After beating the Patriots 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-19) in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday night at Hilton Coliseum, the Cyclones will face Wichita State. The winner of tonight’s matchup will advance to the Omaha Regional.

While coach Christy Johnson-Lynch called the Cyclones’ play ‘average’ in the press conference following the match, head coach Chris Lamb said his team had a ‘great game.’

What went wrong for LSU

Service errors killed LSU in its loss to the Shockers, but along with that Wichita State was able to execute its game plan very well, making it tough on the Billikens to convert offensively.

“I think we knew what they were going to do, I think they just executed so well tonight, so I just have to say congratulations to them. They made some defensive plays that were incredible and their blocking was on, and I think they executed their game plan,” said SLU coach Anne Kordes.

Hoping to Shock Iowa State

The Shockers will enter ‘fired up’ for Saturday night’s game against the Cyclones said LSU senior outside hitter Emily Stockman, and Iowa State will need to pick up its game in order to advance in the tournament.

“I think everyone is really fired up right now. We have a really good shot tomorrow night. Iowa State is a great team and we’ve always ended up being the second-, third-place team. It’s firing everyone up and we’re super excited to get past the first round to take the fire and energy we had tonight into tomorrow,” Stockman said.

 Johnson-Lynch noted following the George Mason game that she felt her team was ready for the Patriots, and that looking too far ahead to the next round would have cost them.

“It’s very easy to get upset in the NCAA tournament and particularly if you look forward too much to the next match you could get bit,” Johnson-Lynch said.

And the Shockers will come in ready to bite. Iowa State struggled against the George Mason defense and Wichita State could give Iowa State a run for its money if it blocks and picks up balls the way the Patriots did.

Bringing in a crowd

Iowa State hosted just over 2,500 fans on Friday night which is under the average attendance the Cyclones have seen this season. Luckily for Iowa State, that crowd may have been one of the largest George Mason has ever seen.

“It was great to not have that last senior night be my last night at Hilton. It was awesome. There were a ton of fans out there and I hope it’s the same [Saturday] night because we are going to need it,” said senior setter Kaylee Manns.