"We were very fortunate to get the win on the road today," head coach Travis Hudson shared. "We played poorly in every phase of the game and will have to be much better moving forward on the road in C-USA matches."
Despite the Thundering Herd striking first in all four frames, WKU secured its fourth four-set win of the season. Marshall dropped to 8-11 on the season with the setback and now sits at 1-4 in league contests with the 25-22, 22-25, 25-19, 27-25 loss.
With neither side ever leading by more than two points until the final tally of the opening frame, WKU Volleyball used a late surge to claim a 25-22 victory. Trailing 22-20, WKU held the Marshall offense in check and saw three different Lady Toppers record kills across the final five points to rally and put the set away. The sides combined for 14 ties and nine lead changes throughout the frame.
Marshall evened the match at 1-1 after reciprocating a 25-22 decision. With just three ties and no lead changes, the Thundering Herd never trailed in the set.
Out of the break, the Thundering Herd opened a quick 4-1 lead and pushed it to a 10-8 advantage before WKU found its groove. At that point, the Red and White scored nine of the next 10 points to open a 17-11 lead it would not relinquish. Up two at 20-18, WKU tallied five of the final six points thanks to kills by Sophia Cerino and Lauren Matthews in addition to a block assist from Matthews and Shelton. The sides combined for five ties and three lead changes before WKU pulled away from the 25-19 victory.
After Marshall struck first for the fourth-straight WKU the Lady Toppers continued to make plays to stay within striking distance. With a slim lead down the stretch, Matthews gave WKU a 24-22 advantage but Marshall fended off a pair of set points to even things at 24-24. With Katie Isenbarger and Mary Martin back in the match for a three-hitter front line, Isenbarger found the floor with a kill on the slide for a 25-24 advantage before Marshall responded. WKU went up 26-25 following a Thundering Herd service error and Anderson closed the door with her 15th kill of the match for the 27-25 set four victory.
Anderson (15), Matthews (11) and Cerino (11) all recorded double-digit kills in the victory. Matthews led all attackers with a career-best .474 hitting clip across 19 swings. The freshman also led everyone by tying her personal-best seven blocks in the outing. Anderson added a .344 attack rate along with five blocks, a dig and an ace while Cerino registered five digs, three aces, two blocks and an assists.
After Martin started and finished the match as WKU's setter, Taylor Bebout also saw significant court time as well. Bebout notched 26 assists, six digs, three kills and two blocks while Martin posted 16 helpers, six digs, a block and an ace.
Defensively, Payton Frederick led the way with 17 digs while Darby Music was right behind her with 16. Frederick matched her career-best with six assists in the win.
NEXT UP:
The Lady Toppers will wrap up the road swing with a stop in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Sunday for a 1 p.m. tilt at Middle Tennessee.
TOPPER NOTES:
- With the four-set win over Marshall, WKU now leads the all-time series against the Thundering Herd 12-2.
- Run of the match: A 9-1 run in the third set. WKU trailed 10-8 prior to going on a 9-1 run to take the lead for good in the third set.
- Rachel Anderson led WKU in kills for the 14th time this season. Her 15 kills against Marshall marked her sixth 15+ kill showing of the season.
- Lauren Matthews set a new career-best hitting percentage at .474 (11-2-19) while also matching her person-best block mark with seven.
- Payton Frederick led WKU in digs for the ninth time this season with 17. Darby Music notched her second-straight outing with 16 or more digs.
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.
