BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Western Kentucky University volleyball team won its 25th match for the season straight season with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-9) win over South Alabama on Saturday night at E. A. Diddle Arena.
The Lady Toppers (25-6, 14-1 Sun Belt Conference) extended their league win streak to 10 games and remained a perfect 6-0 at home in SBC play. WKU finished the match with a .398 team hitting percentage and 45 kills.
"(Tonight) was a much better performance by our kids, much better effort, much better competitiveness and I think it showed," WKU coach Travis Hudson said. "I think anybody that sat and watched both those matches, understands the difference.
"We got a lot accomplished this weekend beyond getting those two wins, but certainly those were the most important part."
WKU's win sets up a head-to-head showdown for the East Division championship, the regular-season Sun Belt title and the top seed in the conference tournament when Middle Tennessee visits E.A. Diddle Arena at 7 p.m. Friday. The Lady Toppers only SBC loss of the season came against the Blue Raiders on Oct. 6 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
"We feel like we have been preparing for this match for longer than a week," Hudson said. "(MTSU) is somebody who when we lost to them on their home court, in essence we started preparing them for that moment. We wanted it to come down to this situation and we feel real good about our chances. I think I can assure you, the team that walks out of here with a win, deserves to be the Sun Belt Conference Champion."
It was the Lady Toppers 22nd consecutive win against South Alabama (10-19, 5-9) dating back to 1996. The Jaguars were limited to a -.021 hitting percentage and committed 23 attack errors.
Sophomore Jordyn Skinner and freshman Melanie Stutsman led the WKU offense with eight kills each. Juniors Tiffany Elmore and Lindsay Williams both added seven kills and Williams finished the match with a team-high .538 hitting percentage. Senior Emily Teegarden tallied five kills.
"Two kids that I think, in terms of what they do for our team, that are playing better than anybody we have right now are Lindsay Williams and Jordyn Skinner," Hudson said. "I think those two kids continue to play extremely well. I think everyone did their job tonight and when they do, we are an awfully tough team to beat."
Sophomore libero Sarah Rogers led the team defensively with 11 digs. Freshman Ashley Potts added seven digs while Skinner and Stutsman each posted six digs. Elmore finished the night with five blocks, one of which was solo.
The two teams traded points back and forth in the first set with 11 ties in the early going. At 11-11, WKU scored nine of the next 12 points to take a 20-14 lead. The Lady Toppers closed out the 25-18 win on a kill by Williams.
WKU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set and used a 7-1 run to increase its advantage to 12-2. The Lady Toppers never led by fewer than 10 the rest of the game and went on a 4-0 run to end it.
WKU led the third set from beginning to end. Up 10-5, the Lady Toppers went on an 11-1 to make the score 20-6.
WKU-USA Box
