LEXINGTON, Ky. – With just over a week until the 2017 campaign kicks off, WKU Volleyball headed over to Memorial Coliseum to take on No. 14 Kentucky in a preseason exhibition. Both Bluegrass State powerhouses cleared the benches to take full advantage of the live match setting.
"I think Kentucky is poised for a tremendous season, they have all the pieces necessary to deserve their top 15 ranking," head coach Travis Hudson shared. "We certainly would have liked to play better today, but that is the absolute reason for an exhibition, to identify areas that we can improve. We came off back-to-back two-a-day sessions and lacked the physicality and mentality necessary to perform at the highest level."
"These exhibitions are very beneficial for both teams and we look forward to have Kentucky make the return trip to Bowling Green in 2018," Hudson continued.
After five full sets of action the Lady Toppers filled the stat sheet. In three sets of play, Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year, Alyssa Cavanaugh, led the Red and White with 11 kills and a .435 hitting clip. Taylor Dellinger also notched double-digit kills with 10.
Jessica Lucas came one kill shy of a triple double, facilitating the offense for four sets. The senior tallied 25 assists, 11 digs, nine kills and a block assist. Additionally, freshman setter Taylor Bebout racked up 11 assists during her two sets of play.
Emma Kowalkowski registered eight digs to go along with five assists and a service ace, playing the first three sets as libero. Taking over as libero for the final two sets, Darby Music collected nine digs. Sydney Engle record seven digs, two blocks and two assists.
Rachel Anderson led the Lady Toppers with three blocks as the team recorded seven as a whole.
There will one more chance to catch the WKU Volleyball unit in action for free prior to the Aug. 29 home opener. This Saturday, the squad will put on its inaugural Volleyball 101 and scrimmage. Action will open at 2 p.m. from the main court of Diddle Arena with an hour long scrimmage before splitting into the kids clinic and Volleyball 101 informational session at 3 p.m. Parking in PS2 is free as well.
"We are looking forward to the opportunity Saturday to be back in front of our fans and give them the chance to learn more about the game in our first ever Volleyball 101 session," stated Hudson. "It should be a fun and productive time to engage our fan base and help it continue to grow."
With the 2017 campaign just around the corner, volleyball season tickets are available online at WKUSports.com or by calling the WKU ticket office at 1-800-5-BIGRED. Season ticket holders will receive 12 general admission tickets with the Flexible Ticket Package that can be used to attend the home games of his or her choice. This plan allows the flexibility to choose which volleyball games the buyer wants to attend and the number of tickets used for each game. Season ticket holders also gain exclusive access to pre-game chalk talks with Hudson, who enters his 23rd season at the helm of WKU volleyball.
Stats Leaders
Kills: Cavanaugh (11), Dellinger (10), Lucas (9), Shelton (5), Jackson (5)
Assists: Lucas (25), Bebout (11)
Aces: Shelton (1), Jackson (1), Kowalkowski (1)
Digs: Lucas (11), Music (9), Kowalkowski (8), Engle (7)
Blocks: Anderson (3), Engle (2)
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