BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The WKU volleyball team hosts the WKU Tournament this weekend in Bowling Green on Friday and Saturday. WKU will hit the court on Friday against Tennessee State at 2 p.m. CT and Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the Lady Toppers will take on Memphis at 2 p.m. prior to the home football game against South Florida. Fans attending the football game will receive free admission to the volleyball match. Live stats and a live webcast will be available on www.wkusports.com.
NOTING THE LADY TOPPERS
• WKU(4-3) heads into the WKU Tournament on a two game winning streak after defeating Miami (Ohio) and Northwestern in the IUPUI Tournament this past weekend. The Lady Toppers defeated Miami (Ohio) and Northwestern 3-1 after falling to host IUPUI 2-3 in the opening match of the weekend. Against IUPUI, the Lady Toppers finished with a .290 hitting percentage after recording 49 kills and 18 errors. The Lady Toppers followed up that performance against the Redhawks by posting their highest hitting percentage of the weekend, a .318 hitting percentage, after recording 48 kills and only 14 errors in four sets. Finally against Northwestern, the Lady Toppers posted another .290 hitting percentage and 49 kills. Overall, the Lady Toppers posted a .293 hitting percentage, 172 kills, 161 assists, 166 digs and 22 total blocks. In addition, WKU held their opponents to a .166 hitting percentage.
•Following the IUPUI Tournament, freshman Jordyn Skinner and junior Emily Teegarden were named to the All-Tournament team. Skinner was fantastic during the weekend racking up a team-high 47 kills (3.62 per set) and finishing with a .306 hitting percentage. She led the team in kills in two of WKU’s three matches and even posted 20 kills against IUPUI. She was also a force on defense picking up 37 digs during the weekend, which was second best on the team. She tallied six aces, a team-high, during the tournament and also recorded four blocks and five assists. Teegarden also had a big weekend posting a .301 hitting percentage after recording 39 kills in the three matches. She posted double-digit kills in all three matches and finished with a team-high 16 kills against Northwestern. In that match, she committed just six errors and finished with a .357 hitting percentage.
• The Lady Toppers are 17-1 all-time against Tennessee State. The two teams last met on August 31, 2007 when the Lady Toppers swept the Tigers in Bowling Green during the Lady Topper Invitational. WKU has swept Tennessee State in the last five meetings and only lost to the Tigers on November 11, 1997 2-3 in Bowling Green. Against Northern Illinois, the Lady Toppers are 1-1 all-time. The teams have met in DeKalb, Illinois both times they have met on the court with the Lady Toppers sweeping the Huskies on August 25, 2007. On August 29, 2003, the Lady Toppers fell to Northern Illinois 1-3. Memphis holds a 2-7 advantage over the Lady Toppers and WKU is 0-3 all-time against the Tigers in Bowling Green. The two teams last met on November 21, 2008 when the Lady Toppers swept the Tigers. But, on October 10, 2008, Memphis picked up a 2-3 victory over the Lady Toppers.
• WKU will welcome back four seniors this season. The senior class of Brittany Bowen, Lindsey Gould, Aquila Orr and Abbie Siljendahl will lead a team that finished the 2008 season with a 26-10 overall record and a 12-5 record in the Sun Belt Conference. Also returning in 2009 are juniors Kelly Potts and Emily Teegarden and sophomores Tiffany Elmore, Lauren Stuckel and Lindsay Williams.
• In addition to the nine returning Lady Toppers, WKU will welcome four newcomers to the 2009 team. Freshmen Kacy Moran, Sarah Rogers, Jordyn Skinner and Paige Wessel will begin their careers at WKU in the Tennessee Tournament.
• WKU was picked to finish third in the East by the league’s head coaches. The Lady Toppers picked up 56 points in the poll and finished behind Middle Tennessee, who racked up 67 points, and Florida International, who collected 72 points. In the West division, New Orleans was selected as the favorite and finished the poll with 87 points. WKU defeated Middle Tennessee in the second round of the 2008 Sun Belt Conference Tournament and advanced to face New Orleans in the championship match. In the match, the Lady Topper swept the Privateers to claim the school’s third Sun Belt Conference Tournament title.
