Defense Holds Strong As WKU Sweeps UAB For 16th-Consecutive Win

Friday, October 13

Birmingham, Ala.

7 p.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

20-2, 6-0

UAB

9-13, 3-4

WKU

UAB

Photo by: Steve Roberts, WKU Athletics

Defense Holds Strong As WKU Sweeps UAB For 16th-Consecutive Win

10/13/2017 10:34:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score WKU 3, UAB 0 - Box Score (PDF)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – While the WKU Volleyball offense was held to its third-lowest hitting percentage of the season (.281), the defense came up clutch and limited the UAB attack to a .009 hitting clip en route to the Lady Toppers' 16th-straight victory. The sweep from Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Ala., marked WKU's sixth-consecutive sweep as the Red and White have now won 19-straight sets of action.

"I'm very, very pleased with this win," Travis Hudson opened. "The main reason I say that is because of how we got it done. Even though we struggled a bit offensively today, we played our best match of the year from a defensive standpoint. We've really been working hard to improve our defense and tonight that showed through."

WKU - along with VCU – became the first two teams in the nation to hit the 20-win plateau on the season Friday night. The Lady Toppers now sit at 20-2 on the year and 6-0 in Conference USA action. Additionally, 16-straight victories marks the second-longest win streak in the nation, behind only VCU's 17. WKU extended its Conference USA-record win streak over league opponents to 31 with the win as well. UAB dropped to 9-13 overall and 3-4 in C-USA play.

The Lady Toppers wasted no time getting things going from Bartow Arena Friday night, claiming three of the match's first four points. WKU pushed ahead to a six-point advantage at the 13-7 mark after a Rachel Anderson kill, which was maintained to the 19-13 point. With six of the next seven points, the Red and White opened up a 24-14 lead and ultimately closed the 25-16 first-set victory on another Anderson kill. WKU used a match-best .452 first-frame attack rate that saw 15 kills against just one error to open play.

Behind the serve of Hallie Shelton, WKU opened up a quick 5-0 lead in set two. Kayland Jackson helped the cause with three-straight kills followed by a block assists with Alyssa Cavanaugh during that span. Following a four-point UAB run, WKU went on a 14-2 run to break the set open at 19-7. The Blazers fought back within eight to 20-12 before WKU shut the door with the 25-13 second-frame victory. The Lady Toppers were held to a .154 offensive clip in set two but stood tall on defense, holding UAB to a -.098 hitting percentage.

While UAB led for the first, and only, time in the match up 2-1 in set three before WKU rattled off six of the next seven points to regain the lead for good. The Lady Toppers were the first to double digits again with a 10-6 advantage. UAB stuck around in the closest of the night's three sets as WKU's largest lead extended to eight before the Blazers closed the gap to five on multiple occasions. Up 23-18, WKU claimed the match's final two points on a UAB service error followed by an Emma Kowalkowski ace. Helped by 11 UAB attack errors in the set, the Red and White needed just nine kills in the final set, working at a .269 clip, to put the match away.

On the attack, the Lady Toppers were led by Cavanaugh and Taylor Dellinger with nine kills each on the night. Anderson chipped in five while Engle and Jackson each added four strikes. Of players with double-digit attacks, Dellinger led the way with a .444 offensive efficiency.

With 20 team digs in the second-set alone, WKU finished the evening with 43 digs, led by Sydney Engle's nine while Kowalkowski tallied eight. Shelton and Darby Music both added seven digs. Of the 12 Lady Toppers that saw action, 10 registered at least one dig in the contest.

The strong defensive effort stifled the UAB attack as the Blazers hit just .009 on the match. UAB finished with 29 kills and 28 attack errors on 110 attacks for the final line. The Lady Toppers have now held four teams in 2017 to a sub-.100 hitting clip with UAB's .009 mark being the lowest. On the contrary, WKU finished with 35 kills, eight attack errors and 96 attacks for a .281 clip.

At the net, WKU collected seven blocks on the night led by three apiece from Jackson and Anderson. Dellinger and Engle each contributed a pair while Jessica Lucas and Cavanaugh got in on the action.

Lucas closed the night with 21 assists, six digs, two kills and a block assist. Engle chipped in five assists while Kowalkowski added four to go along with a pair of aces. Shelton added WKU's third ace of the match.

Coach Hudson and company will conclude their weekend roadtrip in Miami, Fla., on Sunday with a contest at FIU. First serve is slated for noon CT, from FIU Arena.