Sept. 21, 2002
Dayton, Ohio - The Western Kentucky University volleyball team split two matches on the final day of the Dayton Flyer Classic to finish second in the weekend's event. The Lady Toppers knocked off Virginia 3-1 (30-27, 17-30, 30-22, 30-28) in the day's first match, but fell to the host Flyers 3-0 (24-30, 20-30, 24-30) in the championship contest.
In the opening game with Virginia, the two teams were tied ten times in the early going before a 4-0 run by the Cavaliers (6-9) gave them a 15-11 lead. UVA was able to remain in front until Western (14-4) battled back to take a 24-23 lead on a Jessie Wagner (Fr., Franklin, Ind.) kill. Both teams traded points until a kill from Amanda Cecil (So., Louisville, Ky.) sparked a 3-0 Lady Topper run to end the game and give WKU a 30-27 victory.
UVA never trailed in the second game, jumping out to an early 5-1 lead. The Lady Toppers got as close as three when a Cecil kill made it 12-10, but the Cavaliers remained in front and later used a 9-1 spurt to extend the advantage to 24-13 en route to a 30-17 game-two win.
Game three was tight in the early stages, but with Virginia ahead 11-10, a Wagner kill started a 5-0 Lady Topper run that put them in front 15-11, forcing UVA into a timeout. Western remained in front, extending its lead to seven when back-to-back Wagner kill made it 26-19. Virginia was not able to get any closer as Western went on to win the third game 30-22.
Western jumped out to a 10-4 lead in game four on a kill from Cynda Derbort (Jr., Maroa, Ill.). UVA battled back within a point when a Lady Topper attack error made it 17-16, but again Western pushed the lead back to five when a UVA service error gave the Lady Toppers a 26-21 lead. The Cavaliers scored the next four points to get within one at 26-25, but Western remained in front and won the match when an Amanda Schiff (So., Indianapolis, Ind.) kill gave the Lady Toppers a 30-28 game-four victory.
Cecil led the Lady Toppers with a career-high 23 kills and completed the double-double with 10 digs. Schiff added 13 kills while Wagner finished with 10. Ashly Miller (So., Indianapolis, Ind.) led WKU with a career-best 16 digs, with Tracy May (Jr., Louisville, Ky.) posting her second double-digit digs match of the weekend with 15.
In the final match of the weekend, the Lady Toppers faced off with Dayton in the match to decide the tournament championship. In the opener, WKU jumped out to a 3-1 lead as was able to remain in front until back-to-back kills by Susan Westbrock gave the Flyers (11-3) a 15-14 lead. Dayton would go on the score the next three points to take an 18-14 lead. Western would only be able to get as close as two points the rest of the game as the Flyers took the opener 30-24.
Game two was close early on until the Flyers used a 7-2 run to jump out to take 14-8 lead following a Lady Topper attack error. Western pulled within two when a May kill made it 16-14, but Dayton rattled off five straight points to extend the lead back to 21-14. Again, Western would get no closer than four as Dayton took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 30-20 win.
Dayton scored the first three points of game three, but Western battled back with three unanswered of its own to even the game at 3-3. Western was unable to take a lead, however, as Dayton scored 10 of the next 15 points to take a 13-8 lead on an Erin Treadway service ace. The Lady Toppers were able to pull within three when a Wagner kill made it 19-16, but they were not able to get any closer as Dayton ended the match with a 30-24 win in game three.
Cecil led the Lady Toppers will 10 kills, while Miller and May recorded 11 and 10 digs, respectively. Cecil and Schiff represented the Lady Toppers on the all-tournament team.
Western will begin defense of its back-to-back Sun Belt Conference East Division Championships on Wednesday (Sept. 25), opening league play at Middle Tennessee. The Lady Toppers will then host west-division foe Louisiana-Lafayette next Friday (Sept. 27) at 7 p.m. (CDT) in the Preston Center.
-- WKU --
