at Wichita State. Shockers went 26 and eight last season, 15 and four in the American Athletic Conference, and they won five matches in the national Invitational volleyball championship.
Won that title with a sweep at UTEP. So, Katie, I promised you a victory lap for the NIVC as we were preparing for this podcast. Top memory from those five matches, probably.
[00:01:08] Speaker B: At UTEP because they really packed the house. It was a great environment to play in. I think we were a little salty that we didn't get to play at home because we had hosted all the previous matches. So the fact that we were on the road, they had a great fan base and we just had an awesome plan. The girls executed really well. So I think it was just super exciting to see them be rewarded for all their hard work.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: Ashley, how about you? What do you remember from that run?
[00:01:38] Speaker C: Yeah, pretty much the same thing. I mean, overall, I think it's easy for teams to check out that late in the season and with a roster that big, have girls kind of disengage. And I think it was great that everybody locked in. But, yeah, definitely upset we didn't get to play here. Definitely thought we deserved to get that. But their response was incredible and we just went down there and took care of business and it was a really fun game to watch. I mean, they just dominated. Dominated.
[00:02:10] Speaker A: Are you the kind of coaching staff that uses not playing at home as a big motivational tool? Were you playing all those? Nobody believes in us. Nobody respects us. Cards?
[00:02:20] Speaker C: I think a little bit it was that, yeah, we got the call on Sunday night at 05:00 p.m. That we were going to have to fly out the next day at like 05:00 a.m. And so everybody was just like, you've got to be kidding me. And it was kind of, and we.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: Had already known we were in. We played the previous day.
[00:02:40] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:40] Speaker B: So also, you can't beat our fans and our facility, our atmosphere. So I think we did use that as like, this is showing that in the future we should have been at home. I also was 37 weeks pregnant and so our girls were like, that is not okay.
[00:03:01] Speaker C: So I appreciate that they helped me out.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: They had your bag. Fans did show up for those four matches at home. That was nice to see. You mentioned how motivated was a team going to be to play in these kind of tournaments? And on the basketball side, I think we've seen both cases, both sides. Why was this team motivated? When did you know that, okay, these people want to play in this and they want to do some good things.
[00:03:29] Speaker C: We had girls that have been around for a long time, and I think they wanted to finish well for each other. And then the younger girls kind of wanted to help piece it together for them.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: Yeah, every year Lambo talks about how each week teams just mentally and physically drop off. They're just kind of checked out. And when we were at the end of our conference season, our girls just weren't done. They were still competing really hard.
We were still rising. I guess we hadn't peaked yet. So I think that's when they made the call of like, yes, let's do this. And they just really bought into, this isn't just another opportunity to play a game. It's like, we're going out to win this. They did exactly that. So it's kind of fun that even just our administration here allowed us to do it.
[00:04:17] Speaker A: So you get five more matches against good competition, you get extra practices. Katie, how does that help the team going forward?
[00:04:26] Speaker B: I think they just now have an expectation of what this program should be. We always want to be in postseason. We had a very long run where we were in the NCAA tournament every year, and so just to make it that, that's the expectation, and that's a lot different. That's a whole nother month of playing, know, working your body and also working with finals, all those things, staying mentally engaged longer. So it is a thing that when it's the first time, it's like, that's new. And none of those girls had ever.
Well, some of our transfers, but as a shocker, volleyball player, been in a postseason that long. And so, yeah, I just think it's really important that this is the standard. Y'all know how to do this, and they're obviously excited to do that again. Next year, we'll host a conference tournament. And so expectations and hopes are obviously for the NCAA tournament, but regardless, just continuing to play after conference.
[00:05:25] Speaker A: So the American Athletic conference, going to the conference tournament, Wichita State is in favor of that. You like that? And tell us why.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, once again, our fans rock. Anytime I'm talking to our recruits or anything. It's like we have the best fans, we have the best atmosphere, facility, and so I think it's just a really special opportunity that our girls get to play another game in front of them. And then the conference tournament, obviously, is another opportunity to get a team into the NCAA. And so that would be great to have that just opportunity at home.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: Do we know the format? How many schools will be in it, that kind of thing?
[00:06:02] Speaker B: I don't think we know anything.
With SMU leaving, too, they're still reformatting our conference.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: All right, Ashley, so shockers are in spring practice. Let's kind of set the stage for fans. What's the routine? What are you guys doing in spring drills?
