No. 25 Tops Take UTEP in Four Sets

Friday, September 22

6 p.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

11-4,1-0CUSA

UTEP

8-4,0-1CUSA

UTEP

Western Ky.

Out side hitter Kenadee Coyle (33) of the WKU Hilltoppers at E. A. Diddle Arena on September 22, 2023 in Bowling Green, KY. (Photo by Savannah Philpot/WKU Athletics)

Photo by: Savannah Philpot/WKU Athletics

9/22/2023 11:04:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A powerful comeback in set three gave No. 25 WKU their sixth straight win in front of a Diddle Arena crowd to open Conference USA action. The 3-1 victory over CUSA preseason No. 2 UTEP marked yet another career day for rightside hitter Kenadee Coyle, as she embarked an error-free match and a career-high 18 kills.

"We spun our lineup just a little bit to start Kenadee and give us a little more offense", said head coach Travis Hudson. "Boy when she's good, we are great."

On the other side of the net, redshirt-freshman Logan Grevengoed led the Red and White with four stuffed blocks in the middle. In the back row, Abby Schaefer collected 12 digs, followed by Paige Briggs with 10 – who also noted her third double-double of the season, adding to an 18-kill night.

WKU 3, UTEP 1: 24-26, 25-18, 26-24, 25-14

Set 1
Two service errors from both sides would kick off a 1-1 match at the start. The Tops would take a three-point lead against the Miners as Logan Grevengoed and Kenadee Coyle tag-teamed for back-to-back block assists. Both teams traded points on the board before UTEP jumped on five straight points to take a 9-7 lead. After both teams were tied at 10 apiece, WKU went on a 4-1 rally, before a UTEP kill and service ace would solidify a 15-14 WKU match at the media timeout. Both sides of the net would battle on the scoreboard, not running more than two points at a time. UTEP got the last leg, as back-to-back kills into extra points in the first frame would give them the one set advantage.

Set 2
Back-to-back kills from both ends of the net from Paige Briggs and Kenadee Coyle started up the Tops in the lead. After some back-and-forth on the board, WKU went on a 3-0 run that featured kills from Coyle, Kaylee Cox, and a service ace off the hand of Kelsey Brangers. The Tops continued to hold the lead through the rest of the set, taking off with a five-point lead after another 3-0 run. At the 18-15 mark, WKU pushed out four points straight that included a sideout UTEP service error, two kills from Briggs, and a kill down the middle from Grevengoed. As the Hilltoppers ended the second frame with a 4-2 run, Briggs ended set point with a shot down the left court side to tie the match.

Set 3
UTEP held a steady lead for nearly the entire set to the Tops' dismay. The Miners kicked off the third frame with a sideout point and kill off the hand of Torrance Lovesee. The Hilltoppers and Miners rallied on the board for six points until a 4-0 UTEP run would force head coach Travis Hudson to burn a timeout. The Red and White would stay behind UTEP, gaining traction and a two-point margin after a 4-0 spurt on the board. A service ace from Katie Howard would kick off the run, followed by a Briggs kill, block assist by Callie Bauer and Izzy Van De Wiele, before Howard would cap off with her second ace of the night. After a UTEP kill, Briggs would find the opposite court again, tied with a Callie Bauer ace to be within one. In a powerful comeback from the WKU offense, the Tops came down from set point at 19, to rally six straight points. A botched serve into the net from the Miners gave WKU the ball to serve before kills from the entire Hilltopper front row picked up the consistent points. In an abnormal fashion at the 25-24 WKU mark, a UTEP injury that included a net violation resulted in a WKU challenge that Travis Hudson won and the Tops took the third set, 26-24.

Set 4
The Tops were off to the races with a heavy 6-1 run that forced UTEP head coach Ben Wallis to burn a timeout. WKU kept the steady lead the rest of the set as the Tops came through with a match-high 18 kills with a .469 hitting percentage as a group. The Hilltoppers capitalized at the 15-9 mark with back-to-back kills off the right side of the court from Coyle before Briggs drew in a point from the service line for a 3-0 run. After the Tops hit 20 points, Logan Grevengoed and Paige Briggs rally in for the final five points of the match, as Grevengoed hit double-digit kills in her final three points, as Briggs notched two more. A shot from Briggs on the left side down to the back line of the court collected the win and a 1-0 start in CUSA for WKU.

POST-MATCH NOTES

WKU started Callie Bauer, Paige Briggs, Kenadee Coyle, Kaylee Cox, Logan Grevengoed, Gabby Weihe, and freshman Abby Schaefer in at libero.
The Hilltoppers have never lost a match to UTEP, holding the all-time record at 13-0. WKU has only ever dropped two sets to the Miners in program history.
Junior rightside hitter Kenadee Coyle hit a career-high 18 kills down the line, having an error-free match at a .621 hitting clip.
Paige Briggs earned her third double-double of the season with an 18-kill, 10-dig outing.
While also leading the Red and White with four blocks, redshirt-freshman Logan Grevengoed had a career night with 12 kills from the middle and operated with a .500 hitting clip – her career best in both categories.
Hitting .397 collectively as a team, the hitting clip marks the second highest in a match this season. The Tops' season hitting percentage is .289, second in CUSA.
The Tops and Miners are back for the second match of the series, tomorrow, Sept. 23. First serve is scheduled for noon CT inside Diddle Arena.

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.