Nov. 4, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky's drive for a Sun Belt Conference divisional championship continues Sunday at noon (CST) when the Lady Toppers head south to tackle Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, Tenn. WKU can also lock up a first-round bye in the upcoming SBC Tournament with a victory over the Lady Raiders, or an Arkansas State loss to Florida International Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Toppers (23-6, 11-2 Sun Belt) ran their winning streak to six matches with a 3-1 (14-16, 15-5, 15-4, 15-6) Senior Night victory over Louisiana-Lafayette Friday night at E.A. Diddle Arena. Playing in her final home match at Western, senior left-side hitter Melissa Starck gave the home fans a thrill, ringing up her 10th double-double of the season with a match-high 21 kills and 14 digs. Junior left-side hitter Tara Thomas picked up her 18th double-double of the year, and junior outside hitter Natalie Furry and sophomore setter Sara Noe each logged their eighth double-doubles of the season.
The Lady Toppers recovered from an early stumble in game one to overwhelm the Ragin' Cajuns, scoring 25 of 27 points at one stretch between the second and third games. Western also passed the ball extremely well, not allowing a single ace to UL Lafayette, which came into the match ranked 15th in the nation in service aces.
Middle Tennessee (12-16, 5-8) snapped a four-match losing streak with a 3-1 (15-4, 13-15, 15-7, 15-5) win over North Texas Friday night in Murfreesboro. Outside hitter Katie Thiesen tallied a match-high 16 kills and posted a sparkling .520 hitting percentage, highlighting a Lady Raider offense that recorded a season-best .369 hitting ratio. Middle blocker Lindsay Pritchard, the Sun Belt leader in both hitting percentage and blocking, enhanced her numbers in both areas, hitting .455 with a match-high six blocks against UNT.
Thiesen and Pritchard are Middle Tennessee's top two attackers, averaging 3.61 and 2.90 kills per game, respectively. Defensively, outside hitter Erin Hillstrom paces the Lady Raiders with 2.58 digs per game. As a team, MTSU ranks second in the conference with 2.90 blocks per game, including an imposing 442 block assists.
In a series that dates all the way back to 1982, Western Kentucky leads Middle Tennessee by a 19-4 count, including an active three-match winning streak. Earlier this season, the Lady Toppers picked up a 3-0 (15-4, 15-12, 15-6) win over the Lady Raiders at Diddle Arena in their first-ever meeting as Sun Belt Conference sisters. Thomas had 15 kills and 14 digs for WKU, which limited MTSU to a paltry .079 hitting percentage and rifled seven aces in the victory.
-- WKU --