[00:06:21] Speaker C: Well, it's nice having a smaller group, actually. I mean, we're able to give all of them a lot of attention, and the group is great. They really like being together. They do stuff together off the court, so the vibe is great in the gym, and that always helps. Just, we're all excited to get in and train, but this is when we do a lot of kind of positional breakdown stuff, individual breakdown, a lot more time spent on kind of technical emphasis and all that stuff.
But it's great. The gym is still super busy, even with 13 girls, just the way Lambo likes it, and they're working really hard, so it's exciting.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: Katie, is there an overarching theme or goal that you're looking at this spring? There's always lots of experimenting. Is there maybe a particular position group or something that you're really highlighting?
[00:07:22] Speaker B: I think just if you would look at our roster, a lot of our. I mean, we had quite a few seniors, and a lot of our points for point for point have graduated. And so just bringing girls up to say, even if they had played, maybe they didn't have that load or that responsibility. And so we love our middle stuff. So a lot of m two action is what we're working on. But then our pins are also getting just a ton of reps, and we have an incoming setter who has gotten quite a bit of work in already.
He calls her Emily Hebert, which for all of our fans, what a great compliment. And so she's working really hard. But I think the theme of just being together and our girls really are like, it's a new group of girls that are speaking, talking, kind of taking charge. And so I think they're just really excited to have that opportunity and being ready for the incoming freshmen to come in and just kind of having our culture exactly where they want it. They're doing a great job of that.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: So the setter you mentioned, Sarah Mujel, she is from St. Charles, Illinois. Also added an outside hitter, Alyssa Gonzalez. She is a redshirt freshman transfer from TCU. So we mentioned you'll play some really good competition in the spring. Tell people how that's set up, because sometimes there'll be split squads. What do you get out of the spring scrimmages? What's the goal with facing these teams? Ashley?
[00:08:54] Speaker C: Well, Lambeau is a scheduling genius, so sometimes that comes along a bit later than everyone else for fall and spring. But I think we're lucky to be in a position just nationally in terms of where we're situated. We're surrounded by a lot of good programs that are easy to get to and he obviously has connections everywhere. So yeah, we get the opportunity to play some high level programs. We will probably stay one squad for those games. All of them are actual. We'll play it kind of as a five set match, except for when we go to Kansas City.
It's kind of like a round robin format, but it'll be know to get in uniform for some of these and actually not just go through the motions, but play a real match and get some lineups in and kind of see what it looks like.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: So Katie, last spring Chris Lamb talked a lot about Morgan Stout. She was really busy doing a lot of different things and that appeared to have paid off because she had a fabulous season. Anybody similar to Morgan stout that you really are paying attention to that is really going to stretch themselves in hopes of pulling some productivity out of them.
[00:10:16] Speaker B: Well, we hope Morgan does even more. She's phenomenal. I'm killing it right now, but I think Maddie Wilson is doing a great job. Could fill into that m two role. Brooklyn Leggett, she is just crushing balls right now and I think is going to have to step into some form of a role that's consistently on the court.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: Brooklyn, what position?
[00:10:41] Speaker B: She is a pin hitter, so outside or right side?
And yeah, I think something in the know. Lambeau is an experimenter. He does not care if we win or lose these matches as long as we are getting better, as long as he is seeing stuff that progresses. Our future lineup, whether it's like, oh, that one probably didn't work or we're going to try this girl in a position that maybe she's not as comfortable with and we might love it or we might hate it, but the match itself, he wants us to play hard, but he doesn't necessarily care if it comes out as a win. That's not the goal. Right. So I think seeing what these girls can do when they're put in those situations, I don't know if it's as much of a Morgan stout, Morgan stout kind of thing, but I think there's a lot of room for any of our attackers to step up and have to dominate. Like Emerson, she played a ton last year, but now her role is going to need to be larger. Alyssa's coming in. She's doing phenomenal. I forget that she's a freshman. We talk about that just because she's a transfer, but she's doing great. And so really, all of our attackers having the opportunity to be really impactful.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: So now would be a good time to, I guess, reset fans on the roster. So Sophia Rowling had a fabulous career here. Graduated. Natalie Foster transferred to SMU. Barbara Kohler transferred to Florida, Gulf coast. So we are looking to replace a lot of points from that team. How do you start thinking about the offense and working on that this spring?
[00:12:14] Speaker C: Well, I mean, the thing about Lambeau that is very different from most other coaches is when he looks at the way he situates a lineup, it's not as straight up as most coaches would kind of put players in a wheel. He's super creative. I mean, he has a brain like no other, so he's able to see people kind of outside of the box that maybe other coaches would see them in and use their upside in an even bigger way, I guess.
