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"I'm really proud of our kids," head coach Travis Hudson opened following the victory. "We needed a win and playing at UTEP has been a challenge for Conference USA teams all season long."
The Lady Toppers are just the second league opponent to sweep the Miners in El Paso this season.
WKU Volleyball is now 15-9 on the 2018 season including a 6-3 reading in Conference USA matches. UTEP drops to 1-9 in league matches and 4-18 overall.
After overcoming a slow start from Memorial Gym, WKU found its rhythm with 20 kills in the opening frame en route to a 25-22 victory. UTEP was the first to double digits and led 11-9 before WKU scored five of the next six points. The Lady Toppers were the first to 20 with a two-point advantage before Kayland Jackson closed the set with a kill. Anderson tallied seven kills in the frame and a .700 hitting clip.
With the kinks worked out, WKU wasted no time scoring in set two, jumping ahead to 5-1 and 9-2 advantages. UTEP called for its final stoppage of the second frame trailing 22-11 but the Lady Toppers responded with three of the next six points to take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-14 victory. The Red and White worked at a .484 offensive clip in the frame and notched 19 more kills.
UTEP responded out of the break, opening up a 5-1 advantage on the Lady Toppers. Trailing 4-7 a few points later, WKU would tally seven of the next eight points for an 11-8 lead. UTEP wasn't going away down the stretch, stringing together six-straight points to open a 21-19 lead late in the set. The hosts held a slim 22-21 lead before WKU tallied four of the last five points to sweep the Miners and get back in the win column.
With 47 assists on 85 setting attempts, Bebout's teammates registered a kill on 55.3% of the Decatur, Ind., native's sets. Bebout also added four digs and both of WKU's service aces on the night.
Anderson led all attackers with 17 kills against just one error on 23 swings across the match for a season-best .696 hitting clip. The senior also led WKU in blocking with three.
Three more Lady Toppers finished with double-digit kills as well, including Katie Isenbarger (12-1-18, .611), Sophia Cerino (12-4-24, .333) and Lauren Matthews (10-4-18, .333). Isenbarger's .611 hitting percent marked a career high for the freshman.
Cerino, Matthews and Jackson each added two blocks for the Red and White.
For the sixth-straight match, Payton Frederick led the Lady Topper defense in digs with 12 on the evening. She's now up to 13-consecutive matches with double-digit digs.
NEXT UP:
WKU will head up to San Antonio, Texas, to wrap up the weekend road swing at UTSA on Sunday. First serve against the Roadrunners is slated for 1 p.m. CT.
TOPPER NOTES:
- WKU notched 20 kills in the opening set against UTEP marking its first 20-kill frame since facing Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament last season.
- The Lady Toppers worked at a collective .426 hitting clip in Friday night's victory – the team's second-best percentage of the season.
- Four different Lady Toppers recorded double-digit kills on the night, marking the first time the team had done so its match on Sept. 7, 2018 against Notre Dame – a five-set outing.
- Taylor Bebout's 47 assists marked the second-most helpers by a Conference USA setter in a three-set match during the 2018 season. The top mark is held by Florida Atlantic's Ivone Martinez with 48.
- With 57 collective kills in the sweep, WKU Volleyball matched the season-high output by a Conference USA squad (Rice on Oct. 14).
- WKU Volleyball now leads the all-time series with UTEP 7-0 and has swept the Miners in every meeting.
- Run of the match: A 6-2 run by the Lady Toppers in the third set. Trailing 21-19 to UTEP down the stretch, WKU closed out the match on a 6-2 run to secure the sweep.
How to Follow the Lady Toppers: For complete information on WKU Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUVolleyball and head coach Travis Hudson at @TravisHudsonWKU.
