Hilltopper Defense Shines in Sweep of Marshall

Sunday, February 28

Huntington, W.Va.

Noon CT

Western Kentucky University

-100, 50 CUSA

Marshall

-52, 32 CUSA

WKU

Marshall

Photo by: Adam Gue, Marshall Athletics

2/28/2021 2:24:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – In its first road trip since the 2019 Conference USA Tournament, WKU Volleyball was business as usual as the Hilltoppers swept Marshall by scores of 25-20, 25-17 and 25-22 from the Cam Henderson Center on Sunday. With the Tops' ninth sweep of the season, WKU's streak of sets of has grown to 25.

"Pretty frustrating offensively for our team today," opened head coach Travis Hudson. "Marshall is a good team defensively and that certainly played a role. They forced us into a lot of errors that aren't typical of our team. Our defense allowed us to stay in the match and find a way to win. We're looking forward to getting back on the court tomorrow."

WKU Volleyball continues to add onto its best undefeated start in program history at 10-0. The Hilltoppers have pushed out to a 5-0 record in Conference USA.

Marshall came out strong in the opening frame as action saw five ties. There was just one lead change in the set though, coming when the Hilltoppers went on a 3-0 run after trailing 9-7. While the Herd would force a couple ties after that, WKU would never trail again, scoring seven of the final 11 points in the frame. Lauren Matthews' second kill of the set secured the 25-20 victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.

After the Thundering Herd knotted set two at 6-6, a Matthews kill followed by Katie Isenbarger block pushed the Tops back ahead for good. Ahead 13-10, kills from Kayland Jackson and Matthews gave WKU a 15-10 lead and after a service error, the Red and White rattled off three more points for an 18-11 advantage. A kill from Avri Davis would shut the door on a 25-17 second-set victory.

Out of the break, WKU would open the scoring with a kill by Jackson before the Thundering Herd responded with four-straight points. The Hilltoppers would be the first to double digits again in the frame at 10-9 before Marshall knotted it back up. WKU would begin to pull away thanks to a 3-0 run to push the Tops' advantage to 15-11 and force a Thundering Herd timeout. The Hilltoppers surged ahead to a 20-16 lead but Marshall wouldn't go quietly as the Herd pulled back within two at 23-21 before an errant Marshall attack and kill by Briggs closed the 25-22 win for the Tops.

WKU racked up 20 kills in the final frame while limiting the Herd to just 10 for the second-straight set.

A contrast to the high-powered offensive shootout the Hilltoppers faced last weekend against Charlotte, the Thundering Herd was a defensive battle. WKU operated at a .233 hitting percentage while holding Marshall to a .114 rate. The Tops out-dug the Herd 65-54 along with out-blocking the hosts 8-6.

Matthews registered 15 kills against just two errors for a .419 hitting clip to go along with four blocks and a dig. She's now posted three-straight matches with 14 or more kills.

Briggs racked up 14 kills and 16 digs for her sixth double double of the 2020-21 campaign. Her 16 digs is a season best and matches her career high in a three-set match.

Jackson and Katie Isenbarger each added seven kills. Isenbarger chipped in two blocks as well.

Nadia Dieudonne facilitated the Hilltopper offense to a .233 rate while racking up 45 assists as WKU operated in system for much of the match. She added six digs and a pair of blocks as well.

A total of 45 assists in a three-set match ties the third most in a sweep across the NCAA this season.

Logan Kael led the WKU defense with 20 digs – her third 20-dig outing as a Hilltopper and first of the season.

Ashley Hood added 10 digs for her third double-digit dig out of the season. Hallie Shelton added nine digs as well. Both defensive specialists contributed an ace.

LOOKING AHEAD
WKU Volleyball will close out the series at Marshall on Monday, March 1 with a noon CT first serve from the Cam Henderson Center.

WIESEMANN ORTHODONTICS
Your 2020-21 WKU Volleyball spring season is presented by Wiesemann Orthodontics – get the smile you have always wanted!

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.