And we're also going to add people that probably can come in and make a pretty immediate impact as well.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: In the fall?
[00:12:59] Speaker C: Yeah, in the fall. So I think this spring is really setting a good foundation. I mean, I think we're going to be super, highly productive, maybe more. I think we relied on a couple of people to be point scorers. I think we're going to be way more well balanced, which is probably a much healthier way to kind know run offense.
[00:13:21] Speaker A: Yeah, we've mentioned the two newcomers that joined you for the spring, Sarah Mujel, the setter freshman, and Alyssa Gonzalez. Katie, give us a brief description of both of them.
[00:13:33] Speaker B: Well, I'll start with Alyssa came from TCU. We're super grateful to have her. She has a great hand on the ball. She can spin it. She is very springy. She likes the ball pretty fast, and she just has a great attitude. So she's been wonderful in our gym. She's going to make a huge impact on this program and she's just been a great teammate so far, enjoying coaching her, happy just high fives, all that stuff. Sarah, she is technically a high school senior, so she's running a lot of our practices right now as a setter and crushing it.
Like I mentioned about Emily Hebert, one of the best. She was one of my setters and just someone who just works hard, puts their head down, doesn't really complain. She's not looking for always positivity. Yeah, she's just like, okay, what do I need to do? What do I need to do? And so I think since we're working a lot setter middles, they're doing a great job communicating, especially like Morgan Stout, someone who's been here, someone who's done really well. She is working on communicating with her. How can she help? Just give her feedback and stuff. Izzy is also doing a great job of bringing that setter role up out of a young player. So they're both great additions.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: Emily Hebert was a setter on the 2017 team that won the American Athletic Conference, and the Shockers hosted the NCAA first and second rounds that year. So, Ashley, you work a lot with the littles. They were a really good group in 2023. You've got four of them back. What's that group working on this spring?
[00:15:13] Speaker C: Probably just like, refining location on a lot of the dig.
Just.
Yeah, we work in our whataburger, the doubles. Oh, yeah. What do you mean?
[00:15:28] Speaker B: They're not the new rule?
[00:15:30] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Well, I mean, kind of sadly, I guess there's a new rule that they don't call double contact, like ball handling violations anymore, which will get kind of crazy.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: Yeah, you're going to have to explain that more. What's the impetus behind that? What's it going to look like for fans? I guess, is my.
[00:15:49] Speaker C: Yeah, it's changed a lot over the years. There was a point where the ball could not have any movement on it, really, and then it was kind of a subjective thing. And now it's basically you can handle the ball however you want as long as it doesn't travel across the net that way. So if you want to throw something in the air that's wildly spinning and going every direction, it's totally legal. But that also means that we want our littles using their hands a lot more. So a ton of emphasis on them actually hand setting the ball instead of using their platforms to set when we're out of system, and it's not coming out of a setter's hands, and they're doing a great job, doing a great job trying to keep our offense in system, basically when we're supposed to be meant to be out of system. So keeping things fast to the pins, stuff like that.
[00:16:50] Speaker A: What's the motivation for changing this?
[00:16:52] Speaker C: You mean the rule change?
[00:16:54] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:16:54] Speaker C: I think it's probably just Lambo might have a different answer, but I think you've got like older refs who have been refing the game for so long a certain way, and so they call things really tight and then you have another set of refs that are super liberal with how they view that call.
[00:17:16] Speaker B: And everyone just yells at it. Yeah, that's what the fans, too. They see the ball spinning, coming out of the center or anyone's hands, and they're yelling double. Even in our gym, that is eliminating people yelling when we're going back and forth. And so just throw it up. I mean, obviously it is a skill, it is an art. So you want them to have the proper technique and stuff, but it's not going to end the rally. So hopefully, I'm guessing they did it to eliminate some of that and then just if they can play, they're going to play, right?
[00:17:46] Speaker C: And I guess if you want to train a setter that's just going to be terrible. It doesn't necessarily give you an advantage. Right.
But it does give the littles a little more lateral to make a less than perfect contact.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: Okay. Anything that eliminates the burden on the referees, I think we're in favor of just clean things up, make it simple. You mentioned Emerson Wilford earlier, Katie. She had a really nice season, became a bigger part of the offense. What's next for her? What's she focusing on this spring?
