Sept. 27, 2002
Bowling Green, Ky. - For the second straight year, the Western Kentucky University volleyball team played a five-game match with Louisiana-Lafayette, and for the second straight year came out on top with a 3-2 win (28-30, 30-22, 27-30, 30-20, 15-8) over the Ragin' Cajuns Friday night.
Western (16-4, 2-0 SBC East) stumbled out of the gate in game one, falling behind 7-4 to the Ragin' Cajuns (6-8, 0-1 SBC West). WKU was never able to take the lead, despite battling back to tie the score at 22-22 on a kill from Amanda Schiff (So., Indianapolis, Ind.). Western evened the score at 27-27 when a dump-shot from Sara Noe (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) fell in for a kill, but UL Lafayette scored three of the next four to take the opener 30-28.
Neither team was able to establish a secure lead in game two as the two clubs battled back and forth before ULL took an 18-15 lead on a Lesley Tough kill. Western regrouped to even the score at 20-20, and finished the game on a 10-2 run to even the match with a 30-22 win.
Game three was also tight throughout. After WKU tied the game at 24-24 on a Jessie Wagner (Fr., Franklin, Ind.) kill, the Cajuns took advantage of three Lady Topper attack errors, and held on for a 30-27 win.
Western came out with something to prove in game four, racing out to a 10-5 lead on an Amanda Cecil (So., Louisville, Ky.) kill. However, this time Western did not allow ULL to make a run as the Lady Toppers went ahead by as many as seven points, then closed the game on a 4-0 spurt to force a fifth game with a 30-20 victory.
The Cajuns took the first two points of the deciding game, but the Lady Toppers answered with a 6-1 run to take a 6-3 lead on a Crystal Towler (Fr., Sussex, Wis.) and Cynda Derbort (Jr., Maroa, Ill.) block assist. ULL fought back within a point when a Lady Topper attack error made it 6-5, but Western outscored Lafayette 9-3 the rest of the way to win 15-8 and remain unbeaten in conference play.
Towler led the Lady Toppers with a career-high 19 kills and a .593 hitting percentage. Wagner finished the night with 15 kills, while Schiff and Cecil tallied 14 each. Cecil also posted 11 digs for her second double-double of the week and ninth of the season. Tracy May (Jr., Louisville, Ky.) equaled a career-high with 25 digs. Noe also recorded a double-double with 61 assists and 12 digs.
Western takes a week off before hosting Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock next weekend. The Lady Toppers will face off with the Lady Indians on Friday (Oct. 4) at 7 p.m. (CDT), then turn around on Saturday to meet the Trojans at 2 p.m. Both matches will take place in the Preston Center.
-- WKU --
