WKU Weekly Wrapup: 10/13-10/19

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In what was certainly not a banner week for WKU athletics, the week ended on a high note with a very successful weekend for the Hilltoppers.
Soccer: WKU 1 – South Alabama 0, WKU 0 – Arkansas State 3
The week started off well for soccer, as they beat South Alabama, thanks to a Lauren Moats goal in the 68th minute, to ward the Jaguars off of the Lady Toppers tail for first place in the SBC. The Lady Tops fell Friday, however, for the first time in Sun Belt play, as the Red Wolves of Arkansas State snapped Nora Abolins’ shutout streak of 582:30, dating back to a Sept. 20th game against Belmont, which stands as the 2nd longest streak in school history. It was also the first WKU regular season conference loss since Sept. 30, 2012 when the Lady Toppers dropped a 1-0 overtime match at FIU.
Volleyball: WKU 2 – ULL 3, WKU 3 – UALR 0, WKU 3 – Arkansas State 0
It finally happened: Western Kentucky volleyball lost a conference match. It hadn’t happened since October of 2011 to Middle Tennessee (38 matches), but on Sunday, it happened. It took 5 sets to determine which team was best that day, but in the end, the Ragin Cajuns got the better end of the deal. Janee’ Diggins posted a new career best in kills (16), while Noelle Langenkamp and Paige Wessel matched Diggins number. Things got back on track over the weekend, however, with back-to-back sweeps in Arkansas, as UALR and Arkansas St. fell victim to an unhappy Lady Toppers team. In the UALR match, 3 ladies notched double-digit kills again (Wessel with 14, Heather Boyan with 13 and Haley Bodway with 12), and Melanie Stutsman dished out 44 assists. Yesterday against the Red Wolves, another WKU sweep, Boyan and Langenkamp were the only two Lady Tops to hit double-digit kills, and Stutsman only dished out 38 assists.
Football: WKU 20 – Louisiana 37
What to say about this game? WKU played 15 minutes of really solid football, and Antonio Andrews hit the 1,000 yard rushing mark in just 7 games. Other than that…not much. Brandon Doughty threw a 100 yard pick-6 on 4th & Goal in the middle of the 2nd quarter, and things began to steamroll downhill from there, ending in a Ragin Cajun blowout on national TV. However, if there is any bright side to be taken away from Tuesday, it was…you know what, I’ll get back to you on that.
Basketball: Hilltopper Hysteria
There are few things like the beginning of basketball season in the Bluegrass of Kentucky, and last night, the WKU season got underway with it’s annual Hilltopper Hysteria event for fans. The 90ish minute event included player introductions from both the men’s and women’s teams (including some great dance moves by the ladies, and Brandon Harris coming out to “You Don’t Know You’re Beautiful,”) a men’s and women’s team scrimmage, slam dunk contest, and autograph session. In the women’s scrimmage, Chastity Gooch lead all scorers with 12 points, and Alexis Govan put up 10 of her own. The newcomer to watch for looks to be Ruta Savickaite, who had 8 points (and a couple of big 3’s) to help the White Team edge the Red Team 31-24. In the men’s scrimmage, which was played more like an NBA AllStar game, the Gray Team took the W from the Red Team 62-52. Gray was lead by newcomer Trency Jackson, who lead all scorers with 19 points, and was 5-5 from beyond the arc. T.J. Price lead scoring for the Red team with 13 points, followed closely behind by Aaron Adeoye with 12 (Adeoye also grabbed 5 boards). Both squads looked athletic, though, and this will for sure be a fun team to watch in 2013-14. In the slam dunk contest, it was Adeoye vs. Jackson in the finals, with Adeoye taking home the crown. For more coverage of Hysteria, go to @WaveTheRedTowel on twitter to look at the archived live-tweets from the event.
So, WKU fans, what was your favorite part of the week?
Stand up and cheers.