Oct. 15, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - In a match between the two division leaders in the Sun Belt Conference, West Division frontrunner Denver rallied past East Division pacesetter Western Kentucky, 3-2 (16-14, 14-16, 7-15, 15-9, 15-13) Sunday afternoon at E.A. Diddle Arena. It is just the second conference loss of the season for the Lady Toppers, who have seen three of their six defeats come in five games.
Junior left-side hitter Tara Thomas (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) put together another solid performance, logging a match-high 24 kills and 24 digs for her record-setting third 20-20 outing of the season. She becomes the first non-setter in school history to amass three 20-20 matches in one year, and ties her with Janet Ryan for the most 20-20 contests in a career. In addition, it was Thomas' Sun Belt-leading 14th double-double of the season and her sixth in the last nine matches.
Senior left-side hitter Melissa Starck (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) finished with 22 kills and 22 digs for her first career 20-20 match. It's the first time since Oct. 13, 1998 against Morehead State that WKU has had two players wind up with more than 20 kills and 20 digs. It was also Starck's sixth double-double of the season, tying her with junior outside hitter Natalie Furry (Normal, Ill./Normal Community HS), who tallied 21 kills and 13 digs against Denver. Sophomore setter Sara Noe (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) contributed 87 assists -- one shy of the school record -- and a career-high 14 digs for her fifth double-double of the campaign. Senior defensive specialist Beaven Hill (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) rolled up a career-high 28 digs, leading a Western defense that piled up a season-best 117 digs.
Game one was a precursor of things to come, as the Lady Toppers bolted to a 10-2 lead and held a game point at 14-10. Denver fought back and scored the last six points of the period, five on WKU attack errors, to pull out the victory. In the second game, it was Western's turn to rally from the brink, as it erased a Pioneer game point at 14-12 and posted the last four markers to even the match at one game all.
The Lady Toppers (17-6, 6-2 Sun Belt) took command of game three from the outset, scoring six of the first eight points. Denver could not get closer than four and Starck closed out the stanza with a pair of kills to give Western its first match lead at two games-to-one.
As quickly as they fell behind, the Pioneers bounced back, opening the fourth frame with a stunning 9-2 burst and keeping WKU at arms' length the rest of the way. The Lady Toppers made a gallant stand at 14-9, turning back eight Denver game points before the visitors found the solution and pushed the match to a fifth period.
In the final game, Western fell behind 7-4, but used a five-point rally to take a two-point lead. Three Denver markers were answered with three more Lady Topper tallies, leaving WKU with a 12-10 advantage and resulting in the Pioneers' second timeout of the stanza. After the break, Denver scored three of the next four points to tie the game at 13-13. The Pioneers then got a crucial block to move to match point and completed the comeback with a kill down the line by Lulu Sewell.
Western Kentucky will be back in action Tuesday at 7 p.m. (CDT) when it meets Tennessee State in non-conference action at Diddle Arena.
-- WKU --
