Sept. 22, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Western Kentucky University volleyball team kicked off the Sun Belt Conference portion of its schedule with a 3-0 (15-7, 15-4, 15-9) rout of Louisiana Tech Friday night at E.A. Diddle Arena. The Lady Toppers have now won five consecutive conference openers and are 5-1 in SBC lidlifters under sixth-year head coach Travis Hudson.
Junior left-side hitter Tara Thomas (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS) continued her torrid play, tallying match-highs of 21 kills and 11 digs to record her Sun Belt-leading ninth double-double of the season, and her fourth double dip in as many matches. Junior outside hitter Natalie Furry (Normal, Ill./Normal Community HS) added 17 kills and hit a blistering .571 in the sweep, part of Western's solid .383 team hitting percentage. In fact, five WKU players with at least 10 attacks posted a hitting percentage of better than .360.
The Lady Toppers led virtually the entire way in the match, trailing only three times and never by more than two points. But, it was those two points that gave Louisiana Tech an early edge in game one. From there, Western erupted offensively, scoring 13 of the next 16 points to snatch control of the game. The Lady Toppers hit .477 in the opening frame, which ended emphatically on an ace by senior defensive specialist Beaven Hill (Louisville, Ky./Assumption HS).
WKU led wire-to-wire in the second game, opening the period on a 12-2 run. The Lady Techsters scored consecutive points just once in the stanza, but they did fight off four Lady Topper game points before a kill by Thomas settled matters.
Louisiana Tech (5-8, 0-1) took an early 3-2 lead in game three before Western once again blitzed the visitors offensively. The Lady Toppers rang up nine of the next 10 points to grab an 11-4 lead. The Lady Techsters countered with their first extended run of the match, logging five straight markers to pull within two points at 11-9. However, that would be Tech's last stand, as WKU reeled off four unanswered points to close out its first Sun Belt win of the season.
Western Kentucky (12-3, 1-0) will be back in action Sunday when it takes on conference foe Florida International at Diddle Arena. First serve is scheduled for noon (CDT).
-- WKU --
