Nov. 1, 2002
Bowling Green, Ky. - Freshman Jessie Wagner (Franklin, Ind.) put down a career-best 25 kills Friday night as the Western Kentucky University volleyball team held off a game Florida International University squad to win 3-2 (30-24, 27-30, 30-21, 25-30, 15-10) Sun Belt Conference action at the Preston Center extending its winning streak to 12. The 25 kills are a season-high for a Western player.
After splitting the first four games, the Lady Hilltoppers (26-4, 10-0) jumped out to an early 6-2 lead. Western got a boost at the start of the game as the Golden Panthers were penalized a point after Adriana Fundora was given a red card following the last point of the fourth game. Using kills by Amanda Schiff (So. Indianapolis, Ind.) and Crystal Towler (Fr., Sussex, Wis.) and a block by the duo of Cynda Derbort (Jr., Maroa, Ill.) and Towler, WKU led 6-2.
WKU lost some of its momentum following the block as Towler was awarded a red card after the play. Trailing 6-3, FIU got a point on a kill from Betsy Moreland and another on a Western hitting error to pull within a point 6-5.
Wagner and her teammates then regained the momentum. After a service error by the visitors, the freshman put down the one of the two solo blocks she had in the match. After a WKU error made it 8-6, Wagner sparked a 7-4 run to close the game with a kill. She had four kills in the spurt. Other points in the decisive run came on a penalty point when Fundora was ejected after a second red card, a block by Sara Noe (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) and Derbort and a kill by Noe. The Lady Toppers hit .455 in the fifth game.
In the first four games, the team that hit the best at the net came away with the win.
The opening game saw Western out-hit FIU .207 to .097 as Wagner had six kills and Towler four. In game two, it was the Golden Panthers with the higher percentage hitting .341 in the game behind the strength of Oksana Zablueva and Fundora, who finished with 19 and 17 kills respectively. WKU hit .273 in the game. The third game saw WKU not only pick up it's hitting but its defense as well. The Lady Toppers hit .296 in the game while holding FIU to (-.056). In the fourth game equalizer, the Golden Panthers edged their hosts .225 to .216.
Towler and Schiff joined Wagner in double-digit kills with 14 and 11 respectively. Noe finished the contest with 58 assists. Tracy May (Louisville, Ky.) had a match-high 14 digs.
Western will travel to Arkansas next Friday to face Arkansas State before facing rival Arkansas-Little Rock on Saturday. The Lady Toppers will close out their home schedule on Tuesday, Nov. 12 when Middle Tennessee visits.
