The win moved the Lady Toppers to 22-2 on the season, while the Jaguars fell to 10-12.
“I thought this was one of the best performances we’ve put out on the floor in a long time,” said Lady Topper head coach Travis Hudson. “I’m starting to see some really good things from this team. We’ve struggled a bit the last couple weeks, but hopefully this is the start of a really good stretch for us heading toward the Sun Belt Tournament.”
Leading by two games, Western left little to chance in game three. Leading 4-2 after a Jaguar service error, Ashley Deignan served seven straight points to open up an 11-2 WKU lead on a block from Megan Argabright and Caron Blotch. The lead reached double figures a couple points later when another block from Argabright made it 13-3. After a kill from Carol Newell made it 13-4, a kill from Whitney McCory started a five-point spurt by the Lady Toppers to push the lead to 18-4. Western never looked back, closing things out on back-to-back kills from McCory and Crystal Towler to close out the match with a 30-13 victory.
It wasn’t as easy out of the gate, however, as Western found itself in a battle in game one. After trading the first eight points, the Lady Toppers were able to pull out to a slim 7-5 lead after an Argabright kill. WKU was able to remain in front until three straight Jaguar points gave IUPUI a 14-13 lead on a Tracy Bailey service ace. Western was able to battle back to regain an 18-16 lead after a ball-handling error, but two straight points from the Jags again tied the game. The Lady Toppers were able to take the lead for good when a block from Argabright and Blotch made it 20-19, but IUPUI was able to keep things close. Finally, two quick Lady Topper points stretched the lead to 25-22, and Western was able to score five of the final seven points to take game one 30-24.
The trend of close play continued at the start of game two, but Western used a 13-3 run to break a 3-3 tie and pull out to a 16-6 lead after blocks from Jenna Gideon and Towler. Four straight Jaguar points cut the Western lead to 16-10, but a Towler kill sparked a 7-1 run to stretch the WKU lead back out to 23-11 following another Argabright-Blotch block assist. The Lady Topper lead never dipped below nine as Western went into the lockerroom with a two-game lead after a 30-20 victory, setting up the strong finish of game three.
Argabright led the Lady Toppers with a match-high 15 kills, a .538 hitting percentage and seven total blocks. Wagner added 10 kills and hit .429. Defensively, Deignan led WKU with a match-high 11 digs, while Blotch and Alli Christian each posted nine digs. Newell led the Jaguars with 11 kills, while Erin Jones recorded 10 digs.
As a team, Western hit .398 for the match, finishing with just nine attack errors. The Lady Toppers also notched 13 total blocks, and outdug IUPUI 47-38.
“I have a lot of respect for IUPUI. They are a team that really took it to us last year on their court, winning in a sweep,” added Hudson. “To outdig this team by nine is really playing well defensively, and I really thought we did a nice job blocking tonight.”
The Lady Toppers hit the road this weekend as they jump back into Sun Belt Conference play at Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday (Oct. 22) at 5 p.m. (CDT).
