DENVER - The Western Kentucky University volleyball team improved to 6-1 on the road in Sun Belt Conference play with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 27-25) win over Denver on Friday night at Hamilton Gymnasium.
The Lady Toppers (22-6, 11-1) extended their conference win streak to seven games and finished the match with a .237 team hitting percentage while tallying 41 kills. Denver (13-15, 7-6) was limited to a .180 hitting percentage and committed 18 attack errors.
"I am very, very excited to get the win on the road," WKU coach Travis Hudson said. "Denver played very, very hard. It was their senior night and you knew they were going to give us everything they had. We quite honestly did not play well. We weren't ready to play and we were very fortunate to get out of here in three games."
Junior Tiffany Elmore led the WKU offense with 11 kills and a .421 hitting percentage. Senior Emily Teegarden added nine kills, and redshirt freshman Paige Wessel recorded seven kills with a .500 hitting percentage. Elmore finished the night with three blocks.
Freshman setter Melanie Stutsman paced the defense with 13 digs. Sophomore Jordyn Skinner tallied 12 digs and two block assists. Classmate Sarah Rogers had six digs.
The first set went back and forth between the two teams, seeing six ties and three lead changes. With the score tied at 17-17, WKU tallied five of the next seven points to take a 22-19 lead. The Lady Toppers closed out the set on a 3-0 run.
WKU never trailed in the second set after taking an early 2-0 lead. Denver kept the set close, never allowing the Lady Toppers to build a lead larger than four. At 18-18, WKU used a 6-2 run to force set point. The Pioneers fought off two set points before a kill by Skinner gave WKU the 25-22 win.
The third set was a battle between both teams as there were nine ties and five lead changes. Denver led by four twice, but WKU was able to fight back each time and stay alive in the set. Down 24-22, the Lady Toppers used kills by Wessel and Skinner to tie the set. After another tie at 25-25, WKU close out the win on back-to-back points.
The Lady Toppers return to action Sunday against North Texas at 1 p.m. at the Mean Green VB Center in Denton, Texas.
"This is a tough, long road trip," Hudson said. "We are going to fly over there (North Texas) in the morning, try to get there pretty early and get some rest in the hotel and come out and hopefully play much better on Sunday."
For complete results and a recap of the action, please visit WKUSports.com. Live stats will also be available on the site.
WKU-Denver Box
