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Sept. 21, 2013
Box Score-Western Michigan Box Score-Wright State
DAYTON, Ohio - Western Kentucky University volleyball head coach Travis Hudsonearned his 450th career win on Saturday after the Lady Toppers (10-4) finished the Flyer Classic with a sweep over Western Michigan (7-5) and Wright State (5-10) on Saturday at the Frericks Center.
Hudson now holds a career record of 450-184 in his 19 seasons at WKU, good for a winning percentage of .710.
GAME ONE - WKU 3, Western Michigan 1
Using a career game from sophomore Haley Bodway, WKU notched its first win of the day 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-11, 25-17) over Western Michigan.
Bodway put down a career-high 17 kills, as she also hit a career-high .625. Redshirt senior Paige Wessel added 13 kills while junior Heather Boyantotaled 12 kills and nine blocks.
Senior Melanie Stutsman dished out a season-high 51 assists while fellow classmate Ashley Potts had 12 digs and junior Mollie Pajakowskiposted 10 digs.
Five kills from each Wessel and Bodway lifted WKU to a 25-17 first-set win. A trio of kills from Boyan helped open the frame with a 7-3 advantage for the Lady Toppers. The Broncos pulled within one at 7-6 following a timeout, but a block from Langenkamp and Bodway the next point started a spark that gave WKU a lead as much as seven in the frame.
Falling behind early in the second set by two points at the most, WKU worked its way back to tie the set at nine following a sophomore Rachel Engleand Boyan block. The Lady Toppers took over the lead, turning the tables to lead as much as two points, including 15-13 after a Bodway kill. After a timeout, the Broncos rattled off three-straight points to take the lead back, as Western Michigan took its final lead at 17-16. With set point at 24-21, WKU kept in the fight, as a Bronco miscue and kill from Bodway made the contest 24-23, and forced the Broncos to regroup. However, the next play had a Western Michigan kill to take the set 25-23.
WKU came out dominating the third set, quickly posting an 8-3 lead to force a timeout for the Broncos. Two kills from Bodway sparked WKU to a 12-5 advantage. The Lady Toppers hit .450 in the frame, as a pair of kills from Stutsman put WKU on a 5-0 run to 19-9. Closing the set on a 6-1 spree, WKU won the frame 25-11.
Down in a hole to start the fourth set, WKU came back with back-to-back kills from Engle to go up 11-8. The momentum continued to swing WKU's way as a hard kill from Western Michigan deflected off of freshman Georgia O'Connell, went back to the Broncos' side and landed for her first career kill to set the score at 14-10. From there, Wessel had four of her five set kills to put WKU ahead 18-14 en route to a 25-17 win.
GAME TWO - WKU 3, Wright State 0
The Lady Toppers sealed their tournament win with a sweep of Wright State (25-10, 25-17, 25-13) in the day's later match.
Langenkamp brought 12 kills to the table in the two sets she played, hitting .647 in the contest with 17 attempts and one attack error. Potts again had a double-digit dig performance with 16. Stutsman posted 38 assists and two aces, as Stutsman, Boyan and Bodway had three blocks each.
Out of the gate, seven WKU kills gave the Lady Toppers a 9-3 advantage to force a Wright State timeout. WKU hit .615 in the frame compared to the Raiders' .138, as a 7-1 run that had four kills and a Stutsman service ace pushed the lead to 20-7. Langenkamp recorded her fifth kill of the set to seal the win at 25-10.
Wright State gained an early lead in the second set, but a 7-1 run with four kills and two blocks led to an 8-4 lead for WKU. The Lady Toppers carried a consistent seven-point lead for a majority of the match en route to a 25-17 win. The defense held Wright State to just eight kills in the set behind the effort of Potts' seven digs.
The third set opened with close scores, as WKU turned a 7-7 stalemate to a 9-7 lead after a Stutsman kill and block from Boyan and Stutsman. After a Raider timeout, WKU kept rolling with a kill from senior Lindsay Spearssetting the score at 17-10. A 5-0 run put WKU with set point before a Wright State attack error put the final set score at 25-13.
With the Flyer Classic concluded, WKU now begins its championship title defense with Sun Belt Conference starting on Friday, September 27 at Troy followed by a match Saturday, September 28 at South Alabama.
