Box Score - Western Kentucky 3, South Alabama 0 (.pdf)


BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Sun Belt Conference East Division leader Western Kentucky swept the University of South Alabama volleyball team as the Jaguars fell 3-0 (27-25, 25-15, 25-16) to the Toppers Saturday afternoon at E.A. Diddle Arena.  WKU entered the match tied with Middle Tennessee for top honors in the division.  

“I felt that we played well in the first set tonight, but then we just couldn’t find our rhythm offensively after that,” South Alabama head coach Nicole Keshock said. “We’l work on correcting things this week in preparation for Troy on Thursday.”

The Jags (7-11, 2-4 SBC) will now return home to open up at three-match homestand on Thursday when the welcome in-state rival Troy.  First serve versus the Trojans is set for 7 p.m. at Jag Gym.

WKU (19-2, 6-1 SBC) was led offensively by preseason all-SBC selection Tiffany Elmore’s 12 kills.  Elmore’s 12 kills came on 19 attacks, with just three errors for a .429 attack percentage.  Jordan Skinner also finished in double figures with 11 kills.

USA was led by Maureen Ros’ seven kills, while Samia Salomao added six of her own in the loss.  Sophomore libero Jenna Hassell recorded 10 digs in the match for the Jags.

The Toppers posted a blistering .310 attack percentage, recording 45 kills on 100 attacks and committing just 14 errors.  WKU entered the weekend tied with Middle Tennessee for the conference lead in that category.  USA (.099) had 29 kills and 19 errors in the loss.  

SET ONE: Western Kentucky 27, South Alabama 25

South Alabama was able to keep things close early on in the first set until with Western Kentucky leading by one (6-5), the Lady Toppers were able to push across four-straight points.  Janee’ Diggins, who had three kills in the first set, gave WKU the 10-5 advantage with a put away.  

USA able to narrow the deficit to 11-8 after a kill from Lea Thurm and an ace from Katariina Kananen, but the Toppers would again stretch their lead back out to six (15-9) by picking up four of the next five points, the last coming on a solo block by Paige Wessel.

With WKU leading 17-11 after back-to-back kills from Skinner, the Jags made one more push with four unanswered points to narrow the deficit to 17-15 after a Ros kill,.  The Toppers were able to extend their lead back out to six (21-15), but South Alabama wouldn’t go away.  Behind the play of Ros and Salomao – who had two kills apiece during the rally – led the Jags back and after a WKU attack error, USA held a 25-24 advantage.  The Toppers though picked up the final three points though as Lindsay Williams posted two-straight kills and Wessel recorded one of her own to give WKU the 27-25 first-set victory.  

SET TWO: Western Kentucky 25, South Alabama 15

Western Kentucky grabbed the lead right out of the gate in the second set, but South Alabama was able to hang around for most of the frame, cutting the deficit to 16-13 after a WKU attack error.  The Toppers though closed the set strong rattling off six unanswered points and picking nine of the final 11 points of the set. Elmore had four kills for WkU during the run, while USA also added four attack errors.

In the set, the Toppers posted a .346 attack percentage, while USA managed to just hit a .031.

SET THREE: Western Kentucky 25, South Alabama 16

In the third and final set, Western Kentucky again was able to get off to a quick start, opening the frame on a 7-3 run.  With the Toppers leading 15-10after a kill from Heather Boyan, USA began to chip away at the deficit.  The Jags were able to push across four of the next five points and narrowed the Toppers’ lead to 16-14 after a WKU attack error.

The Toppers though wouldn’t allow South Alabama to get any closer as Western Kentucky answered and closed the match by picking up nine of the final 11 points to take the set, 25-16 and 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).

NOTES: With the win, Western Kentucky improves to 35-9 in the all-time series and 15-2 in matches played in Bowling Green, Ky.  WKU has won 32 of the previous 34 meetings in the series.  The match versus WKU marks just the second match this season that USA has not had a player finish in double figures in kills.  With the loss, USA has now lost a season-high four-straight matches.  

-- USA --