Box Score (PDF)
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - In Travis Hudson's 750th match at the helm of the WKU volleyball program, the Lady Toppers won their 14th-consecutive match with a sweep over Marshall. Rachel Anderson led all hitters with a 17-kill performance, while Alyssa Cavanaugh worked into double digits as well with 12 kills.
Not only did the Red and White extend their win streak, but the squad also improved to 23-2 on the 2016 campaign. The Lady Toppers climbed to a 10-0 reading in Conference USA action. Marshall fell to 17-7 with the loss and is now 6-3 in league play.
"I'm really proud of our kids for the way they played against a tough Marshall team that has had a tremendous season," Hudson stated. "I thought we did a nice job of sticking to the game plan and executing from start to finish."
Action opened from the Cam Henderson Center with Marshall getting on the board first and owning a three-point lead on multiple occasions. However, the Lady Toppers battled back to knot the match at 8-8 and again at 10-10 before taking the lead for good. WKU went up 16-12 to force a Thundering Herd timeout and went on to score the first three points out of the stop as well for a seven point lead. Marshall would work within four points but the Lady Toppers ultimately claimed the opening set 25-20. Anderson led the Red and White with five kills in the frame while Cavanaugh added four.
WKU got on the board first in the second set and after just one tie at 1-1 the Lady Toppers controlled play the rest of the way to a 25-13 victory. The Red and White were errorless offensively with 15 kills on 32 attacks for a .469 hitting percentage in the frame. Cavanaugh put up five kills in the set while Anderson chipped in four more to lead all hitters with nine kills each through two stanzas.
Play in the third set again opened with WKU registering the first point, but Marshall would go on to lead into the double digits. Amara Listenbee's sixth and final kill of the evening put WKU within one point of the hosts at 9-10 and the Lady Toppers would soon knot the frame at 11-11 to force Marshall to take its first timeout. WKU took the lead for good at 16-15 and back-to-back Cavanaugh kills gave the Red and White an 18-15 advantage. Anderson closed the book with her 17th kill of the night, giving WKU a 25-18 third-set victory.
The Lady Toppers are now 13-0 overall in three-set matches including a 6-0 mark in C-USA play. WKU handed Marshall its first home loss of the 2016 season and its third sweep on the year.
With just eight attack errors on the night, WKU hit .402 with 45 kills across the three sets. Anderson led the charge with 17 kills against just one attack error on 28 swings for a .571 hitting clip. The outing marked Anderson's 11th match with 15 or more kills on the season. Cavanaugh went on to produce 12 kills of her own and worked to a .333 hitting rate. The pair of Lady Topper offensive threats have both reached double-digit kills on 16 occasions this season with WKU going 14-2 in those contests.
Taylor Dellinger worked to a seven-kill effort followed by Listenbee with six.
Sydney Engle led the WKU unit with double-digit digs at 12 while Jessica Lucas chipped in eight of her own. Lucas finished with 35 assists in the three-set match
Marshall was held to a .165 hitting percentage in the contest, including a match-low .062 mark in the second frame.
Weekend play will continue for the WKU squad as the team will close regular-season road play at UAB on Sunday. Play is slated to begin at noon CT from the Bartow Arena. The Lady Toppers won the first meeting between the sides back on Oct. 14, 3-1.
