Sept. 13, 2002
Macomb, Ill. - For the first time this season, the Western Kentucky volleyball team has come out on the short end of two consecutive matches. The Lady Toppers dropped a three-game match to Eastern Michigan (21-30, 29-31, 20-30) and fell in four games to Iowa (28-30, 30-18, 29-31, 24-30) in the first day of the Western Illinois Invitational.
In the opener with Eastern Michigan (8-1), the Lady Eagles jumped out to a 5-3 lead on a Jennifer Nughswander kill, but Western (9-3) battled back to take a 10-9 lead on a Jessie Wagner (Fr., Franklin, Ind.) kill. However, EMU scored the next five points to go ahead 14-10 on a Bree Hickman kill. Eastern Michigan went up by ten points when back-to-back service aces from Camila Olaio made it 22-12. Western fell behind by as many as 14 before getting within eight (29-21) on a block from Crystal Towler (Fr., Sussex, Wis.). Emily Busch put game one away with a kill, giving Eastern Michigan a 30-21 win.
EMU again came out strong in game two, scoring six of the first eight points before Western battled back within two at 8-6. The Lady Eagles jumped back out to a double-digit lead, however, scoring 10 of the next 12 to go ahead 18-8 on a WKU attack error. Western was able to regroup, and after a Busch kill made it 22-16, Western scored seven unanswered points to take a 23-22 lead on a Towler kill. The game was tied five more times after that until WKU had game point at 29-27 on two EMU attack errors. But, the Lady Eagles took the next four points to go ahead 2-0 with a 31-29 win.
Game three was close from the beginning until an 11-3 EMU spurt put the Lady Eagles ahead 20-11 on a Nughswander kill. Western would get no closer than five points the rest of the game as Eastern Michigan rolled to a 30-20 victory and a 3-0 win in the match.
Despite hitting .311 in the first game with Iowa (5-2), Western was unable to overcome a strong Hawkeye offensive attack that racked up 24 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Although Western never trailed by more than four points, Iowa was able to break a 28-28 tie with two straight points to take the opener 30-28. The tides finally turned for the Lady Toppers in the second game as they came out the aggressor, jumping out to a 10-4 advantage early on. The Lady Toppers took advantage of 10 Iowa attack errors, and hit a match-high .428 (16 kills and only two errors) to even the match at 1-1 with a 30-18 victory. Game three was also a back-and-forth struggle after Western regrouped from an early 10-4 deficit. WKU was within one point of a victory when a Towler kill made it 29-28, but the Hawkeyes again rallied late, scoring three unanswered to take the game 31-29. The theme continued in the fourth game as both teams battled through several ties and lead changes. Western pulled within 19-18 on another Towler kill, but Iowa scored seven of the next nine points to grab a 27-20 lead on a kill from Renee Hill. Western was never able to recover as Iowa went on to a 30-24 win and a 3-1 victory in the match.
Wagner led the Lady Toppers 20 kills, while Towler added 16. Amanda Cecil (So., Louisville, Ky.) posted her fifth double-double of the year with 11 kills and 10 digs.
Western will close out the weekend's event tomorrow with two final matches. The Lady Toppers will face Northwestern State at 1 p.m. (CDT) before playing the host Westerwinds at 4 p.m. in the final match of the tournament.
