Lauren Matthews and Kenadee Coyle struck for double-digit kills, tallying 11 while operating at a .476 and .450 clip to bring up the average. Both on the front line, they recorded three blocks each and generated 12.5 for the Tops.
"We've played three competitive matches of volleyball in 28 hours, I'm incredibly proud of this team hanging in there against this really good, Northern Kentucky team.", said head coach Travis Hudson.
WKU vs Northern Kentucky– 25-23, 25-20, 25-13
Set 1
Matthews opened the match with a kill to get the Hilltoppers to jump into a quick lead before the two team traded off points back and forth until a 3-0 by the Norse led WKU into their first timeout with a 11-14 deficient. A few more battled points by NKU and the Norse were up by five, not before two kills by Paige Briggs, another shot to the ground in-bounds by Kenadee Coyle and a sideout point, garnered the Hilltoppers within one. The tops went on another 4-0 run before trading more points, until a Lauren Matthews kill of the assist from Callie Bauer sealed the first frame.
Set 2
WKU struck first in three unanswered points until the Norse and Hilltoppers went back and forth in trading the board. WKU then stretched the gap 13-7 following a 3-0 run that included an Ashley Hood serving ace. The Norse called back with their own three points mid-set, but wasn't enough for near back-to-back kills from Paige Briggs and Kenadee Coyle. The Hilltoppers finished out three straight with a Matthews kill, Briggs kill, and attacking error on the Norse.
Set 3
Northern Kentucky played defense first to start of the final frame. A double block from NKU's Joy Banks and Allie Siefke froze Kenadee Coyle's attempt at an opening set kill. Never dismantling the offense, WKU rallied back after a 2-5 start with an immaculate 13-0 point run featuring four Hilltoppers notching kills, including three alone by junior hitter Shannon Keck. The 10-point lead gained momentum even after a Norse kill on the next 6-1 run, wagering the largest point gap in the season for WKU, 14 points in the Hilltoppers favor. The tops rallied to the finish with two more kills from Kenadee Coyle and Jennifer Rush, ending with a block off of Matthews and Rush to sweep the match. The Hilltoppers held NKU to a -.194 hitting frame in the last set.
Callie Bauer delivered 33 assists to her Hilltopper attackers, leading WKU to a .240 collective hitting percentage. Bauer added four digs and three kills to the stat sheet as well.
Junior Shannon Keck competed in her second contest of the season, rolling in a career-high four blocks, including a solo stump block against the Norse offense.
Briggs tallied eight kills with two assists and hit double digits in digs. She also added in two blocks, bringing her season total to nine.
NEXT UP
The Hilltoppers will be back inside Diddle Arena to host the Holiday Inn – University Plaza Invitational, featuring Northern Kentucky, Toldeo, and Austin Peay. Action starts Thursday, Sept. 8 at 6 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 Travis Hudson has used for all seven matches the Hilltoppers have played this season.
- WKU leads all-time series against Northern Kentucky 2-0.
- Sophomore Kenadee Coyle reached a career-high 11 kills, off of 20 attempts, only accumulating two errors to reach a .450 hitting clip.
- Matthews notched her sixth match of the season to record a .400 or higher hitting percentage, averaging .476 Saturday afternoon.
- Junior Shannon Keck had a milestone match, notching four blocks and three kills off of five attempts – averaging .600 on the day.
- Lauren Matthews, Paige Briggs, and Callie Bauer were named to the All-Tournament team, Matthews hailed as MVP.
- With the win, the Hilltoppers improve to 6-1 on the season and 4-1 in three-set matches.
- With the day's results, head coach Travis Hudson is now 699-219 across his career.
- WKU Volleyball is now up to an all-time program record of 977-493 with Saturday's win.
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.
