Hilltoppers Down Bearkats in Three Sets

Friday, October 17

Bowling Green, Ky.

6 p.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

16-4,7-0CUSA

Sam Houston

8-12,0-7CUSA

Sam Houston

Western Ky.

Outside hitter Alivia Skidmore (17) | Photo by Nico Pascarella

Photo by: Nico Pascarella/WKU Athletics

10/17/2025 10:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- WKU Volleyball cruised to another win on Friday behind a career performance from outside hitter Alivia Skidmore and a team hitting percentage of .328.

WKU (16-4 overall, 7-0 CUSA) never dipped below a .250 hitting percentage on Friday while holding the Bearkats (8-12 overall, 0-7 CUSA) to only 31 kills and a .139 hitting clip.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: 25-21
Hitting .383 on the set, Skidmore opened the set with eight kills and swung for a .438 hitting percentage. Along the way, outside hitter Faith Young recorded five kills and the only service ace of the set for the Hilltoppers. At the net, middle hitter Izzy Van De Wiele recorded a solo block. Sam Houston kept the set close, but WKU was able to earn the first win of the match as they posted the most kills in a single set, 21, during Friday's match.
Set 2: 25-17
The Hilltoppers' defense started to come alive in the second set, going from one team block to two but also adding 22 digs in the second set to bring the total to 46 through two sets. Skidmore added another five kills to her total, but a balanced WKU offense was comprised of contributions from five total Hilltoppers including right side Kaira Knox with two kills. At the tape, Van De Wiele added another solo block and teamed up with Knox to record the second team block of the set.
Set 3: 25-20
WKU held Sam Houston to their lowest hitting percentage of the set and only allowed seven Bearkat kills to the Tops' 18. The net defense also posted its best performance of the match with four blocks total, led by Van De Wiele with two. Skidmore posted her best hitting clip of the night at .667 in the third, finishing with seven kills on nine attempts and recording one hitting error.

NOTABLES

WKU's 99 match regular season conference win streak is now tied for third all-time in NCAA Division I Volleyball.
Alivia Skidmore's 20 kills set a new single-match career high for the sophomore.
65 digs are the most in a three-set match this season. Tayler Baron led the way with 20 digs while Kennedy Cherry and Abby Schaefer finished with 12 each.
Izzy Van De Wiele posted five blocks for the second-straight match.
Friday's sweep marks the 73rd sweep in the 99-match regular season conference win streak.

UP NEXT
WKU will look to earn their 100th straight regular season conference match win on Saturday against Sam Houston. First serve is set for 1 p.m. CT.