Speaker 0 00:00:00 <silence>
Speaker 1 00:00:15 Hello, welcome to the Roundhouse Podcast with Paul Solen drop of Wichita State University strategic Communications. Thanks for listening. We appreciate your time. We are gonna talk Wichita State volleyball with Sophia Rowling. Sophia is a senior opposite from Neo Dee High School and Morgan Stout. Morgan is a junior middle. She's from Nickerson High School. Shockers are three and two after defeating Illinois and Illinois State. Last weekend, Thursday at 7:00 PM they play number 22, Kansas at Co Arena, and then Colorado comes to co arena at seven o'clock Saturday. Sophia led the shockers with 14 kills against Illinois. She had 10 against the Red Birds, also contributed a career high seven digs in that magic against Illinois State. Morgan 10 kills six blocks against Illinois and seven Kills without an error against Illinois State. Morgan, let's start with what did the shockers learn from the first weekend? Went to Lubbock, played some good competition. What'd you learn from that first weekend that helped the performance in Illinois?
Speaker 2 00:01:17 Um, I learned that if we execute a lot better and we have a lot more balance than, um, before, like to where Sophia can hit on the right and we have pin hitters that are hitting good percentages on the left, um, it really amplifies our chances of winning sets and matches. So
Speaker 1 00:01:36 Balance seems really important for this team. I'll get to that in, in a little bit, but I'm glad you brought that up. Sophia, how about you? What were your impressions from that first weekend and then how did that carry over to the second weekend for the shockers?
Speaker 2 00:01:46 I think after a pretty slow start, we were excited to have another opportunity and we, uh, we took advantage of the second weekend really well and showed exactly what we can be,
Speaker 1 00:01:57 Uh, beating Illinois Big 10 team on their home court. Seems like that could be Im important. What was the mood, what was the atmosphere after that Sophia?
Speaker 2 00:02:07 That win was amazing. I was so, me personally, I was so excited for us. Uh, we had great energy and attitudes that entire match, things would happen, some mistakes that typically would get us down. We moved on from, we recovered and it allowed us to win that match.
Speaker 1 00:02:23 Morgan, how about you? How, what, how did you feel about the win over Illinois?
Speaker 2 00:02:26 Um, yeah, so I'd say like the, the attitude, everything. Like whenever you have a good attitude and you forget about the play that you messed up or whatever, and you have a really good, um, mindset towards like messing up and doing better and focusing on the next play, it really like, again, amplifies your chances of winning even more because everybody else is like, oh, okay, like they messed up, they're doing fine. Um, and then it puts less pressure on anyone else who's like putting pressure on themselves. Like, oh, I shouldn't mess up. This is super important. Like this past matters way too much. You know, like, we're all human, we're all gonna make mistakes. So I think that's one thing that we really, um, excuse me. Something that we really focused on that match was just staying focused on the next play and executing the next play, even though we do mess up. So,
Speaker 1 00:03:16 So there's several newcomers on the shockers roster. Uh, Suter, Izzy Strand is one of them is playing a big role. She's a transfer from uc, San Diego. She joined the team last spring. Sophia, tell me how Izzy has integrated herself into running this team's offense.
Speaker 2 00:03:32 I think Izzy has helped us out a lot. She brings a new attitude. Um, she has a very aggressive like mindset whenever she plays, which I think is good. She's very offensive sometimes, which allows stress to be taken away from, especially like our M one, which is our typical middle, uh, who is just paired with the outside and the setter in the front row allows them to have an easier job and she brings good leadership and communication mm-hmm. <affirmative> that allows us to do more things.
Speaker 1 00:04:02 She has, she seemed to have a big personality. Is that, is that mm-hmm. <affirmative> accurate description, Morgan? Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:04:07 Of course. Um, whenever I know for a fact that like whenever I mess up or I'm not really like feeling like the hand contact on the ball, um, she's like, well, what do you need? Like, do you need it higher, lower? Like, do you need me to set you faster, slower? Like, something like that. And it's like, I really love the communication towards that. And even if like us two me, um, not me and you, but like, um, if like me and another outside that's playing on the left isn't really executing as well as we could. I know for a fact that whenever she can get a kill, she's gonna get a kill either way. So in a way it's like we have three hitters up there, um, and it puts less pressure on me and the other outside that's playing too, because we really trust her. So.
