The win moved the Lady Toppers to 21-7 and 10-1 in the Sun Belt, while the Privateers fell to 17-7 and 6-4 in the conference. WKU has now won at least 10 conference matches in each of the last seven seasons.
WKU stormed out of the gate in game one as Ashley Deignan served the first five points of the game, but UNO came right back with a 6-0 run of its own to take the lead. After trading points, a kill from Jenna Gideon sparked a run of six unanswered Lady Toppers points as they pulled out to a 16-10 lead on a kill from Julia Noe. In fact, WKU scored 10 of 11 points to pull out to a 20-11 lead and put the opening game away. The lead got as high as 11 when a Megan Argabright kill made it 21-12, but the Privateers were able to battle back within four points late when a Dobrila Kovacevic service ace cut the lead to 27-23. That would be the final point for UNO, however, as WKU notched the final three points to take the opener.
The Lady Toppers put together its best performance of the afternoon in game two, hitting .483 in the contest. After New Orleans scored four of the game’s first five points, WKU strung together a run to pull out to an 11-8 lead after a UNO attack error. The Lady Topper lead was cut to 12-10 after a Hillary Carr kill, but a Privateer service error sparked a 6-0 run as WKU pulled out to an 18-10 advantage. WKU was able to trade points the rest of the way out, holding a 25-16 lead after a UNO attack error. A kill from Lindsey Loyd made it a 25-17 game, but Brittany Bowen put down a kill for the first of five straight Lady Topper points as they took a two-game lead into intermission with a 30-17 game-two win.
It was a different story in game three as UNO opened up a lead midway through the game and never looked back. WKU recorded just 11 kills in the game and hit a match-low .024 as the Privateers were able to stay alive in the match with a 30-24 victory.
The Lady Toppers were able to regroup in game four to post a .412 hitting percentage and match-best 19 kills to put the match away. WKU never trailed in the game, pulling out to a 12-5 lead after another Gideon kill. The Lady Toppers built the lead as high as nine when a service ace from Ashley Deignan made it 19-10, but the Privateers fought back to score eight of the next 11 points to make it a four-point game. After a timeout, WKU regrouped to score four of the next six to make it a 26-20 game after an Argabright kill, but UNO again got within four when an ace by Jessica Helgeson made it 28-24. The Lady Toppers got to match point on an Argabright kill, but the Privateers scored two straight before Gideon closed things out with her 10th kill of the afternoon.
Gideon was one of three Lady Toppers to post double-figure kills as Argabright led the way with a match-high 24 and Abbie Siljendahl adding 10. Kelly Hofmeyer posted a match-high 31 digs — the second time this season she has posted more than 30 digs in a match. Erica Hardy and Noe each added 15 digs, while Deignan added 11. Linsdey Boler led UNO with 14 kills, while Jayne Duncan added 19 digs.
The Lady Toppers will look to close out a perfect 4-0 week Sunday (Oct. 22) when they host Louisiana-Monroe at 1 p.m. (CDT).
