Volleyball approaches final games of regular season

The Wichita State volleyball team looks to put two more wins under its belt before the end of the 2015 season, securing the first place spot in the Missouri Valley Conference and an MVC tournament.

The Shockers have returned home to take on the No. 2 Salukis of Sothern Illinois, 22-7 (13-3). As a team, Southern Illinois is hitting .251 percent, while opponents hit .193 against them, respectively. 

Andrea Estrada, averaging 3.57 kills and 3.11 digs per set, leads SIU offensively. 

Coached by Justin Ingram, the Salukis defeated the Shockers 3-2 earlier this month, and are their most competitive opponent.

 Wichita State leads the overall series with the Salukis, 39-20. 

The match is set for 7 p.m. Friday  at Charles Koch Arena.

WSU will go head-to-head with the Evansville Purple Aces for its last regular season matchup at 7 p.m. Saturday at home.

Evansville is 8-22 overall and just 2-14 in the Missouri Valley Conference. 

UE is hitting only .172 percent as a team while their opponents average .242. Genesis Miranda leads the squad with an average of 4.30 kills and 2.42 digs per set.

The Shockers took down head coach Manolo Concepcion and the Purple Aces 3-0 at a meeting in early October and lead the series by a whopping 35-9.

Historically, WSU has won 27 of the last 28 meetings against UE. 

Both games will be broadcast online at www.goshockers.com/watch and live on ESPN3.

Sophomore middle-blocker Abbie Lehman was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week after her stunning performance last weekend.

She averaged 1.62 blocks, 2.81 points and 1.88 kills per set while hitting .333 percent on the weekend.

Against Loyola, she had a match-high seven blocks, as well as 11 kills.  Against Bradley, she had a match-high 6 blocks, 4 kills, and hit .400.

This is Lehman’s third MVC Defensive Player of the Week honor.