Volleyball Recap 10/11/13 vs. ULM

WKU and ULM meet at half court before the match begins.

In the preview I wrote before the match started, I noted how I thought this would be an all out blowout. WKU either leads or is in the top 3 in the SBC in basically every statistical team (and multiple individual) categories, and how ULM was in the cellar. And as it turns out, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

The first set proved to be a fairly even one, with ULM hanging around within 3-4-5 at nearly all times, but eventually dropping it by 7.

The second half is where the action picked up. After being down 14-9, and trailing the entire time up until that point, WKU rattled off 12 points in a row (and during that span, ULM called 2 timeouts) to make it a 22-15 set, and got the final 3 points of the set to win it, and finish set 2 on a 15-1 run.

And then, in the third set, the unthinkable happened. It was tit-for-tat all the way through, including several stretches where every other point was won by the other team. It took 28 Warhawk points to do it, but they did it. They won a set. WKU dropped a conference set for the first time all season, and it ended a streak of 38 consecutive SBC sets the Lady Toppers had won. It was a shock to many, and once it happened, it actually felt as if the positive vibes had left the arena, and all the previous excitement was for not. A couple of sections of student fans got up and left (which I still couldn’t believe. There were still at the most 2 more sets to be played!).

The fourth, and as it would turn out final, set started with the Warhawks jumping out to a 4-3 lead, and after that, it was all Lady Toppers. WKU simply wore ULM out in the 4th sets, and held them to a match low 11 points.

Western Kentucky would go onto win the match 3-1 (25-18, 25-15, 26-28, 25-11) to improve to 16-4 on the campaign, and a perfect 6-0 in conference play. The Warhawks, while they played a fantastic match and gave WKU as much as they’ve seen in the conference portion of the schedule, fell to 5-17 and 1-5 in Sun Belt play.

The Lady Toppers had several players with big games, most notably, 4-time defending SBC Setter of the Week Melanie Stutsman, who dished out 60 assists and had 2 service aces. Libero Ashley Potts dug 30 balls for WKU, and the monster for the Lady Tops at the net, Heather Boadway finished the night with 21 kills and a hitting percentage of .645.

WKU didn’t play their best match of the year (while that 4th set was pretty classic Lady Topper), but they got the W and head into another road conference matchup with Louisiana on Sunday.

Several things jumped out at me tonight, most notably, how quietly dominant Stutsman is. She came into the evening in 2nd place in the SBC and 25th in the nation with 745 on the year, trailing only 771 from UALR’s Marleen de Zoete, but even still, it isn’t that noticeable that she is behind most every kill the Lady Toppers have. Granted, the average viewer cares more about the kill than the set up, but just take note Hilltopper fans – you get to watch one of the best in the biz.
Also, I’ve been quietly thinking to myself how good freshman DS Georgia O’Connell is, but tonight during the twitter live-tweet (over at @WaveTheRedTowel) I declared it publically for the first time – I believe she can become the future of the program. She is already close to where Ashley Potts is (as a freshman), and she is also a more versatile player, too. Not too sure how to explain this point much further, just what I’ve seen this season.

So, after a win…not a solid win, but a win nonetheless…they’ll head to Lafayette to take on Louisiana, who lost to South Alabama earlier today.

Thank you for joining WTRT today for it’s first ever live coverage, and I could not be more excited to do this again.

Until next time, stand up and cheers.