Speaker 1 00:04:49 So it seems like that, as you said earlier, balance, she's able to spread the volleyball around and get a lot of people with, with kills mm-hmm. <affirmative>, am I reading that right? Is that something she's done well so far? Yes, absolutely. Yeah. How, how is she able to do that?
Speaker 2 00:05:03 Uh, that's a, I think she moves on well of finding who is scoring at the time and then moves on and allows everything to be spread evenly. Like during the Illinois game, Illinois we only had like one big hitter, which again, she's a really great hitter, but she can only do so much. Whereas we were very offensively balanced and attacking from everywhere, which puts a lot of stress on the other team. So from, she just does a great job from balancing and communication and she finds a way
Speaker 1 00:05:33 Working with the middles at Wichita State is always, uh, I think Wichita State just has such a great tradition and reputation of middle attacking. Tell me about you and Izzy getting on the same page and, and getting comfortable working together.
Speaker 2 00:05:45 Yeah. Um, at first, like when Izzy first got here, it was like we instantly connected, um, when it comes to like setting and hitting, um, stuttering hitter connection, and that's something that is like kind of developed over time. Um, but whereas like with her and I, it's like it was just already there somehow and I am just able to hit off her very, very well. Um, and I know that I can trust her to like set the ball backwards, um, behind her in like the ways that I need her to. So, um, trust is a very, very high thing with me and her, I think because, um, it's, it gets tricky in volleyball whenever you don't know if the setter is gonna set you or not and you kind of like, your footwork may not be there if you don't think she's gonna set you or it is there and she doesn't set you. So I really think that her and I are on the page a lot of the time. So
Speaker 1 00:06:40 That working behind the setter, is that the toughest thing to do in volleyball from an attacking perspective or, or not? Yeah. <laugh>, yes.
Speaker 2 00:06:47 Honestly, in my opinion, yeah. Um, I think it requires a lot of great communication of what's happening because when she's setting forward, she can see what's going on, where her hitters are at, how she sets that ball. But when she sets backwards, it's kind of just hoping it comes out of her hands well, that we're where we need to be and a lot of things can go wrong there. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 1 00:07:06 Okay. I just kind of made that up, so I'm glad that, uh, I'm glad you didn't laugh at me for being way off base <laugh>. No, you're good. Uh, another area of this team that seems to be really playing well. The back row, uh, defenders, the Littles and Chris Lamb was really high on them last spring. Uh, we're talking about people such as Gabby Moss, Anna Lee Heister, Katie Galligan, Reagan, Anderson, uh, shockers are holding opponents to a 1 49 attack percentage. So it appears the littles are really doing well against some strong competition. Sophia, tell us about that group. Why have they been off to such a good start?
Speaker 2 00:07:38 Our littles have been amazing. Um, I think they've worked hard and I think, um, their ability to read the hitters have grown so much and them getting more balls allows like is he to set more, which allows us to hit more, which, you know, helps everyone. Um, I think that's all got
Speaker 1 00:07:59 <laugh>. Okay. Morgan, what have you noticed about that group? I
Speaker 2 00:08:01 Love our littles because I know that if one of us gets blocked in there, we're playing a really good defensive team. I know that we're also a really good defensive team when it comes to passing and block coverage too. So, um, and also playing defense against our defense is super frustrating for a lot of other teams, I feel like, because like our littles are just everywhere and they're picking up everything, so I'm gonna but back in again. Um, they also bring in crazy energy. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> like this past week they've have been so, uh, talkative and talking what they're seeing and what needs to happen and that helps facilitate, facilitate so many things. Like for Illinois, we were gonna run a new defense and they were talking about what's happening, whether we need to be in here or in a different position. And that allows a lot of things to go smoother. 'cause we all know what's gonna happen and there's no doubt. And so for them to be talking so much and then everybody's communicating, they're where they need to be and so then now they're getting great digs. It allows everyone to be so much better.
Speaker 1 00:09:03 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So Morgan, your scoring numbers are up this season. You've got a two 80 attack percentage. Uh, tell us about the improvement. What, what, what's working so well for you?
