BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Western Kentucky University volleyball team finished the weekend strong with a pair of victories on the final day of the WKU Tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena.
WKU (8-3) started the day with a 3-1 (25-13, 21-25, 26-24, 25-13) win over Tennessee Tech and finished with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-22) sweep against Central Arkansas. The Lady Toppers have won eight of their last nine matches.
"Tonight was a lot more complete performance against Central Arkansas than this morning," WKU coach Travis Hudson said. "We kinda lost focus against Tennessee Tech a little bit but overall a great weekend for us. A terrific bounce back after the Virginia Tech disappointment and to be sitting at 8-3 right now is something that will allow me to get a little sleep tonight.
"We are really starting to have a little flow to us offensively and that is really good to see. We have been winning the hard way for a while and when we hit our rhythm we are going to be a really tough out every match."
WKU sophomore Jordyn Skinner led the offensive push against Central Arkansas (6-6), leading the way with 11 kills and a .409 hitting percentage. Senior Emily Teegarden added 10 kills while junior Tiffany Elmore finished with nine.
Sophomore libero Sarah Rogers paced the squad with 16 digs. Skinner posted eight digs and senior Kelly Potts recorded seven. Freshman setter Melanie Stutsman provided 37 assists with five kills.
The first set went back and forth early on with four times and three lead changes. WKU built a 12-9 advantage before going on a 5-0 run to make the score 17-9. Central Arkansas fought off two match points before a kill from redshirt freshman Paige Wesel ended the set.
WKU never trailed in the second set and led by as many as seven two different times. The Lady Toppers tallied a match-high 17 kills and had a team hitting percentage of .421 in the set.
The two teams battled to the very end in the third set. With WKU up 21-18, UCA tallied the next three points to tie the match at 21-21.
A kill from Teegarden on the next point put the Lady Toppers ahead for good. WKU scored three of the final four points of the match to win 25-22.
In the day's first match, WKU had three players with at least 10 kills against Tennessee Tech (2-9). Elmore led the attack with 14 kills while Skinner had 13 kills and junior Lindsay Williams added 12.
Defensively, Stutsman and Skinner each recorded nine digs, and Rogers posted eight digs. Stutsman also added 49 assists and seven kills for the match.
In the first set, WKU built a 9-6 lead before exploding for a 7-0 run to extend its advantage to 16-6. The Lady Toppers kept the pressure on with a pair of service aces from Stutsman before back-to-back kills from Paige Wessel and Janee' Diggins closed out the 25-13 win.
Tennessee Tech rallied for a 25-21 win in the second set to tie the match. The Golden Eagles collected 12 kills and committed only four attack errors to WKU's 10.
WKU led the third and fourth sets from start to finish securing its seventh victory of the season. In the fourth set, the Lady Toppers posted 20 kills and a .731 hitting percentage, their highest in any set this season.
Elmore and Williams each earned spots on the WKU all-tournament team. Virginia Tech's Cara Baarendse was named the most valuable player as the Hokies claimed the tournament title.
The Lady Toppers return to action next weekend at the Billiken Invitational in St. Louis, Mo. The two-day tournament begins Friday and features teams from Marshall, Lipscomb and host St. Louis.
"When you are as young as we are every week is really important," Hudson said, "We've got three teams this weekend in the tournament that are all top 65 teams in the country, so it is just another stiff challenge for our young team."
WKU-Tenn. Tech Box
WKU-C. Ark Box