• Senior Aquila Orr was selected by the league’s head coaches as a member of the 2009 Preseason All-Sun Belt Team. Orr, who missed much of the 2008 season due to injury, still made an impact on the Lady Toppers when they needed her the most. A 2007 All-Tournament team member, she returned from her injury and finished the season with a .264 hitting percentage from the left side. In only 107 sets, she finished fourth on the team with 261 kills and committed just 88 errors. She also posted double-digit kills in 14 matches during the season and recorded a season-high 20 kills against conference foe New Orleans. Before her injury in 2007, she finished with a team high .378 hitting percentage, the second best in the conference and the 22nd best in the nation. In 2007, she finished with double-digit kills 18 times including posting 22 kills against UMBC.
• Last season, head coach Travis Hudson picked up his 300th career victory when the Lady Toppers defeated Iowa 3-1 on Aug. 30, 2008. Hudson, who has a career record of 325-156 (.676), is currently ranked second in the country and first in Division I in the category of coaches under 40 with at least 300 wins. In addition, he is also ranked fourth in the category of Division I coaches under the age of 40 with at least 200 wins and 22nd in the the nation.
• Following the WKU Tournament, the Lady Toppers will head to Cincinnati on September 15 for a meeting with the Bearcats. Then, they will finish up tournament play in the DePaul Tournament in Chicago, Ill. with contests against Sacramento State, DePaul and Eastern Michigan. Then, the Lady Toppers will open up SBC competition at Middle Teneessee on September 25 at 7 p.m. CT.
Tennessee Tournament Recap
• The Lady Toppers opened up the 2009 season by competing in the Tennessee Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn. Last Saturday, the Lady Toppers fell to Lipscomb in the opening game of the 2009 season 3-0 before falling to Tennessee 3-2. However, on Sunday, the Lady Toppers picked up their first win defeating Tennessee Tech 3-0. During the weekend, WKU collected 142 kills, 132 assists, 14 aces, 150 digs and 24.5 total blocks. Against Lipscomb, the Lady Toppers recorded 39 kills but also recorded 12 errors in 100 attempts to finish the match with a .270 hitting percentage. In the second match of the season against Tennessee, the Lady Toppers fought until the very end falling in the fifth set after posting 59 kills but finishing with just a .194 hitting percentage after committing 27 attack errors. However, against Tennessee Tech, the Lady Toppers posted a .308 hitting percentage after 44 kills, 40 assists, six aces, 28 digs and 9.5 team blocks.
• During her first weekend as a Lady Topper, freshman Sarah Rogers was named to the Tennessee Tournament All-Tournament Team after finishing the weekend with a team-high 47 digs (4.27 per set) while also helping the Lady Toppers in aces and assists. Against Lipscomb, she finished with a match high 21 digs, eight more digs than the leader for Lipscomb. She followed up that performance against Tennessee by adding another 21 digs to her season total and finished against Tennessee Tech racking up five more in the three set match. Rogers became first Lady Topper to post two matches with 20 or more digs during the season since former Lady Topper Kelly Hofmeyer did it in 2006 against Appalachian State and Arkansas State.
• In the Tennessee Tournament, the Lady Toppers had three athletes finish with a .300 hitting percentage or better. Sophomore Lauren Stuckel finished the weekend with a team-high .395 hitting percentage after recording 23 kills, 96 assists (8.73 per set), four aces, 17 digs and three blocks. Senior Brittany Bowen also had a great weekend finishing the tournament with 27 kills (2.45 per set), a .358 hitting percentage and a team-high 12 total blocks. Sophomore Tiffany Elmore led the team in kills with 29 (2.64 per set), a .351 hitting percentage and posting nine blocks.
Belmont Recap
• The Lady Toppers defeated Belmont on September 1st 3-2 and handed the Bruins their first loss at home since the 2007 season. WKU posted just a .200 hitting percentage after recording 54kills but committing 23 errors. In the match, three Lady Toppers posted double-digit kills. Seniors Brittany Bowen and Aquila Orr each posted 11 kills in the match and freshman Jordyn Skinner led the team with 12 kills. Sophomore Tiffany Elmore also had an efficient night finishing with a .381 hitting percentage after recording eight kills and zero errors in 21 total attacks. Sophomore Lauren Stuckel continued to led the Lady Toppers in assists with 41 while freshman Sarah Rogers posted 18 digs in the match.
