Oct. 20, 2000
NEW ORLEANS - NEW ORLEANS -- Junior left-side hitter Tara Thomas (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) recorded 19 kills and 15 digs to pick up her Sun Belt Conference-leading 15th double-double of the season as Western Kentucky downed New Orleans, 3-1 (15-9, 9-15, 15-9, 15-6), Friday night at Lakefront Arena. Senior left-side hitter Melissa Starck (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) had her seventh double-double and sophomore setter Sara Noe (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) amassed her sixth double-double for the Lady Toppers -- Starck finished with 12 kills and 13 digs and Noe had 53 assists, 10 digs and a career-high four service aces.
New Orleans (11-11, 4-5 Sun Belt) got the early jump on Western, grabbing a 4-2 lead. The Lady Toppers then countered with nine consecutive points to surge in front by an 11-4 count. UNO pulled as close as 13-9, then fought off three game points before Thomas hammered a kill down the middle to wrap up the game victory.
The Privateers responded well in the second game, scoring the first six points of the period and cruising to leads of 8-2 and 9-3. Western reeled off the next four markers to get within 9-7 and force a UNO timeout. After the break, the Privateers regrouped and scored three in a row, going on to finish out the game on their first try and even the match at one game all.
The Lady Toppers drew first blood in game three, bolting to leads of 3-1 and 5-2. New Orleans answered with three straight points to knot the score at 5-all. Western then staggered the Privateers with a 7-1 run, opening up a 12-6 advantage. UNO scratched out three more markers to pull within three points, but Starck rang up a pair of kills to close out the stanza and give WKU the 15-9 win.
Leading 2-1 in the match, the Lady Toppers came out strong in the fourth game, racing to an 8-0 lead thanks mainly to five UNO attack errors. The Privateers sliced the Western lead to six points twice, but a four-point spree put UNO on its heels. Willard and Noe then sealed the hard-fought win with a tandem block on the Lady Toppers' second match point.
Western Kentucky (19-6, 7-2) continues its road swing through the Gulf Coast Saturday at 5 p.m. (CDT) when it squares off with South Alabama in Mobile, Ala.
-- WKU --
