BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The WKU volleyball team will look to extend its winning streak this weekend when the team travels to Indianapolis, Ind. to take part in the 2009 IUPUI Tournament. At the tournament, the Lady Toppers will hit the court against IUPUI, Miami (Ohio) and Northwestern. Up first for the Lady Toppers is IUPUI on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. CDT. Then on Saturday, WKU will end the day with a meeting against Miami (Ohio) at 3:30 p.m. On Sunday, WKU will face Northwestern at 11:30 a.m.
NOTING THE LADY TOPPERS
• WKU returned to their winning ways on Tuesday night defeating Belmont 3-2 in Nashville. After falling in set one 25-26, the Lady Toppers won sets two and three before finishing things off in the fifth set. The Lady Topper finished with a hitting percentage of .200 after recording 54 kills. With the win, the Lady Toppers handed Belmont their first loss at home since the 2007 season and kept the streak over the Bruins perfect at 11-0 all-time.
• 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.
• Last, weekend, 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.
• 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.
• The Lady Toppers are 4-1 all-time against IUPUI. The last meeting between the two schools was on Oct. 18, 2005 when the Lady Toppers swept IUPUI in Bowling Green. The Lady Toppers only loss to IUPUI came in 2004 when they were swept in Indianapolis, Ind. WKU is 2-4 all-time against Miami (Ohio) but have only defeated them once in the team’s last five contests. Last seascon in Bowling Green, Miami (Ohio) handed their first home loss of the season when they defeated the Lady Toppers 3-1. Against Northwestern, the Lady Toppers are 1-0. The team’s only meeting was in 2004 when WKU won the match 3-1 in the Northwestern Wildcat Invitational.
• 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.
