Senior libero Melissa Granville will be writing weekly articles on Shocker volleyball. Check back every Monday afternoon for a new article.

Dec. 2, 2009

Hey Shocker Fans,
This last week was a good one for your Shocker Volleyball team. Starting on Thursday, we had a great time at the banquet, although the food didn’t meet Mom’s standard. We got to celebrate a few Shockers getting some recognition: Kim, Emily, Hooper and McGee. We are so proud of them.

Thursday night our game against Southern Illinois was a great start on our road to the championship match. All week long we were talking about how to play Southern Illinois and we were all VERY prepared when we got our shot at them. Despite our satisfaction with that win, we knew we had to move on because our next match was against the Missouri State Bears.

Friday night, we had a very emotional win over Missouri State. Everything seemed to be going right for us, yet it was a battle. Missouri State is a very tough team to play and we were enthralled with that win. But once again, after we finished that match we had a very short time to rest and start focusing on Northern Iowa.

Saturday night, the big Championship Match! Naturally we were all excited to play the Panthers. The first game we played very well and were prepared for everything Northern gave to us. After that, Northern started playing ridiculous volleyball. I can’t say we played our best, and we may have been a bit tired but Northern had the game of their season. Congratulations to them for having a great season.

Sunday we got to hang out at the Lamb’s house to watch the NCAA tournament selection show. We were all on pins and needles waiting for our name to show up…and it did. We are so excited to get another shot to play again, especially the seniors. We have aspirations of going to the Sweet 16 and this year is as good as any to make that happen.

Wish us luck! Go Shocks!

Nov. 18, 2009

The last home weekend was an emotional one for the Shockers. All week we prepared for Northern Iowa and were very excited to play them. On Saturday, we played a very long and intense game against the Panthers and narrowly lost to them in five games, which we were bummed about. For some of us, the game against Northern is the last game we will ever play in Koch Arena. Yet, Saturday’s game was not the last game for us in the season.
       
We didn’t play our best game against Northern Iowa and we all would like another shot to play them in the Conference tournament. So, don’t fear. We are back to the gym preparing to play Illinois State and Indiana State, two teams we must beat on our quest for the Conference tournament championship match.

Nov. 9, 2009

The Southern Illinois/Evansville road trip has always been a tough one for the Shockers. This year wasn’t any different. Both Friday and Saturday night’s games were very competitive and we had to play at our best to beat SIU and Evansville.
       
Friday we started off with a great offensive battle against Southern Illinois' firepower. The game was really close and we needed to pick up our defense in order to beat them in the next two games. I think after the first we started to settle down and played much more well-rounded volleyball. We left for Evansville feeling pretty good about ourselves.

Saturday we started in similar fashion against Evansville. We were playing a little lackluster and after the first game we “turned the switch on” and never looked back.
       
This coming weekend we have Bradley and Northern Iowa. Northern Iowa will be our last home game and we hope we can set an attendance record. Please bring everyone you know. Go Shocks!

Nov. 2, 2009

This last weekend was a successful weekend for the Shockers in two respects: we beat both Drake and Creighton in respectable fashion and my plot to surprise Lambo dressed as him for Halloween went smoothly.

We had a good week of practice last week and we felt really good going into the games on Friday and Saturday. I think the crowd saw a newer, more revitalized Shocker squad this weekend and I know we will be playing our best volleyball at the end of our season.

The second most successful part of the weekend was my Lambo costume. All week, the team and I were trying to find the best scenario to reveal the costume. We decided I would run into the locker room after the game and change into the Lambo outfit. I sat down in his chair and when he came in I was talking to the team like him and punching my scouting report. He seemed very shocked and thought it was pretty funny. I know the team thought his reaction was hilarious.

I hope you enjoyed this last weekend as much as we did. We look forward to a great week of practice and another great weekend of Valley play at Southern Illinois and Evansville.

