Season-Best Hitting Percentage Leads No. 23 WKU to Sweep at UAB

Friday, October 25

Birmingham, Ala.

7 p.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

-221, 80 CUSA

UAB

-119, 34 CUSA

WKU

UAB

Season-Best Hitting Percentage Leads No. 23 WKU to Sweep at UAB

10/25/2019 8:52:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – No. 23 WKU Volleyball took the show on the road and swept UAB in Birmingham Friday night to open the second half of the Tops' Conference USA slate. The Lady Toppers continue to add on to the best start in program history and are out to a 22-1 record on the season after the squad posted a season-best .458 hitting percentage in Birmingham. WKU also held its fourth-straight opponent to a sub-.100 hitting clip as the Blazers posted a .043 mark.

"We were very good tonight in all phases of the game," head coach Travis Hudson shared. "Our serving really set the tone of the match and had UAB out of sync. I'm very proud of our effort."

WKU's 22-1 record equates to a .957 winning percentage and is the top mark in all of NCAA Volleyball. The Red and White remained perfect in league play and own an 8-0 record in such matches this season. UAB falls to 11-9 overall and 3-4 in C-USA play with tonight's setback.

Additionally, tonight's sweep of the Blazers adds WKU's 16^th three-set win of the season – the top mark in the NCAA.

After UAB jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the opening set, WKU fired back with an 8-1 run to take the lead and never look back. The Red and White racked up six blocks in the frame en route to the 25-12 victory after scoring 22 of the final 27 points. WKU hit .500 as a team while holding UAB to a -.062 clip.

Set two saw WKU keep its foot on the gas while holding the hosts to an even .000 hitting clip. The Lady Toppers pushed out to a 10-3 advantage and cruised to a 25-16 second set victory. WKU added a trio of service aces in the frame along with four more blocks to bring its match total to 10 through the first to sets.

UAB returned out of the break and led early in the final frame. The Blazers would own an advantage until the 8-7 point before an attack error tied the match and a Sophia Cerino kill gave the Tops a lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the set. WKU pushed ahead to a 19-13 advantage forcing the Blazers to use their final timeout of the set and from there, the Tops would close out the 25-15 third-set victory.

The WKU offense scorched the floor of Bartow Arena with a collective .458 hitting percentage on the night, marking the 13th match of .300 or better as a team on the season. While facilitating the Hilltopper offense, Nadia Dieudonne finished with 28 assists on the night to go along with five digs, two kills, a block and an ace.

Defensively, the Lady Toppers stayed just as hot, holding their fourth-straight and fifth of the last six opponents to a hitting percentage below .100. WKU out-dug the Blazers 34-21 in addition to out-blocking the hosts 10-2.

WKU has now held six opponents to a double-digit attack rate. Friday's match from Birmingham also marks back-to-back double-digit block efforts and the team's fifth such outing of the season.

Individually, Lauren Matthews racked up 14 kills on 17 swings for a stellar .765 hitting percentage for her seventh match of .600 or better of her sophomore campaign. Matthews added four blocks and a dig.

Paige Briggs tallied eight kills on a .389 attack rate to go along with seven digs, two blocks and an ace.

Sophia Cerino posted six kills on 12 swings for a .417 clip while adding three blocks and two more aces. The senior is up to 55 aces on the season, moving her into seventh on WKU's single-season list.

Ashley Hood and Hallie Shelton each added a pair of aces as well.

Katie Isenbarger led the squad in blocks for the 10^th time this season, racking up five. The sophomore now owns three outings with five or more blocks this year.

Logan Kael led WKU with 12 digs, marking the 10^th time the junior transfer has led the team in the category this season.

NEXT TIME OUT:
WKU Volleyball will continue its weekend travels to Charlotte, N.C., where the squad will take on the 49ers on Sunday. First serve is slated for noon CT.

How to Follow WKU Volleyball: For complete information on WKU Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUVolleyball and head coach Travis Hudson at @TravisHudsonWKU. The team is also on Instagram and Facebook.