Who, when and where the Wichita State volleyball team will play in NCAA Tournament

A crowded room in the Champions Club at Koch Arena erupted in cheers when the Wichita State volleyball team heard its name on Selection Sunday for the first time since 2017.

There was no sweating it out Sunday for the Shockers, which earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament by winning the American Athletic Conference tournament on its home court last weekend.

The only question was where was WSU headed?

The answer came early in Sunday’s show, as the Shockers (18-13) learned they will play No. 2 seed SMU, a former conference foe, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5 (streaming on ESPN+) in the first round of a regional hosted by the Mustangs in Dallas at Moody Coliseum. The other side of the pod is No. 7 seed Missouri against Texas State, as the two winners will meet on Friday, Dec. 6, to decide who goes to the Sweet 16.

“We obviously knew we were going to be in there, but hearing our name was still surreal,” WSU senior Izzi Strand said. “It was kind of that ‘Aha!’ moment when we knew it was real.”

WSU players were surprised and excited to discover its opponent would be SMU after many projections had the team being sent to Nebraska, Creighton or Kansas. The Shockers are plenty familiar with the Mustangs after battling with them in the AAC up until this season, while former star middle hitter Natalie Foster, who played for WSU from 2020-23, transferred to SMU in the offseason.

SMU has made a handful of key additions, so it’s not the same team as last season, but the Shockers are sure to draw confidence from last year’s result when they were the only team in the American to knock off the Mustangs during their championship season.

“We are definitely the underdogs technically, but we’ve been there before,” Strand said. “I feel like we can do it. I just have a feeling. Win or lose, we’re going to go down fighting.”

The Mustangs (24-7) are in the midst of the best season in program history, as they handed No. 1 overall seed Pittsburgh its only loss of the season and also swept Nebraska, another No. 1 seed, en route to earn the program’s first home regional in NCAA Tournament history. SMU won a program-record seven times against ranked opponents and finished the regular season ranked No. 10 in the national poll.

SMU is one of the oldest teams in the country, loaded with seniors and fifth-year players up and down its lineup. The Mustangs rank 28th nationally in hitting percentage (.265) thanks to star setter Celia Cullen (9.8 assists per set) and a trio of standout hitters in Naye Shime (3.36 kills per set), Maya Tabron (2.97 kills per set) and Jamison Wheeler (2.39 kills per set). SMU is also one of the best blocking teams in the country, ranked 18th in blocks per set, helped by a pair of 6-foot-4 middles in Foster and Nnedi Okammor.

“We’ve got to score points,” said WSU head coach Chris Lamb, who earned the program’s 12th NCAA bid. “Whether or not we can slow the top teams down, we’ll wait and see. But we have got to be able to score the volleyball. We’ve been swimming upstream on that one all year long. We’re still waiting for that match where three or four of our girls can have elevated numbers. Even when we’ve beat good teams, the offense just wasn’t there. So that’s challenge No. 1 for this team.”

After sputtering to the finish line in the regular season, losing three of its final four matches, the Shockers looked like a new team last weekend in the conference tournament. WSU was dominant in three straight sweeps of Tulsa, top-seeded South Florida and Florida Atlantic to claim its first AAC tournament title.

WSU has been led this season on offense by senior middle hitter Morgan Stout, the MVP of the conference tournament, and Strand, an all-conference setter. Alyssa Gonzales, Brooklyn Leggett and Emerson Wilford have all been options for Strand to go to, while the back-row defense has been spearheaded by Katie Galligan, Annalie Heliste and Reagan Anderson.

“We’re really excited to be able to play together again,” Gonzales said. “We want to do it for our seniors (Strand and Stout) and I’m so excited that they get to experience the NCAA Tournament their last year.”