"This was another frustrating night for our team," head coach Travis Hudson opened. "You win the stat sheet in a lot of areas but lose the match; we just continue to error ourselves out of opportunities. You know, our young team is struggling right now. We have a few matches left to right the ship now before we head into conference tournament time."
Trailing by as much as six points as late as the 22-16 juncture, WKU Volleyball mounted a 7-0 run to take its first lead since a 2-1 advantage. Austin Peay responded back to tie the match at 23-23 and went up 24-23 but an Anderson kill knotted it up. From there, Anderson and Kayland Jackson teamed up for a block for set point in favor of the Red and White before Taylor Bebout closed the frame with an ace.
Austin Peay responded in set two with a quick 4-0 start. Following back-and-forth scoring from both sides, the Govs owned a 19-14 advantage but the Lady Toppers began to chip away. With five of the next six points, WKU evened things up at 20-20. Down the stretch, the hosts were able to outscore the Tops by a slim 5-3 margin for a 25-23 set two victory.
Out of the break, Austin Peay jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back en route to a 25-16 set three victory. While the Govs hit at just a .200 clip in the frame, they took advantage of an 81-percent sideout rating.
In need of a win in the fourth set to stay alive in the match, the Lady Toppers got off to a quick start with an 8-1 advantage. WKU led from start to finish in the only frame that didn't see either a tie or lead change in the 25-15 decision. The Red and White worked at a .333 offensive clip while registering an 80-percent sideout mark.
Going the distance for the fifth time of the season, WKU struck first and worked out to a 5-3 advantage. At that point, APSU went on a 5-0 run to take the lead for good despite a couple Lady Topper rally efforts. WKU used three-straight tallies to pull within 11-10 but the Govs closed the book with a 4-0 run for the 15-10 fifth-set win.
Anderson led the way for the WKU offense with 17 kills on the night off a season-high 43 swings. The senior added six blocks, a dig and an assist. Cerino marked the second Lady Topper with double-digit strikes, finishing with 13. Lauren Matthews added nine kills.
Taylor Bebout drew the start at setter but gave way to Mary Martin. The facilitators finished with 16 and 36 assists, respectively.
Payton Frederick led the Lady Topper defense with 21 digs while Darby Music hit double figures as well with 13.
In total, the match saw 15 ties and five lead changes.
As a team, WKU owned a 63-51 advantage in kills, a .250 - .186 hitting percentage advantage and out-dug the Govs 69-52 in the loss.
NEXT UP:
WKU Volleyball will return to Diddle Arena on Friday evening to host Conference USA foe North Texas. First serve on Friday night is slated for 6 p.m. CT. Admission to the match will be free and donations will be accepted at the door for both the Hope4Harlie and Friends of Jaclyn Foundations.
Supporters can also donate to the online fundraiser here: https://goto.ps/Hope4Harlie18
TOPPER NOTES:
- WKU is now 31-12 all-time against Austin Peay. Tonight's loss snapped a 14-match win streak for the Lady Toppers.
- Entering the evening, WKU was 4-0 in five-set matches and now sits at 4-1 on the season in such contests.
- Rachel Anderson notched 17 kills in the outing for her fifth match of the season with 17 or more kills.
- Sophia Cerino racked up 13 kills on the night for her ninth double-digit kill showing of the season.
- Payton Frederick registered 21 digs to mark her third 20-plus dig showing of the season.