Speaker 2 00:09:12 Um, I think a lot of it has to do with confidence. I think I lacked a lot of confidence last year 'cause I was dealing with an injury in the beginning of the season and it kind of held me back a little bit, um, from scoring. So I think this season has really been a confidence booster for me and finding like my inner, um, dog I guess on the court. So.
Speaker 1 00:09:34 Okay. Sophia, tell us about your observations about Morgan. How has she improved here in her time at Wichita State?
Speaker 2 00:09:41 I think when she came here she brings up really great energy. I dunno whether she be saying she or you, but, um, <laugh>, uh, and in this past like year two years, her hand on the ball has really grown and she's started hitting a lot more balls, a lot more balls down and really becoming a great offensive threat.
Speaker 1 00:09:59 I'm glad you mentioned hand on the ball. 'cause when I was talking to Chris Lamb he mentioned that, and that may be something it's hard for fans to really see the, the nuances and, and what all that means. Tell us a little bit about how you've gotten better at that <laugh>. Maybe what are some of the subtle things that, you know, we can't see from the stands that are, that are important to a hitter?
Speaker 2 00:10:18 Yeah, it's especially like running behind the setter, it's very hard to get a good hand contact unless you're like really focusing on like different parts of the volleyball. Um, I think for me last year I was kind of focusing on like the middle portion of the volleyball to like the low portion and it was kind of like not helping my full hand contact on the ball. Whereas if I had my full hand contact on the ball, I'd be able to hit balls downwards and I could cut and slice and dice. But if I'm looking at the middle part of the ball or like below, um, I hit upwards, which is not good when you want to hit the ball down. So, um, a lot of my error percentage came from that. And then, um, also, uh, whenever Izzy sets the ball behind her, the footwork is the most important part.
Speaker 2 00:11:03 Um, and especially like if you don't have the footwork right, your right shoulder's not on the ball correctly. So, um, if, if my body is too far to the right of the ball when I'm hitting it behind the setter, um, I'm forced either hit cross court, um, or like hit under the block, which is very, very hard to do. Um, especially when my body's wider than the ball. So I've learned to like really put my right shoulder, right hand on the ball and not let it like get or like not run past the ball I guess. So a lot of that has to do with just like the right footwork, the patience, the right hand contact, um, and really seeing the vision on the court and the block as well. So yeah.
Speaker 1 00:11:49 And so I'm sure being healthy, a lot of repetitions. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we've heard a lot about you being on jump limits in the past, so a lot of that is behind you. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> that's helping. Am I, am I correct to say that?
Speaker 2 00:12:00 Yeah, for sure. I feel a lot healthier, um, this season than any other season before and I think that's also what was what has really helped me be the player that I am now and develop into something even better potentially. So.
Speaker 1 00:12:14 So Chris Lamb said that one of his nicknames for you is Smoothie Queen. Yeah. <laugh>, I guess you have a lot of nicknames. Yeah, but he told me about Smoothie Queen. Why? What's the story with that nickname?
Speaker 2 00:12:24 Um, so I used to really struggle hitting behind the setter. Um, I either ran past the ball too much, got stuff blocked, um, my hand contact wasn't there. Um, and now like I've been able to show him like my true potential and I've been able to not run past the ball as much, hit the, hit the ball with a very solid hand contact. Um, whether that's tooling the block, hitting a like under the block, hitting line, hitting cross court, um, and a smooth approach with a really good hand contact in the ball that leads to a kill. Um, and then ultimately getting our team fired up from that. I think that's what he calls me, smoothie Queen Force Smoothie King. Um, either one is fine, but I think that has a lot to do with it.
Speaker 1 00:13:10 Okay. Do you have other nicknames or do you have a favorite <laugh>?
Speaker 2 00:13:14 Uh, yes I have Scooter. Um, and that was when I had surgery <laugh> on my left foot and I would scoot around, practice a lot on that little knee scooter and sometimes I'd be going at very high rates of speed on that thing. So <laugh>, uh, I think that's where I got that from.
Speaker 1 00:13:32 Okay. Good nicknames. So Sophia, uh, early in the fall I was talking to Chris Lamb again, uh, and he said he wanted you to think about yourself as this team's. Do you know what I'm gonna say? You're laughing. Yeah. What word did he use?
