BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - For the second consecutive night, the Lady Toppers swept a Sun Belt Conference opponent defeating South Alabama (25-16, 25-11, 25-12) to improve to 21-7 this season and 10-3 in the SBC. The Lady Toppers have now swept the Jaguars in the two teams' last 13 meetings. With the loss, the Jaguars fall to 11-16 this season and 2-12 in the SBC. In the match, the Lady Toppers posted a .449 hitting percentage after recording 42 kills and just seven attack errors.
In the first set, the Lady Toppers jumped out to a 2-0 lead after an ace by sophomore Lauren Stuckel and an attack error by the Jaguars. After South Alabama scored to make it 2-1, the Lady Toppers continued to extend their lead and pulled ahead by as many as nine points in the set. Up 24-16, WKU picked up the set win after a kill by junior Emily Teegarden. In the set, the Lady Toppers posted a .407 hitting percentage after committing just three errors in 27 attempts.
WKU went on two big scoring drives in the second set to go ahead 2-0 in the match. Tied 1-1, the Lady Toppers scored the next four points to go ahead 5-1. After South Alabama scored to make it 5-2, the Lady Toppers went on another scoring run scoring the next eight points to extend their lead to 13-2. WKU was able to hold off a late rally by the Jaguars at the end of the set and won the set after a kill by sophomore Lindsay Williams. WKU was hot on offense in the second set posting a .519 hitting percentage after the team recorded 17 kills and committed just three errors.
After scoring the first four points of the third set, South Alabama battled back to pull within three points of the Lady Toppers. Up 13-10, the Lady Toppers outscored the Jaguars 12-2 to end the match securing the win after a kill by freshman Jordyn Skinner. In the set, freshman Sarah Rogers and senior Lindsey Gould both had outstanding defensive digs to keep WKU's scoring drive alive.
In addition to the Lady Toppers' 42 kills, WKU posted 38 assists, four aces, 29 digs and 14 blocks. South Alabama finished the night with 25 kills, a .025 hitting percentage, 23 assists, one ace and 23 digs.
The Lady Toppers were led by senior Brittany Bowen who finished the night with ten kills and a .714 hitting percentage while Skinner led the team in kills with 12. Stuckel finished the night with a team-high 32 assists while freshman Sarah Rogers posted nine digs to lead the team. Bowen and senior Abbie Siljendahl both recorded three blocks to lead the team.
WKU will conclude their home schedule next weekend when they host Florida International on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Florida Atlantic on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. Live stats will be available at www.wkusports.com.
