"I'm very proud of our kids," head coach Travis Hudson shared. "We are really banged up right now and I thought our kids came out and performed well."
Tied at 4-4 in the opening set of the weekend, WKU's Rachel Anderson stepped up and found the floor for her third kill of the match and followed it with a service ace and the Red and White never looked back. WKU strung together a 7-1 run to open up a 13-6 advantage and pushed ahead to 17-9. Behind a collective .440 hitting clip by the Red and White, WKU took a 1-0 lead in the match with a 25-15 first-set victory.
WKU opened the second set right where it left off, starting things with a 5-0 run before allowing the hosts onto the scoreboard. The Lady Toppers pushed ahead to an early 8-1 and 11-2 advantage before the Billikens started chipping away at the lead. With SLU back within five at 19-14, Kayland Jackson found the floor for back-to-back kills and WKU would go on to finish the frame on a 6-0 run.
After back and forth play out of the long break, Saint Louis stuck around to the 12-11 juncture before Anderson found the floor for another kill to start a 7-1 run. The Billikens responded with a 3-0 run to pull within 19-15 but WKU answered right back and ultimately claimed the match on Katie Isenbarger's 10th kill of the night.
Isenbarger and Hallie Shelton led the way for WKU offensively with 10 kills each – both career highs. Anderson finished with eight kills on 12 swings for a team-best .667 clip. Isenbarger also led WKU in blocks for the second-straight match with three.
While the offense racked up a kill on more than half the attacks it attempted, the Lady Topper defense shined as well – collected 39 digs while stifling the Billiken attack to a .105 clip. Emma Kowalkowski led the Red and White with 14 digs.
Taylor Bebout and Mary Martin shared setting duties, recording 22 and nine assists, respectively. Both facilitators also added a kill and a block.
NEXT UP:
WKU will close weekend action with a doubleheader on Saturday at the Marcia E. Hamilton Classic from St. Louis, Mo. First up, the Lady Toppers will take on [RV] Marquette at 10 a.m. CT, before closing weekend play with a 5 p.m. tilt against Kansas State.
With six of the squad's first seven matches on the road to open the 2018 season, WKU Volleyball will now return to The Hill where it will play its next nine matches. The Lady Toppers will host two weekend tournaments, a midweek matchup with Cincinnati and two Conference USA tilts (Middle Tennessee and Charlotte) before leaving Diddle Arena to play again.
TOPPER NOTES:
- WKU is now 5-3 all-time against Saint Louis. The Lady Toppers have won each of the past five meetings between the sides and have swept the last four.
- Run of the match: 6-0 run in set two starting at 19-14. With SLU looking to get back into the set, WKU closed out the set with six-straight points to end the threat.
- Emma Kowalkowski (14 digs) has led WKU in digs in three matches this season and owns double-digit digs in four contests.
- Freshman Katie Isenbarger led WKU in kills for the first time while also reaching double digits in the category for the first time of her career. Isenbarger led WKU in blocks for the second-straight game with three.
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.