Speaker 2 00:13:46 Um, basically he wants me to be a mama bear and be a mother to this team, which means just he wants me to get really aggressive and possessive. Which there was a time I was like, I don't know how well this is gonna work out for you because you're making mama bear mad now about, 'cause he was getting onto to us about something and basically he just wants me to really go after it and like protect this team in a way and maybe sometimes lead this team.
Speaker 1 00:14:12 That's a little different than what I, than what he told me. But Mama bear makes sense too. Okay. Uh, he used the word, uh, protagonist. Oh, the main character. Had he ta has he he's talked to you about that too.
Speaker 2 00:14:22 Different conversation <laugh>. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:14:24 Lot of conversation. No, mama bear is that's that's that's good stuff too. Whoops. Uh, so, and he went on to say more often than not match ends, he wants people walking away thinking of Sophia Rolling main character in that match. Yes. How do you go about meeting that goal?
Speaker 2 00:14:43 Basically thinking for me sometimes that it kind of revolves around me. Like I affect everyone and everything. Um, whenever I think a protagonist, you know, it's the main character and so for me it's being a leader on the court, trying to be of communicating and talking and giving energy and then, um, executing whenever you're given the chance, whether that's blocking or setting, uh, not setting hitting and things like that.
Speaker 1 00:15:10 Okay. So Mama bear and protagonist. That's a lot. <laugh>. I guess you're a senior though. You can handle that. You can handle that burden.
Speaker 2 00:15:16 Yeah, we've been, the reason I brought up Mama Bear is 'cause it was the recent fall discussion we've been talking about protagonist for a while.
Speaker 1 00:15:23 Okay. Okay. Uh, so yes, Sophia, senior year, take us through your, your progress here at Wichita State. Where do you feel like you've improved grown as a, as a volleyball player?
Speaker 2 00:15:33 I think I've grown all around. Um, coming here, I really just had a love for this sport. Uh, I was very raw and they, uh, recently I've been taught, uh, iq, volleyball, iq, seeing the court, what's happening, reading, and then just learning how to be a better offensive threat and executing those things.
Speaker 1 00:15:54 So this will be the first home matches for the shockers on Thursday and Saturday. Shocker. Fans will get their first live look at this team. We've got a lot of newcomers as we talked about some of them playing important roles. Morgan, give us a name or two, who should fans maybe pay special attention to from this, this new group?
Speaker 2 00:16:12 Um, from KU or for,
Speaker 1 00:16:14 For Wichita State. Oh, okay. <laugh>. We'll let the KU podcasters talk about the KU volleyball. Okay.
Speaker 2 00:16:19 Um, I think that Emerson Wilford is probably the most developed player on this team by far. Um, I've seen her in the previous seasons not really, uh, grow outta her shell, but this year I think she has grown outta her. Shell has gained a lot more confidence, hand on the ball, vision on the court. Um, and she's just been like, it's been survival of the fittest with her, with other teams. Like they don't know how to defend her. Sometimes she hits low seam high three, low three in the middle of the block. So, um, she's just able to hit line too. Like she has a great court vision, um, and a great mindset as well. Whenever she messes up, she kind of laughs a little bit or like if she gets stuff blocked, she laughs it off. Um, which like, it could make her mad a little bit, but just the fact that she's able to brush off her mistakes at such a very young age right now is and, and compete at a very high level with a great attacking percentage is something I really admire from her.
Speaker 2 00:17:21 So, um, and then I also think that our littles should deserve a shout out too because they are out there like scavenging for, um, volleyballs on the court, covering our hitters really well, and also making sure to like hype our teammates up too. So every little on our team deserves that. Um, and then Weber also, she's been really, really, really good at passing too. Um, at one point her passing numbers were better than our, uh, little's numbers, so, um, she's been really, really good defensively and um, has also great court vision as well, has been really good at blocking. Um, and then Sophia too, Sophia has been dealing with an injury, um, for the longest time ever and she's just been able to battle through it along with all the hard stuff that Lambo is bringing on to her as a senior, um, and really trying to meet those expectations for Lambo, her team and her as well. So,
Speaker 1 00:18:16 Morgan Weber, I wanna make sure people know first name for Morgan. Yeah, she's off to a good start too.