Oct. 27, 2009

Last Friday was the best we have played in a long time. We knew we needed to beat Missouri State and we needed to beat them while playing well. We all felt that we should have won when we played them the first time and we wanted to prove that we are the better team. I think we showed that on Friday.

This weekend we have two big games: Drake and Creighton. Drake is doing well in the conference and we will need to play well to beat them. Creighton is our largest regret from the first round of Valley play. I suspect we will play well against them.
Also, a very important holiday is approaching us: HALLOWEEN. It is my favorite holiday and because we have a game on Saturday we won’t be able to celebrate in true fashion; therefore, we decided to talk about what we would be if we could dress up for Halloween. Here are some of the selections:

Mrs. Smith- from Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Misty May and Kerri Walsh
Darth Vader
Ninja Turtles
Lambo
Trent Green
Kurt Warner

We look forward to our games this weekend and maybe Lambo will let us dress up for practice, who knows. Happy Trick-or-Treating Shocker fans!

Oct. 21, 2009

With all the gloomy tales of Swine Flu, you'd think the Shockers would be prepared for a simple onslaught of the cold. You were wrong. Last week it all started with a cough here and a sneeze there. Before long we were traveling to UNI. Thankfully, Lambo’s kind soul decided to buy us hand sanitizer and Airborne. By the end of the weekend almost everyone on our team was sick.
       

Despite the colds, we played one of the most competitive games of the year, so far, against UNI. The match, although we lost, gave us hope for the future of this team. We know we have “the fight” in us and we want to win the rest of our games this season.

Oct. 13, 2009

This weekend was a big weekend for us. We needed to separate ourselves from the rest of the Valley. Our wins allowed us to be in the top three. We played pretty well against Evansville, although we felt it could be a lot better. On Saturday, we came out with a lot more intensity and played to our level. After weeks of worrying about our serving, I thought we served very tough. We are now preparing ourselves for a very good Northern Iowa team. I think our team feels rejuvenated and we feel like our season is just starting. Bring it Northern!

Oct. 5, 2009

The last four or five years we have established a winning tradition, but up until the last year we have had some losses. For example, in 2007 we lost at home to UNI in the first week of Conference play. That year we ended up winning the MVC regular season and went to the second round of the NCAAs.
 
We all know that this season hasn't started the way we'd all expected but it is in our character to fight back. We have always been that team and we will always be that team. The conference season is a long distance race and even if we are not the forerunners, we will dig deep and sprint through to the finish.
 
This weekend we are at home against SIU and Evansville. Please come and support our team. We have really enjoyed our home crowds, including our growing student section.

Sept. 28, 2009

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.

It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.

Every morning a lion wakes up.

It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. 

It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.

When the sun comes up, you better start running. 

This weekend we realized we aren't running fast enough.

Friday night we had a tough loss to Missouri State, who is a skilled opponent. Although Missouri State played well, most Shockers would agree that we beat ourselves; i.e. services errors.

This week we need to be better. We need to fix our mistakes and evolve as a team. We can't get that game back but what we can do is prepare for the future and never let it happen again. Whether we are the lion or the gazelle, we better start running. 

Sept. 23, 2009

"WE ARE A FAMILY! GET UP EVERYBODY AND SING!" This last week was an interesting week for your Shockers. We are experimenting with some team building. Every day we are judged by our coaches on how we contribute to the team as a leader. According to our coaches there are 4 categories:
 
L- leader- one who supports their teammates yet demands more of them while physically contributing
G- giver- one who supports their teammates and physically contributes
C- complimentary- one who shows up to practice yet doesn't show leadership
T-taker- one who takes away from the general feeling of practice
 
Based on the letter you receive, you are split into two groups. The Core- which consists of L's and G's and The Periphery-which consists of C's and T's. Before practice we meet within these groups. In The Core, we have multi-colored string that we pass to people we would like to talk to. For example, I could throw the string to Stephanie Tokarz and I would tell her one thing I like about her and one thing I think she needs to work on for the day. The Periphery does the same type of excercise, minus the string. The ultimate goal is to have everyone in the core.
 
