The win moved the Lady Toppers to 24-8 overall and 13-2 in the Sun Belt Conference East Division, while Troy dropped to 9-21 and 3-11 in the conference.
After jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead in game one, the Lady Toppers saw Troy come back to grab a 7-6 lead after a Jean McCarthy service ace. However, a kill from Jenna Gideon on the very next play sparked a run of four straight points as WKU regained a 10-7 lead after a kill by Julia Noe. In fact, would end up scoring 10 of 12 points to pull out to a 16-9 advantage. Thanks to a .414 team hitting percentage, the Lady Toppers would never look back as the lead reached double figures when a Trojan ball-handling error made it 22-12. That came in the midst of a 12-2 run to close out the game as the Lady Toppers took the opener 30-14.
It was much of the same in game two as the Lady Toppers opened with an 8-1 run to put the game away early. For the second straight game, WKU would put up big offensive numbers as it registered 17 kills and a .342 hitting percentage. The Lady Toppers were again able to build a double-figure lead when a Troy attack error made it 19-9. After a Meghan Gilroy made it 21-12, WKU got back-to-back kills from Megan Argabright and Aquila Orr to start a 9-4 run as it took a two-game lead into the break with a 14-point victory.
WKU continued its offensive explosion in game three, but Troy met the challenge. The teams battled through seven ties and four lead changes before the Lady Toppers used a 4-0 spurt — getting two kills from Orr, and a kill and block by Gideon — to jump out to an 18-14 advantage. WKU was unable to stretch the lead any further, however, a Troy got back within one at 18-17, then trailed just 22-19 following a Liz Leeds kill. A Whitney McCory kill on the next point sparked a 4-1 run to push the WKU lead out to 26-20. That would prove to be the cushion the Lady Toppers would need, but the Trojans refused to go away as they again pulled within three points at 27-24. WKU was able to trade points the rest of the way, getting a block by Gideon and Orr on the final point to close out the match with a 30-26 victory.
The Lady Toppers posted a team hitting percentage of .373 in the match — their best against a Sun Belt team this season. Argabright led the offense with a match-high 13 kills, and added a .550 attack percentage. Noe added nine kills to go along with six digs and 37 assists. Gideon finished the night with eight kills, while Orr and Abbie Siljendahl each posted seven. Ashley Deignan posted a team-high 10 digs — leaving her just 14 away from her 1,000th career dig. Troy, which was held to a .095 team hitting percentage, got a team-best nine kills from Gilroy.
The Lady Toppers will be back in action Saturday (Nov. 4) when they face South Alabama at 2 p.m. (CST) in Mobile, Ala. A victory by WKU would clinch at least a tie of the Sun Belt East Division championship for the seventh straight year.