[00:18:24] Speaker B: I think she's focusing on we're really making her that six rotation player. She can definitely do it and serve, receive. She has worked really hard on her defense. Just sometimes bigs back there like to stand up and so making sure she can get to the floor and move laterally and stuff. Also her shot selection. She's really worked hard on doing things that are uncomfortable for her and it's getting more and more comfortable and just I'm excited to see come the spring matches how that translates from the drills that she's really doing well in to actual gameplay. But she's going to have a huge role. I think her leadership role is just next ball, next ball, next ball. And I just appreciate she's not a complainer, she's high fiving people.
She's not necessarily the loudest in the sense of cheering people, but she has a partner named Katie Gallagher, who does plenty of that. And so Emerson is like, next ball mentality, win every point. And I just think that's we need more of those. Hert Morgan stout everybody who's, like, driving that competitive every single ball mentality is good for our program.
[00:19:33] Speaker A: So Emerson is one of three shockers who will be going to the USA volleyball open program in Colorado Springs, along with Morgan Stout and Brooklyn Leggett. Katie, describe that. What does that mean for those three?
[00:19:45] Speaker B: It's just a great opportunity for them to be with some of the best athletes in the game around the country in college and then also representing our program. I don't think we've sent girls there in a while, so it's just, I think a great opportunity that they get to meet a lot of people. They're training really high level volleyball with a lot of elite coaches, and so I think it's just exciting for them that, hey, you are 100% good enough to represent us somewhere else and then also for our program. Just like we're proud to send them. We're excited for them. They are awesome humans as well as volleyball players. And so I'm excited for them to get the chance to show other people what they can do within drills and playing and stuff.
[00:20:34] Speaker A: Morgan Stout middle, who just had a fabulous year last year, second team all conference. It was really a lot of fun just watching her just kind of get better and better throughout the season, and she was really pretty close to dominant at times, especially late in the season.
Take us through her season. What clicked, or when did you begin to realize, boy, she is really playing some high level volleyball? Ashley, you can go first. Just kind of take us through your observations of Morgan stout last season.
[00:21:02] Speaker C: Well, Lambeau spent, I mean, our whole spring last year at this time was kind of dedicated to developing Morgan as an m one and kind of refining her ability to get her hand on the ball better and just working that connection between her and izzy and, yeah, I mean, Morgan is like an absolute alien. It's crazy the things that she can do with her body. She's just built so differently, and then her brain is also built differently. Like, she could not be more competitive. And that's one thing that we love about her. We will never try to put her in a box and take that away from her. But I think that she grew in maturity in her kind of cerebral understanding of the game, kind of what she needs to do to find ways to win and score, and then just really matured in her ability to kind of be the glue, be a rock for us, keep her emotions intact so that it was driving us forward constantly and I mean, you can't not win with.
[00:22:15] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: Katie, what were your observations of Morgan last season?
[00:22:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I think she obviously grew physically just like she was crushing had overall, we would win, serve and pass and Izzy would put the ball exactly where she needs to. So stout had more opportunities than I think she had previously. And then when you're good behind the it, winning is in your favor. So the fact that we could develop her in that was really good. I also think that we had a better relationship with her as a coaching staff. Like, each one of us has a little different relationship with her. Ashley in particular is the person who can tell her, hey, you need to maybe bring it back because she is so competitive and it's amazing tool, but to be able to push that forward and our brains are a powerful thing. We don't want to get distracted from just being upset about a play or being too excited or something. So I think the relationships with us allowed her to trust us and us to trust her and say, hey, we understand where you're coming from, maybe move on or yes, we're going to fight for that. Exactly what you're saying. And I think that that paid off, knowing that we had her back and she could come back to us with feedback and stuff like that. So, yeah, the maturity thing, she just really grew. And then obviously the physical stuff, she's very athletic and working. She works really hard, too. It's not like it's a team. She works really hard.
[00:23:43] Speaker A: Okay. It's interesting you brought that up about trust and relationships because with the new coaches here, they've talked about that a lot about, you know, how did he approach the fall and hitters? He wanted to let them build a relationship before you could go back. So you two, as coaches, how do you go about building that relationship where they trust you and you can tell them maybe difficult things. Katie, how do you go about building that trust and that faith with an athlete?
[00:24:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I think some of it takes time.
[00:24:14] Speaker C: Obviously.
[00:24:14] Speaker B: Now they know us more, but a lot of it is they know our hearts outside of volleyball.
We ask them what they're doing on a daily basis, things that have nothing to do with the sport. Just knowing them as humans, them knowing us, I think, allows us to give them feedback and that's not attacking them. It's literally saying, we're just trying to make you better and what you're doing right now is not that. So I think now that they have bought into our system not that they ever didn't, but coaching changes are always tough. And I think just having the, I don't know what word, but the fact is, like, we know what we're doing, they're going to trust us, they're going to buy in. And then there was success that followed that. So I think all of those things helped just continue to make those relationships stronger.
