Shocker middles have career days as Wichita State pushes conference co-leaders to five sets

Shocker middles have career days as Wichita State pushes conference co-leaders to five sets Shocker middles have career days as Wichita State pushes conference co-leaders to five sets Samantha Harader Wichita State volleyball libero Gabi Maas (23) serves the ball during the third set against Memphis on Sept. 25 at Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers took down the Tigers 3-1 in their conference opener. Evan Long, Sports Editor • October 12, 2026 The Shocker volleyball team dropped matches to the unanimous preseason conference favorites, the Rice Owls, and the co-leaders in the American, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, on the road over the weekend.  Wichita State (4-14, 1-5 American) forced Tulsa (14-3, 6-0 American) to a five-set decision before an agonizing defeat on Sunday. Despite career-best performances from middle blockers Janaya Weitkemper and Maddie Wilson, the Golden Hurricane won 3-2 (25-17, 25-27, 25-15, 22-25, 16-14) in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On Friday night, Rice swept the Shockers 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-19) in Houston, Texas. Wichita State has lost 10 of its last 11 matches and dropped five straight conference contests. The Shockers will look to turn things around when they return home to face UTSA (11-6, 2-4 American) at 6 p.m. Friday and Rice (10-8, 4-2 American) at noon Sunday at Charles Koch Arena. In the Rice match, the Shockers were narrowly outhit by the Owls .218 to .213, and they held a 7-4 block advantage. However, the serving game proved costly for Wichita State as it committed 10 service errors and just one ace. Sophomores McKenzie Jones (11) and Weitkemper (11) combined for 22 kills and paced the Shocker offense. Jones notched a team-high .381 hitting percentage and added two blocks, while Weitkemper hit .333. Wilson, a 6-foot-1 fifth-year, also had an impressive showing, finishing with a .353 hitting percentage, six kills, no errors and leading the team in blocks with four. Setters Addie Oeth (17) and Jordan Heatherly (15) combined for 32 assists, and fifth-year libero Gabi Maas recorded a match-high 20 digs. A sophomore outside hitter for Rice, Sydnee Peterson recorded a double-double with 12 kills, a match-high, and 16 digs. Stephanie Gutierrez, a senior middle blocker, and Amalia Simmons, a graduate outside, finished with eight kills apiece. Gutierrez, who had a .421 hitting percentage, and Simmons, who hit .368, were very efficient as well. Junior setter Savannah Skopal notched a match-high 40 assists, and Jordan Hummel, a graduate defensive specialist, registered a team-high 18 digs. Wichita State began the opening set on fire, leading 6-1 after a 6-0 run. However, Rice put together a 10-3 stretch to take a 14-13 lead over the Shockers. WSU battled back, but the Owls put the game out of reach after a 4-0 run gave them a 22-19 advantage. The second set went back-and-forth and saw the Shockers seize an 11-8 lead before Rice gained a 20-18 advantage after a 3-0 run. The Owls were able to close out the nail-biting set, winning 25-22. Neither team could gain the upper hand in the third set until Rice went on an 11-1 run to take a 20-11 lead. Wichita State immediately answered with a 6-1 stretch to cut the Owl lead to 21-17, but it was too little, too late. Rice finished off the Shockers 25-19, going on a 3-0 run to complete the sweep. On Sunday, Wichita State was outhit by Tulsa .195 to .158 and outblocked 11 to nine in its first five-set match of the season. The Shockers had difficulty in the serve-receive game again, allowing nine service aces and committing eight errors from behind the service line. Weitkemper delivered another strong performance, recording 18 kills, a career-high and match-high, and hitting .256. Wilson finished with 17 kills, tied for a career-high, a .441 hitting percentage and six blocks. Jones notched 12 kills and five blocks, while Maas had a team-high 25 digs. Junior defensive specialist Grace Hett and sophomore outside hitter Olivia Cohee both registered 12 digs. Heatherly, a 5-foot-10 senior, finished with 32 assists for a match-high, and Oeth, a 6-foot-1 freshman, added 17 assists. The Golden Hurricane had six players reach at least eight kills in the match. Olivia Vance, a senior outside hitter, led Tulsa in kills with 15, and recorded six blocks and 14 digs. Fifth-year middle blocker Kat Cooper hit .261 and contributed 11 kills, while senior middle Campbell Hague hit a team-high .318 to go along with nine kills, four blocks and three service aces. Sophomore middle Jill Hanson, the American Preseason Player of the Year, finished with 11 kills, a .241 hitting percentage and six blocks. Junior setter Brittany Bacorn notched 29 assists, a team-high, and 13 digs, and sophomore setter Meg Goodwin had 23 assists and 18 digs. Goodwin also recorded four service aces, a career-high and match-high. Five Tulsa players registered double-digit digs, and Lauren Patterson, a senior libero, led the team with 26 digs. Both teams traded blows in the first set before Tulsa went on a 5-1 run to take a 17-11 lead and a 5-0 run to seize a 23-15 advantage. The Golden Hurricane closed out the opener with a 25-17 victory. In the second set, Wichita State went on a 4-0 run to take an early 10-5 lead, but Tulsa put together a 4-0 stretch of its own to tie it 12-12. Later in the set, the Shockers took a 23-21 lead after a 5-1 run. Tulsa battled back, but a Maas service ace gave WSU a 27-25 win that evened the match at 1-1. The Golden Hurricane led 11-6 in the third set following a 5-0 run that began with a Wichita State service error and two Tulsa aces. After a 6-0 run from the Golden Hurricane, they held a 21-12 advantage and took the set 25-15. In the fourth set, Tulsa went on a 6-1 run to take a 16-11 lead and later held a 20-16 advantage. However, the Shockers answered with a 9-2 stretch to close out the set 25-22 and force a decisive fifth game. Tulsa put together a 5-0 run to seize a 7-3 advantage in the final set, but Wichita State retook the lead at 10-9 after a 5-0 stretch of its own. WSU led 13-12 before a 4-1 Golden Hurricane run gave them a 16-14 win to take the match and remain undefeated in conference play. 1 Like This Story Share on Facebook Share on X Share on Reddit Print this Story Leave a Comment About the Contributors Evan Long, Sports Editor Evan Long is the sports editor for The Sunflower. He is a sophomore studying journalism and media production. After graduation, he plans to pursue a career in sports media. Long uses he/him pronouns. Samantha Harader, Photographer Samantha Harader is a photographer for The Sunflower. She is a sophomore studying journalism and media production and plans to pursue a career at ESPN in expressions and graphics. Harader uses she/her pronouns.