Speaker 3 00:18:35 Hi, this is Rick Miama, president of Wichita State University. Check out the latest episode of the Forward Together podcast. Each episode I sit down with different guests from Chakra Nation to celebrate the vision and mission of Wichita State University. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1 00:19:07 Sophia, who's your her, who is your recommendation for a chakra fan to, to take a, a sharp look at this weekend?
Speaker 2 00:19:13 I think if you're looking for some hype and excitement, I'd mention Morgan Stout <laugh>. Uh, she brings some great energy to the game and she always has some sort of emotion going on, whether that's mad, excited and just brings a great attitude. Um, I'm excited to see Natalie Foster again, go off like she did last year. She has a crazy arm that just managed to always find it on the court. That ball somehow always. There's been times I don't know how it happens, she just reaches around where I'm like, no way she can get this ball. It's gonna go out and she just bounces it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> <laugh>. I think those are some great options. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:19:52 Both of you are are veterans. You've been in college athletics now for several years. Morgan advice to a high school seniors, you know, starting to look at colleges or getting started in college athletics. When you look back on your career, what advice would you give them?
Speaker 2 00:20:08 Um, personally, my advice I would give them is make sure your grades are up. Um, make sure that <laugh>, if you want all the options that you can get, uh, make sure that you have a great G p a that way, um, you don't have limited options. And then, um, keep grinding, you're gonna make it. There's always gonna be a college out there that's gonna wanna have you play for them. Um, and once you get there, be ready to be, get um, be ready to get a lot of information thrown at you at once. Uh, the first practice can be very overwhelming for some people. <laugh>, especially me. Um, but it's a very, it's a very, uh, it's a very good blessing to be in college athletics and enjoy it while you can because you only get a certain amount of years to be great and look back at it for the rest of your life. So, um, college is definitely something I wish I could be in forever. So,
Speaker 1 00:21:02 Sophia, your tips for youngsters?
Speaker 2 00:21:05 Um, I would say don't lose sight of why you love it. There's been times that I have been in some good lows and not remembering why I did this or why I love the sport. And it makes them for incredibly hard days. You'll get the reps, you'll get um, the results with time. Give it time and just remember your love for it and keep pushing. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and you'll get there.
Speaker 1 00:21:30 Morgan, your favorite Chris Lamb practice drill.
Speaker 2 00:21:33 Um, I gotta say yellow hand, hands down. It's gotta be yellow hand. If anyone disagrees, you're wrong. Um, it's definitely yellow hand
Speaker 1 00:21:41 Brief description of yellow hand,
Speaker 2 00:21:44 Uh, <laugh>. It's, I don't even know to be honest. Basically I'll help. You're trying, the hitters are trying to go off the, um, blockers outside hand. It's called the yellow hand. And your goal is just like tooling trying to win that battle. And it's just a lot of like rotations like running in and out and you're just trying to keep hitting that yellow hand. The other hand is called the red hand. You don't wanna hit the red hand. 'cause a lot of times you can get stuffed on the inside hand. So constantly trying to go after that yellow hand, which the reason why a lot of people love it is everyone gets to dig mm-hmm. <affirmative> and everyone's running around and blocking, including littles and everyone's going everywhere. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 1 00:22:24 Okay. Sophia, what's your favorite Chris Lamb practice drill. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:22:28 Um, I like e m s. Yeah, we get to set in that one, basically it's four, four people on a court. Two are in the back row, one's in the front row and we're shifted like on the opposite lines of each other. It's hard to make sense, but you're basically peppering with three people on each side and you're just rotating between past setting, attacking, and then eventually you get to back row and then it's like you're at one point you're trying to contact it. The first person with two hands, the second person with one hand. You only get two contacts and it's just fun.
Speaker 1 00:23:00 Wichita State volleyball is at co arena this week. They play the University of Kansas seven o'clock on Thursday. They play Colorado at 7:00 PM Saturday. Sophia Morgan, thank you for your time. Thank you
Speaker 2 00:23:12 For much.
Speaker 4 00:23:28 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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