Junior middle hitter Jenna Gideon was named tournament MVP, while sophomore All-American Megan Argabright also represented the Lady Toppers on the all-tournament team.
In the final match of the day, the Lady Toppers (11-5) found themselves in a battle with Ball State early in games one and two, but used late runs to win both contests. WKU never trailed in the opener, and was able to pull out to a 15-9 lead midway through the contest after an Argabright kill. The Cardinals were able to battle back within a point, and eventually tied the game at 19-19 after a kill from Julie Breivogal. WKU regained a three point lead, only to see the Cards come back to again knot things up at 23-23. Another Argabright kill put WKU back in front, and sparked a 7-1 run to close out the game and give the Lady Toppers the opener 30-24.
The Lady Toppers had to play from behind much of game two as they saw Ball State use a run to open up a 19-13 lead. A kill from Brittany Bowen got WKU back on track as it scored nine of ten points — including seven in a row — to pull out to a 22-20 lead on a block by Gideon and Julia Noe. A Kelly Cockran kill stopped the run, but Gideon put down a kill on the next point too start another run of four unanswered to extend the WKU lead to 26-21. After a WKU attack error cut the advantage to 27-24, a Bowen block sparked a game-ending run as the Lady Toppers picked up another six-point win to grab a 2-0 lead in the match.
WKU trailed 6-3 in the early going of game three, but came back to grab an 8-7 lead after two straight Ball State attack errors. With the game tied again at 10-10, the Lady Toppers got a block from Argabright and Noe to start a run of four unanswered as they pulled out to a 14-10 lead. WKU would never trail again in the game, but Ball State was able to make things interesting late as it fought back to tie the game at 27-27. Two straight kills from Gideon got the Lady Toppers to match point, but a Christine Kennedy kill kept the Cardinals alive. However, on the next play Whitney McCory put down a kill to give WKU its second sweep of the day.
Gideon paced the Lady Toppers with a career-high 19 kills, while McCory added 12 off the bench. Erica Hardy led three Lady Toppers in double figures with 15 digs, while Kelly Hofmeyer and Noe added 13 and 12, respectively.
WKU made quick work of Tennessee Tech in the opening match of the day, picking up a sweep (30-18, 30-15, 30-20) of the Golden Eagles. Game one saw the Lady Toppers record kills on their first four swings and storm out to an 11-2 lead after back-to-back Lindsey Gould service aces and an Aquila Orr kill. WKU limited the Golden Eagles to just nine kills in the opening game, while recording 21 of its own and posting a .410 hitting percentage.
The Lady Toppers continued to stretch their advantage as it reached double figures when two straight kills from McCory made it 21-11. WKU was able to trade points the rest of the way as it took game one 30-18.
The offensive outburst continued in game two as WKU tallied 14 more kills, but the defense contributed five blocks in the contest as well. After giving up the first point of the game, the Lady Toppers led the rest of the way as the lead reached 10 when an Hardy service ace made it 14-4. That would be all the cushion WKU would need as it held TTU to a .028 attack percentage in the game. The Lady Toppers quickly reached game point when a service ace by Hofmeyer — WKU’s ninth ace in the first two games — pushed the lead to 29-12. The Golden Eagles responded with three straight points, but a kill from Argabright closed out the 15-point victory and gave WKU a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Lady Toppers found themselves in a battle early in game three as the contest saw eight ties and four lead changes. WKU was able to take the lead for good when a block from Argabright made it 13-12, but TTU continued to hang close until a run of five unanswered pushed the advantage out to 23-18 after an Argabright kill. WKU go on to record 18 kills in the final game on its way to a 30-20 win.
Gideon led the Lady Toppers with a match high 15 kills, while Argabright tallied 13 kills and a season-best .588 hitting percentage. Hardy registered a match-best 15 digs, while Hofmeyer and Noe posted 12 and 10 digs, respectively. Caitlin Bullock finished with 11 kills for Tennessee Tech.
The Lady Toppers will put their three-match winning streak on the line Tuesday night when it hosts Cincinnati in the final nonconference match of the season at 7 p.m. (CDT) in Diddle Arena.
2006 Lady Topper Invitational Results Friday: Tennessee Tech 3, Appalachian State 2 Tennessee Tech 3, Ball State 2 Western Kentucky 3, Appalachian State 1 Saturday: Western Kentucky 3, Tennessee Tech 0 Appalachian State 3, Ball State 1 Western Kentucky 3, Ball State 0
2006 Lady Topper Invitational All-Tournament Team Brittany Zahn, Appalachian State Amanda McCormick, Ball State Kappy Lang, Tennessee Tech Caitlin Bullock, Tennessee Tech Megan Argabright, Western Kentucky Jenna Gideon, Western Kentucky (MVP)
