Oct. 12, 2002
Miami, Fla. - The Western Kentucky University volleyball team won its fifth straight match and stayed undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play with a 3-1 win at Florida International Saturday night.
Florida International (5-14, 1-4 SBC East) scored the first three points of game one, but the Lady Toppers (19-4, 5-0 SBC East) battled back to take their first lead when a Golden Panther attack error made it a 7-6 game. However, FIU regained the advantage and built a lead as high as four points before WKU stormed back to regain the lead a kill from Amanda Schiff (So., Indianapolis, Ind.) made it a 22-21 game. Florida International tied the game on the next play, but Western closed the game on an 8-3 run, finishing game one with a Cynda Derbort (Jr., Maroa, Ill.) kill for a 30-24 win.
FIU regrouped in game two, jumping out to an early 11-5 lead. Western was unable to regroup as the Golden Panthers built the lead as high as 11 points on three different occasions. Western got as close as nine (28-19) on a Derbort kill, but FIU scored the next two to even the match with a 30-19 victory.
WKU came out of the locker room and scored the first three points of game three. Again, FIU battled back and took a 6-5 lead before Western regained the lead on a kill from Jessie Wagner (Fr., Franklin, Ind.). WKU remained in front, building the lead as high as 11 (25-14) on back-to-back kills from Crystal Towler (Fr., Sussex, Wis.). Western got to game point when a Wagner kill made it 29-21, but FIU scored two straight before the Lady Toppers closed out game three with a kill from Amanda Cecil (So., Louisville, Ky.) to take a 2-1 lead in the match with a 30-23 win.
FIU came out of the gate strong in game four, scoring the first three points and taking a 7-3 lead. Western came back and took its first lead of the game when a Wagner kill made it 12-11. WKU built the lead as high as three (23-20), but FIU battled back to take a 27-25 lead on a WKU attack error. The Golden Panthers got to game point when an Adriana Fundora kill made it 29-26, but the Lady Toppers stayed alive with three straight points to even the game at 29-29. After an FIU timeout, the Lady Toppers got the next two points, ending the game on a Wagner kill to take the game 31-29 and win the match 3-1.
Wagner led four Lady Toppers in double figures with 16 kills. Schiff added 13, Towler finished with 12 and Cecil and Derbort contributed 10 kills each. Cecil also finished with 14 digs to record her 11th double-double of the year.
Western returns home Tuesday (Oct. 15), hosting Lipscomb at 7 p.m. (CDT) in the Preston Center.
- WKU -
