Sept. 16, 2000
DAYTON, Ohio - For the second time in as many weeks, the Western Kentucky University volleyball team finished in a tie for first place at a tournament. And, for the second week in a row, the Lady Toppers placed second, losing a head-to-head tiebreaker with Wright State for the championship after splitting two matches at the Raider Challenge Saturday at McLin Gymnasium in Dayton, Ohio.
Junior left-side hitter Tara Thomas (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) and junior outside hitter Natalie Furry (Normal, Ill./Normal Community HS) were Western's representatives on the all-tournament team. It's the third all-tournament selection of the season for Thomas, while Furry was lauded for the second time in 2000.
In their first match of the day, the Lady Toppers lost a narrow 3-2 (15-4, 6-15, 15-9, 13-15, 15-7) decision to the host school, Wright State. Furry and junior middle hitter Jessica Willard (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) had a team-high 16 kills each, Thomas tallied her sixth double-double (14 kills, 13 digs) and senior left-side hitter Melissa Starck (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) logged a match-best 19 digs for WKU, which lost its second five-game match of the season. In a strange twist, all three of Western's losses this season have come to teams from the state of Ohio (Cincinnati, Ohio, Wright State).
Against WSU, the first two games were almost direct opposites of one another. The Raiders led the entire way in the first frame, scoring nine unanswered points to earn the 15-4 victory. The Lady Toppers came right back in game two, erasing an early 4-0 deficit by tallying 12 of the next 13 points to knot the match at one game each. Wright State regained its form in the third game, scoring six in a row to wipe out an 8-6 Western lead and going on to a 15-9 win and another one-game edge in the match. The Lady Toppers evened matters once again with a 15-13 win in game four, although WSU fought off nine game points before Western could finish off its game win.
The final frame belonged to Wright State, almost from the outset. Western briefly took leads of 5-4 and 6-5, but a six-point run by the Raiders put them ahead to stay, and they went on to clinch the match with a 15-7 game win.
With less than two hours to rebound from the loss, the Lady Toppers responded to the challenge, disposing of Tennessee Tech in just 61 minutes by a 3-0 (15-6, 15-10, 15-4) count. Thomas notched her second double-double of the day, and seventh of the season, finishing with match-highs of 12 kills and 19 digs. Willard added 10 kills and Furry had nine kills, nine digs and a .438 hitting percentage. As a unit, WKU limited the Golden Eagles to a paltry .108 hitting ratio, including a (-.091) mark in the deciding third game.
With the exception of an early stumble in game two, Western led from start to finish against Tennessee Tech. The Lady Toppers scored 11 of the first 13 points in the opening frame, highlighted by a pair of five-point outbursts. After the Golden Eagles grabbed a 5-2 edge early in the second game, WKU went on a 12-2 run to seize control for good. An eight-point surge to begin game three put TTU on its heels and Starck provided the knockout blow with two kills and an ace to seal the victory for the Lady Toppers.
Western Kentucky (10-3) will be back on the court Tuesday for a Bluegrass State showdown with Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. (CDT).
-- WKU --