[00:25:05] Speaker A: Ashley, how about you? How do you go about building those kind of relationships?
[00:25:09] Speaker C: I mean, everything that Katie said, for sure, and I think it's a process. I mean, it doesn't come immediately, but I think a lot of it comes from that three, 4 hours.
It doesn't happen in that three, 4 hours where you're just training all the time. A lot of it is off the court while you're traveling, just really trying to pour into them as humans outside of their sport and just building a relationship with them.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: We talk over coffee a lot. We love coffee. No, really, though, we do love coffee, and most girls on the team do. But I thought that was something fun. Everywhere we would travel to, a lot of times we had some downtime in between our servant pass and the actual match. So Ashley normally would find a local coffee spot, or there's always a Starbucks, and we would walk there from our hotel and anyone who wanted to come, it wasn't like a mandatory thing, but by the end, I think literally everyone came just to walk. And also I think it was just a fun time to chat about life. Nothing to do with volleyball.
[00:26:21] Speaker A: Katie, what's your go to coffee order? When you're at a coffee place, it.
[00:26:25] Speaker B: Really depends on the place and the season. But the biggest part is I love the toppings. Meaning it needs to have whipped cream and or if it's a cold drink, cold foam flavored, preferably.
[00:26:38] Speaker A: Okay, Ashley, how about you? What do you order?
[00:26:43] Speaker B: I drink sugar. She drinks coffee.
[00:26:44] Speaker C: I drink literally black coffee, maybe with some cream in it.
[00:26:48] Speaker A: Okay, Ashley, do you have a favorite local coffee place that you go to?
[00:26:52] Speaker C: Okay. I love Fairmount. Just sometimes they don't make the coffee hot enough. I like things hot. I like hot weather.
[00:26:59] Speaker B: I like hot coffee.
[00:27:01] Speaker A: And Fairmount is on 17th street, right across from campus, right next to the field house.
[00:27:07] Speaker C: Yeah, love that place. But Fairmount seven brew is great coffee days. I mean, we have gone every single coffee shop in this city.
[00:27:15] Speaker B: I can't wait to go to the new one. What is it?
[00:27:17] Speaker C: Pennant.
[00:27:18] Speaker B: They took over Leslie's coffee.
[00:27:20] Speaker C: Oh, we got to go.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: Shout out to all the coffee places.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: Katie, what's your favorite place?
[00:27:26] Speaker B: I too. Love fairmount. And there we get the. I get the cafe miel. Apparently Miel is spanish for honey, I believe. So it's cinnamon and honey. Lates always lates. Lambo also likes that.
[00:27:39] Speaker C: He calls it a meow, though. And he will walk up to the counter and just meow at them.
[00:27:45] Speaker B: But they know our order now, so I don't think it's as weird.
[00:27:48] Speaker C: But it was weird for a minute.
[00:27:50] Speaker A: I was told to ask your best Chris Lamb story. I didn't know if I wanted to venture there or just can that do it, calling it meow? Or do you have another one that pops to mind? A recent one.
[00:28:01] Speaker C: Man, so many stories. Honestly.
[00:28:07] Speaker B: It'S hard.
[00:28:08] Speaker C: Yeah, he's hilarious.
I think we're going to write a book because I've been saving stuff that he says.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Writing down what he says.
[00:28:17] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:17] Speaker B: Out of context, it's even better.
It's funny, but his metaphors, his analogies. I don't have a specific example, but tune in for our book sometime.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: Good plan. That may just be a separate podcast. When you get that book ready to launch, we will have you back. All right. Shocker. Volleyball. They're in early in the spring season. They'll start playing spring scrimmages in March, several different places. Katie and Ashley, thanks very much for your time.
[00:28:42] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:28:43] Speaker C: Thanks, Paul.
[00:28:59] Speaker D: Hi, this is Rick Muma, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward 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 podcasts.
[00:29:30] Speaker E: Thank you for listening to the Roundhouse podcast, courtesy of Wichita State University, city strategic communications. We encourage you to rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more roundhouse
[email protected]. Malcolm out near the timeline. Left side of the floor to Baker. Ron works deeper to the wing, fires a three.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: Good.
[00:29:51] Speaker E: Ron Baker with his third three point field goal of the game. And Wichita State goes ahead by four.