This excercise helps our team move forward and get better every day. I think our ability to talk to each other about our problems is making us better physically.
 
In my opinion, this weekend was a reflection of our hard work both on and off the court. We played well against two good teams in the Valley. We are looking forward to a great week of practice and a SPECTACULAR win over Missouri State this Friday.

Sept. 14, 2009

During an interview a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a few Shockers by the name of "Geeter" and "Walter". For those of you who thought I had imaginary friends, you are mistaken. I thought it would be a good idea to dispell this "rumor" by giving you some of the common nicknames we have for people on our team.
 
Lindsey Engel: Lindz/ Engel
Emily Stockman: Em
Elizabeth Field: Field
Sarah Waldorf: Waldo/ Walter (Walt for short)
Mary Elizabeth Hooper: Hooper
Emily Adney: Adney
Stephanie Tokarz: Tok
Melissa Granville: Mel/ Melman
Kim Wadsworth: Berly/ Gibbler
Jackie Church: Yackie/ Church-lady
Lindsey Eckenrode: Eckenroid/ T-Rex
Katie Vogts: Vogts
Jada Witham: Darth Jader
Brianna Kaiser: Bri
Amanda Backes: Backes
Alysa Heath: Heath
Katie Niggemeyer: KT/ Katie Grace
Chelsey Feekin: Feek
Haley Dotson: Haleybot
Sam Sanders: Samuel L.
Sarah McGee: Geeter/ McGee
Dana Loganbill: Dana
Ashley Andrade: Andrade
 
See you Tuesday Night against the Italian National team. Go Shox!

Sept. 10, 2009

If ever you have come to a Wichita State Volleyball game you may have noticed we draw a rather large crowd. In fact, we have been top 10 in attendance the past couple of years. Our crowd is one of the things WSU is well known for. Despite how happy we are about our large and intense crowd, we are a little bummed that we don’t have a legit “student section” that paints up and heckles (nicely of course).

Now, I’m sure we have plenty of students at our games but they may not be sitting together like basketball games.
So this is my shout out to ALL students . . . come to our games, sit together, paint up and heckle your heads off! Make it happen! GO SHOX!

Aug. 31, 2009

"Lola...la...la...la...la...lola" was the theme song for our trip home from Louisville this weekend. The Shockers were very excited that Louisville possible all-american outside hitter Lola Arslanbekova of Uzbekistan had only 4 kills in our 4 sets thanks to the phenomenal blocking of Sarah McGee and Stephanie Tokarz.
 
This weekend was a great learning experience for our team. The games against Belmont and Pittsburgh made our weaknesses very clear. Even our game against Louisville showed that we have a lot to improve on. Although we lost to Pittsburgh, the Shockers are still as confident as ever in our abilities. 
 
This week we are very excited to get in the gym to fix our problems. We must prepare ourselves for a strong tournament at home against North Carolina, Grambling State and Oklahoma. Come watch us compete Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at noon and 7:30 p.m.

Aug. 25, 2009

The 2009 season started with a barrage of serving, defense and Man vs. Wild.  No not the TV show, but a mad science experiment Lambo has concocted to trick us into doing what he thinks we need.  In my opinion, Man vs. Wild is a huge reason why we win.

On another note, our preseason trip to the lake ended with no casualties.  Always good.  We did usual camping things: wakeboarded and tubed, swam, roasted marshmallows and held a pentathlon.  Ok maybe a pentathlon isn’t normal but Shocker volleyball is far from normal.

The pentathlon events, orchestrated by Katie Niggemeyer, were: 1. Water chugging, 2. Rapid uniform change, 3. Grape catching, 4. Swimming and 5. Kayaking.

It is undeniable that Dana Loganbill is the best water chugger and Jada Witham is the worst kayaker.

Hopefully, you’ll be listening to our upcoming games this weekend at the Louisville Invitational.  We are ready for the season to get started.