The win moved the Lady Toppers to 18-1 on the year and 4-0 in the Sun Belt East Division, while the Lady Indians dropped to 6-10 and 1-2 in the Sun Belt.
The Lady Toppers found themselves in an early hole in game one as ASU stormed out to a 7-2 lead out of the gate. The Lady Indians continued to extend their lead, stretching the advantage to 15-7 on back-to-back WKU attack errors. After a timeout, Western scored six straight points to pull within two (15-13) on an Argabright kill. Western still trailed 23-19 when back-to-back Wagner kills again made it a two-point game and forced ASU to call a timeout.
After the break, WKU scored four more unanswered points to take their first lead when a Gideon kill made it 25-23. Arkansas State scored the next two points to even the game at 25-25 on a Stormy Schuler kill. But another Wagner kill on the next point sparked a 5-0 run, and Argabright closed out a 30-25 Lady Topper win with back-to-back kills.
Western scored five of the first six points in game two, and never looked back as it opened up a 12-6 lead after a Crystal Towler kill. The Lady Topper lead never dropped below five, and they were able to open up a double-digit advantage when a kill from Alli Christian made it 22-12. Western got to game point when a Gideon kill made it 29-16, but ASU scored two straight before a Wagner kill ended the game and gave WKU a 2-0 lead after a 30-18 win in game two.
Game three was tied seven times early on before a 5-1 WKU run made it 16-12. The Lady Indians fought back within one when a block from Kristin Kirby and Robin Aaron 18-17. The Lady Indians were then able to knot things up when a Pip Soulsby kill made it 24-24, but Argabright gave Western the lead right back with a kill on the next point. After a WKU service error again tied the score at 25-25, Argabright registered back-to-back kills to make it 27-25. Arkansas State was able to get back within one after a Kirby kill made it 28-27, but two straight kills from Gideon ended the match as Western took game three 30-27.
Wagner, Argabright and Gideon were the only three player to post double-digit kills for either team, while Gideon added a match-best .458 hitting percentage. Three Lady Toppers also finished with double-figure digs. Ashley Deignan led the way with 13, while Christian and Towler added 10 each.
Western will close out its three-match roadtrip on Wednesday when it travels to Cincinnati for a 6:30 p.m. (CDT) showdown with the Bearcats.
