Nov. 5, 2000
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Western Kentucky saw its six-match winning streak come to an abrupt end Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 (15-11, 15-7, 8-15, 15-9) loss at Middle Tennessee in Sun Belt Conference volleyball action at the Murphy Center. The setback drops the Lady Toppers one match behind Arkansas-Little Rock for first place in the SBC East Division with two matches remaining in the regular season. It is also the first loss for Western in Murfreesboro since 1996.
Junior outside hitter Natalie Furry (Normal, Ill./Normal Community HS) led the Lady Toppers with 13 kills, and junior left-side hitter Tara Thomas (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) added 11 kills and a team-high 14 digs for her conference-leading 19th double-double of the season. Senior left-side hitter Melissa Starck (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) contributed her seventh double-double in the last nine matches, finishing with 11 kills and 10 digs.
Middle Tennessee (13-16, 6-8 Sun Belt) stormed from the gate, scoring the first four points and opening up a 10-4 lead. Then, Western came to life, stringing together seven unanswered tallies to grab an 11-10 advantage. But the Lady Raiders recovered and stopped the Lady Toppers in their tracks, putting up five quick points to pull out the first game by a 15-11 count.
Game two was a back-and-forth affair early on with five ties and six lead changes in the first 13 points. WKU seized a 6-5 lead on a kill by Furry, but that would be the Lady Toppers' last advantage of the period. Middle Tennessee fired off the next nine points and took a two-game lead in the match on their second game point.
Western (23-7, 11-3) took an early 4-2 edge in the third stanza, but MTSU countered with three straight tallies to move ahead, 5-4. The Lady Toppers then mounted a 10-2 run to take control of the game, slicing their match deficit in half with a 15-8 third-game victory.
The Lady Raiders bounced back well in game four, staggering Western with a 6-0 run to start the frame. The Lady Toppers answered with six of the next eight markers to close the gap to 8-6. But, that would be WKU's last offensive push, as Middle Tennessee rang up the next five points and went on to finish the win on its second try.
Western Kentucky continues its season-ending three-match road trip Friday at 2 p.m. (CST) when it travels to Ruston, La., to take on Louisiana Tech at the Thomas Assembly Center.
-- WKU --
