Nov. 21, 2002
Miami, Fla. - The top-seeded Western Kentucky volleyball team overcame a scare in the first game, but rebounded with a late comeback to knock off eighth-seeded Denver 3-0 in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Golden Panther Arena on the campus of Florida International University. The Lady Toppers won 32-30, 30-23, and 30-24 to advance.
In the opening game, the nerves of the of playing in the conference tournament were evident early as the Lady Toppers fell behind by 12 points on several occasions. Western was able to shake the nerves and rally for a 32-30 win. Down 25-13, WKU went on several runs to get back in the contest. A 5-0 spurt capped by a Sara Noe (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) kill.
After falling behind by nine following a net violation, the Lady Toppers pulled to with a point at 28-27 by going on a 9-1 run. Cynda Derbort (Jr., Maroa, Ill.) had two aces during the rally and Noe had a kill and combined with Amanda Schiff (So., Indianapolis, Ind.) on a block. Jessie Wagner (Fr., Franklin, Ind.) had two kills in the game. Facing two game points at 29-27, Western got kills from Amanda Cecil (So., Louisville, Ky.) and Crystal Towler (Fr., Sussex, Wis.) to tie the match. Towler would add two more kills to give Western a game point at 31-30. A hit by Denver that drifted long ended the game.
Game two saw WKU again fall behind early as they trailed at 12-7, but the team rallied behind Wagner, who finished with a match-high 18 kills, and Cecil. The duo had two kills each during an 8-1 run to take a 15-13 advantage. The Lady Pioneers tied the game twice with the last time being at 20-20, but the Lady Toppers closed out the game with a 10-3 run.
The final game of the match again saw Western behind at the midpoint only to pull away late for the win. Western sophomore Ashly Miller (So., Indianapolis, Ind.) had back-to-back aces at 15-15 to give the lead for good at 17-15. Denver would get no closer the rest of the game.
A key to the Western turnaround was improved hitting. After hitting just .158 in the opening game, the Lady Toppers hit .346 in game two and hit .323 in game three. For the match, WKU outhit the Lady Pioneers .263 to .204. Wagner not only led the way with 18 kills but hit a match-high .263. Towler added nine kills. Defensively, Tracy May (So., Louisville, Ky.) had a match-high 12 digs. Noe had 39 assists and was second with seven digs.
The Lady Toppers will face the winner of Thursday's match between fourth-seeded Arkansas-Little Rock and fifth-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette at 5 p.m. E.S.T. on Friday.
