The Lady Toppers (12-6, 1-0 SBC East) held Troy (6-11, 0-1 SBC East) to a negative hitting percentage in two of the three games, and for just the second time this season limited an opponent to an attack percentage under .100 as the Trojans finished the night at .065.
WKU used 16 kills and a .387 hitting percentage in game one, while holding Troy to a -.032 attacking percentage on their way to a 30-19 win in the opener. After three early ties, WKU used a 6-1 run to pull out to a 10-5 lead on a Megan Argabright kill. The Trojans battled back, however, getting within one on three occasions — the last coming when a Jean McCarthy kill made it 14-13. An Aquila Orr kill on the next point sparked a run of four straight points, and seven of the next nine by the Lady Toppers, as they pulled out to a 21-15 lead. That would be all the cushion WKU would need as it rolled to a 30-19 win in the opener.
The Lady Toppers never trailed in game two, scoring five of the first six points. Despite 13 kills and just three attack errors by Troy in the game, WKU was able to maintain a lead and push the advantage out to six when a kill from Jenna Gideon made it 19-13. In fact, the Lady Toppers had their best offensive outing of the night in game two as well, finishing with a match-best .417 hitting percentage with 19 kills. Argabright and Orr accounted for six and five kills in game two, respectively, as they teamed up on back-to-back points to push the Lady Topper lead out to 27-19. That came in the midst of four unanswered by WKU as a Gideon kill got them to game point, but Troy stayed alive with two straight before a service error gave WKU a 30-21 win.
WKU stormed out of the locker room in game three, registering five of its match-high 20 kills on its first five points to grab an early three-point lead. The Trojans got back within one when a Lady Topper service error made it 6-5, but again WKU never trailed in the game as it pulled out to a 16-10 lead after a block by Argabright and Brittany Bowen. On their way to closing out the match, the Lady Toppers limited Troy to just two kills in the final game — the fewest it has allowed an opponent this season — and a -.103 hitting percentage. However, they were unable to push the advantage into double figure until Gideon posted kills on two of the final three points to give the Lady Toppers the match with a second 30-19 victory.
Argabright led the Lady Toppers with 16 kills and hit .500 for the match. Orr registered a season-best 14 kills and committed just one attack error on her way to a match-best .650 hitting percentage. Kelly Hofmeyer posted a match-best 19 digs, while Julia Noe finished the night with eight kills, 40 assists and 11 digs. Aubre Smith finished with seven kills to lead the Trojans.
The Lady Toppers will close out the opening weekend of conference play on Saturday when it hosts South Alabama at 7 p.m. (CDT) at E.A. Diddle Arena.
