Box Score - Western Kentucky 3, South Alabama 0

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The University of South Alabama volleyball team dropped a straight-set decision, 3-0 (18-25, 10-25, 9-25) Saturday evening on the road to Western Kentucky at E. A. Diddle Arena.

“Going into the match, I felt that we had a good game plan,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said.  “We were passing well and felt Katariina (Kananen) put our hitters in a good position, but we just didn’t execute and follow through with our game plan.  I have to give Western Kentucky a lot of credit.  They are a well disciplined team and it is hard to get them out of system.  Hopefully we can correct the things we did wrong in practice this week.

South Alabama (10-19, 5-9 SBC) will now close out the regular season next weekend when the Jags travel to Florida for a pair of matches.  USA will take on Florida Atlantic on Friday at 6 p.m. (CT) in what could determine the eighth-seed in the Sun Belt tournament.  The Jags will also take on Florida International on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (CT).

The Hilltoppers remain at the top of the Sun Belt East Division with the win and improve to 25-6 overall and 14-1 in the league.  With the sweep, WKU has not lost a set at home in any of its six league matches this season. 

Western Kentucky was extremely efficient on the offensive side of the net, finishing with a blistering .398 hitting percentage compared to USA’s -.021.  WKU also held a huge advantage on the defensive side, recording 12 block assists and one block solo.  The Jags had just two block assists.

South Alabama’s Samia Salomao had eight kills for USA in the loss, while WKU’s Jordyn Skinner and Melanie Stutsman also had eight kills each.

SET ONE: Western Kentucky 25, South Alabama 18

South Alabama kept things close over the first half of the opening set, but leading 13-12, the Hiltoppers took control of the set with an 8-2 run.  The WKU scoring was aided by four Jaguar attack errors and two kills apiece from Lindsay Williams and Paige Wessel.  From there, Western Kentucky held on to take the first set, 25-18.

SET TWO: Western Kentucky 25, South Alabama 10

In the second set, USA picked up the first point of the frame on a kill from Jessica Lewis, but following that point, WKU rattled off 12 of the next 13 points to take complete control of the set.  During the Topper run, South Alabama again hurt itself with errors, committing four more attack errors and two bad sets.  Tiffany Elmore also had a pair of kills for WKU during that same stretch.

Western Kentucky recorded its best offensive performance of the match posting a .520 attack percentage in the second set.  WKU went up 2-0 in the match with the 25-10 victory.

SET THREE: Western Kentucky 25, South Alabama 9

The Hilltoppers grabbed the lead right out of the gate in the third and final set, opening the frame with an 8-3 run.  WKU held the momentum from there and cruised to the 25-9 victory to complete the sweep.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com.  Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).