BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - In the first round of the 2009 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, the No. 3 seed Lady Toppers rallied back from a first set loss to defeat No. 6 seed Denver 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-18). With the win, the Lady Toppers improved to 25-8 this season while Denver finishes the season with an overall record of 16-17.
In set one, the Lady Toppers got off to a slow start recording three consecutive service errors. Up 5-4, Denver then scored the next six points to take a 11-4 lead early in the set. After rallying back to within one point at 24-23, Denver picked up the win after a kill by Emmy Davidsmeyer. In the set, the Lady Toppers recorded a .158 hitting percentage after recording 13 kills and seven errors. WKU also posted five service errors in the set. Senior Brittany Bowen led the Lady Toppers in the set posting a .600 hitting percentage after tallying four kills and just one error in five attempts.
WKU then picked up some momentum in set two jumping out to an early 7-2 lead to start the set. Up 12-5, the Lady Toppers then went on to outscore Denver 13-9 the rest of the way and won the set after recording a .476 hitting percentage. The Lady Toppers were nearly perfect on offense committing just one error in 21 attempts while also posting 11 kills. Denver hit -.071 in the set after recording 11 errors and just nine kills in 28 attempts.
The Lady Toppers managed to pull out a win in the third set after only hitting .121 with 13 kills and nine errors. After picking up a 2-0 lead to start the set, the Lady Toppers led until Denver tied things up at 14. After Denver scored the next two points, the Lady Toppers charged back to take a 17-16 lead after an ace by senior Abbie Siljendahl. Denver then tied things up again following a ball handling error by the Lady Toppers but WKU went on to score the next three points to go ahead 20-17. After Denver pulled to within two, WKU won the set off another kill by Bowen.
The Lady Toppers secured the match win in set four posting a .128 hitting percentage after recording 11 kills. After taking a 7-5 lead to begin the set, the Lady Toppers extended their lead to 11-5 after scoring four unanswered points. Up 17-11, the Lady Toppers then went on another scoring run to take a 22-11 lead into the final minutes of the match. During the scoring run, sophomore Lauren Stuckel recorded three consecutive aces. WKU then won the set after an attack error by Denver.
In the match, the Lady Toppers hit .191 while recording 48 kills, 45 assists, seven aces, 46 digs and 21 blocks. Denver finished the night with 39 kills and a .064 hitting percentage while also posting 38 assists, one ace, 45 digs and 18 blocks. The Lady Toppers were led by Bown and junior Emily Teegarden who both recorded 12 kills and .429 hitting percentages. Stuckel finished the night with 40 assists and four aces while freshman Sarah Rogers led the team in digs with 15. In blocks, Siljendahl finished the night with seven while sophomore Tiffany Elmore and Bowen each recorded six blocks.
WKU will now play the winner of the No. 2 Middle Tennessee and No. 7 UALR match at 7:30 p.m. in E.A. Diddle Arena tomorrow night.
