NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the ninth time in program history, WKU Volleyball swept Lipscomb as the sides met in a non-conference matchup Tuesday night on the Lipscomb campus. The Lady Toppers improved to 10-1 all-time against the Bisons as the Red and White block party carried over from the weekend. WKU outblocked the hosts 14-3 in the match while limiting Lipscomb to a .106 hitting clip to improve to 10-2 on the 2017 campaign.
"Great teams win in a lot of ways," Travis Hudson opened after WKU's sweep of Lipscomb Tuesday night. "We haven't been as good offensively in our last few matches, but we've really risen to the occasion with our blocking. While tonight's third set did not go well, in my opinion, we were fortunate to get out of there in three sets tonight because we certainly didn't finish strong."
Tuesday night action opened with Lipscomb tallying the match's first point before the Lady Toppers notched five of the next six points before stretching the lead to six points at 10-4 to force a Lipscomb timeout. The Bisons managed a sideout out of the break before WKU rattled off the next four points which resulted in Lipscomb's second stoppage trailing 14-5. Battling back behind a five-point run of their own, Lipscomb pulled as close as two points on multiple occasions. WKU pushed through and ultimately claimed the set 25-22.
After falling behind 4-1 to begin set two, WKU Volleyball found its groove and tallied the next three points to even things up. Lipscomb and WKU then traded points to 7-7 before the Lady Toppers took a lead they would not relinquish. The key run for the Red and White was a nine-point streak from 12-10 to 20-10 that put the set away. At one point, WKU registered three straight blocks and ended with seven in the frame. Additionally, Alyssa Cavanaugh recorded seven kills on 10 swings to help WKU to a .458 hitting percentage in the frame.
Following the long break, WKU notched five of the first seven points before Lipscomb called a timeout down 11-7. The Bisons battled back again down the stretch using a 7-3 run to knot the match at 22-22. WKU took the lead for good off a Rachel Anderson kill which was immediately followed with a block assist by Anderson and Taylor Dellinger. With the Lady Toppers leading 24-22, the Bisons were able to fight off a set point before Anderson sent her seventh kill of the night off the Lipscomb block to secure the victory.
Cavanaugh led the way for WKU for the fourth straight match as the senior tallied 14 kills while working at a .417 clip. Additionally, Cavanaugh added two blocks, a dig and an assist as well. Anderson chipped in seven kills to go along with four blocks and a pair of digs.
At the net, Sydney Engle and Amara Listenbee each registered eight blocks, tying Engle's career high set two matches ago against Pittsburgh. Engle added five kills to go along with five digs and four assists.
WKU saw five hitters record a hitting percentage of .300 or better as the team worked at a collective .295 rate.
Jessica Lucas was one of those .300 hitters as the senior recorded four kills of her own while helping on 26 for her teammates. Lucas finished with nine digs and a block as well.
Emma Kowalkowski also notched nine digs while Hallie Shelton and Darby Music each contributed six.
"It's great," Hudson said of picking up two big wins during the week. "We're in the toughest stretch of our schedule and to get two really important wins to start this stretch takes a little pressure off the rest of this week but gives us a little momentum at the same time. We're looking forward to getting to Columbus to keep playing."
Up next for the rolling Lady Topper squad is the Buckeye Invitational this weekend at Ohio State. WKU will open play on Friday with No. 25 Ohio State before taking on Dayton later in the day. Play will close on Saturday with the Red and White taking on Northern Illinois.
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