Western Kentucky 3, Tennessee Tech 1 - 25-3, 22-25, 25-23, 25-11
SET 1
An impeccable drive in the Tops led to a record 25-3 opening frame to kick off the weekend tournament. WKU held TTU to -.346 hitting clip, registering only three kills in the set. Western Kentucky took the first two before a Golden Eagle kill, reframed the Hilltoppers. WKU then went on to a 9-0 run featuring two kills from Lauren Matthews, a kill off of setter Callie Bauer, and two service aces from fifth-year Ashley Hood. Tennessee Tech took their only two unanswered with back-to-back kills off Taylor Dorsey and Madolyn Isringhausen before the Tops pushed through unbroken the rest of the match. The 14-0 drive featured playing time from both non-starting freshmen and junior outside hitter Shannon Keck who notched a kill. In the run, Briggs tabbed three kills, while junior defensive specialist Cameron Mosely popped in a service ace to end the frame.
SET 2
The Golden Eagles struck first in set two, but WKU answered with a pair of kills by Coyle and Matthews. The squads continued in a back-and-forth rally before Tennessee Tech garnered a 3-0 run to take an 8-7 lead. Isenbarger responded with a kill but the Golden Eagles squandered five more points to take a 13-8 lead. Three kills in a row, two from sophomore Katie Howard, and WKU cut the lead to two. The teams traded points with the Tech lead remaining at two until a 3-0 Hilltopper run, gave WKU a 21-20 lead. Tennessee Tech rebutted with a 4-0 run, 5 of 7 overall, capped off by a kill to take the second frame.
SET 3
Tennessee Tech continued their run in grabbing the first point of the set, but the Tops responded with two quick ones. Both teams engaged in their own runs, Tech rolled off three straight followed by a 6-0 Hilltopper run capped by a Katie Howard ace. The Golden Eagles answered with a kill, but Western Kentucky was first to reach double digits in the frame credited to a 3-0 run, finished off by an Abby Schaefer ace, to take an 11-5 lead. WKU stretched the lead to seven at 14-7 but TTU rolled off a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one, in favor of WKU. The Golden Eagles eventually grabbed a lead at 17-15, until the two traded points and the Tops finished off the frame taking 3-of-4, embarked by a Paige Briggs kill.
SET 4
The Hilltoppers gained their drive back as to the first frame. Taking a 5-0 lead, in part to Lauren Matthews – who had three kills in the sequence. The two traded points, but WKU kept a four-point edge at 9-5. Another 5-0 run, this one highlighted by a pair of aces from Briggs, gave Western Kentucky the 14-5 lead. After a substitution, WKU notched three more to grab a double-digit lead at 17-5. The 8-0 run was the largest of the set. The two swapped points again but a 3-0 run capped by a Matthews block gave the tops a 12-point advantage. The Golden Eagles responded with a kill, but a pair of kills from Briggs and one off Isenbarger, slammed the door and the Tops took the match.
On the stat sheet, senior outside hitter Paige Briggs led the way in match #1 of the day. The Michigan native recorded a near-career 23 kills against Tennessee Tech, marking a .697 hitting clip with no errors in the morning. Lauren Matthews followed suit defensively, recording eight blocks on the front line, including four solo just on her own.
Western Kentucky 0, Texas A&M 3 – 21-25, 25-27, 25-22
SET 1
Aggies recorded the first two points of the match, but Lauren Matthews answered with a resounding kill. Four of the first seven points were recorded off service errors. Paige Briggs shut the door on the Aggies giving WKU their first lead of the set at 5-4. Isenbarger dropped one over the net as part of a 4-0 run forcing Texas A&M to burn a timeout with WKU leading 8-4. A&M ended a 5-0 run after the fifth service error of the frame occurred with the Tops up, 9-5. WKU ended a 4-0 Aggie run after Coyle fired a cross court kill with WKU leading 12-11. The Tops brought the lead back up to five, 17-12, after a 4-0 run capped off with an ace from Ashley Hood. Isenbarger picked up her 4th kill of the frame to give WKU a 21-17 lead. The Aggies ended the first frame on a 9-0 run.
SET 2
Matthews kicked off the second set with a kill followed by one from Katie Howard to give the Tops an early 2-0 lead. After the Aggies grabbed two points, Matthews rifled one down the middle to give WKU a 4-2 lead. Briggs grabbed three straight kills to give the Tops a 7-3 lead. Matthews fired one in between Aggies to expand the Hilltopper lead to 5, 11-6. Briggs recorded her 4th and 5th kills of the set to give WKU a 15-10 advantage. Howard set up Briggs to strike a kill down the right side to give WKU a 22-17 lead. The Aggies answered with a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to one, WKU 22-21. The Aggies took set two following the third set point of the frame.
SET 3
The Hilltoppers took the first two points of the set from kills by Matthews and Howard. The Aggies responded with two of their own. Both exchanged points with the set tied at six after a kill from Callie Bauer. The Hilltoppers then added three more points on the board to take a 9-6 lead. Texas A&M responded with five straight to take a two-point lead, but WKU dug down with two of their own to tie things at 14 a piece. Briggs notched another kill, but the Aggies responded forcing the Tops to burn a timeout trailing 19-16. Grevengoed and Howard snagged kills but the Aggies once again had an answer to take a 23-19 lead. Matthews answered with a couple more points, forcing Texas A&M to call time. The Aggies wrapped up the match, gaining the final two of the frame.
Lauren Matthews hit for a season-high .545, picking up 14 kills against the Aggies. Katie Isenbarger also tied for her season-high at hitting an even .500 off of 14 attacks on the front line.
NEXT UP
WKU wraps up the weekend against the Indiana Hoosiers inside Diddle Arena, Saturday afternoon. First serve is set for 2:30 p.m. CT.
POST-MATCH NOTES
- WKU used the lineup of Paige Briggs, Katie Howard, Lauren Matthews, Katie Isenbarger, Kenadee Coyle, Callie Bauer, and Abby Schaefer at libero for the match. This is the only line-up Hudson has used for all 13 matches the Hilltoppers have played this season.
- WKU leads a 26-8 record against the Golden Eagles, and is 0-1 in the only contest against Texas A&M.
- Senior Paige Briggs hit .508 during the Friday matches, collecting 34 kills and earning 39.5 points. Fifth-year Lauren Mathews followed suit with a .489 hitting clip on the day and racking in 26 kills.
- Freshman Logan Grevengoed collected two kills, going two-for-three on attacks for the day – tied for her career-high in her young season on The Hill.
- Senior Ashley led the reception for the Hilltoppers with 18 digs on the day, followed by libero Abby Schaefer with 16, and Katie Howard with 15.
- Going 1-1 on the day, the Hilltoppers stand at 11-2 and lead C-USA in the standings thus far.
- Head coach Travis Hudson is now 704-220 across his career on the Hill.
- WKU Volleyball is now up to an all-time program record of 982-494 with Friday's split day.
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.
