WKU Volleyball defeats #8 Purdue in five sets
The Lady Toppers volleyball squad opened up play in their own tournament by taking the #8 team in the nation, the Purdue Boilermakers, to five sets, and ultimately winning to grab their first win of the weekend in a thrilling 3-2 win. The Lady Tops took the first two sets before Purdue came back to take the next two, and final set went a little bit over the magic 15 point plateau, but the Lady Tops were able to seal the deal. Not only was it the first loss of the season for the Boilermakers, but it was the first three sets Purdue has dropped all year.
Reigning Conference USA Setter of the Week Jessica Lucas recorded another double-double, by dishing out 44 assists and collecting 10 digs (and even finished with seven kills), but she was outdone by Val Nichol who recorded more assists by herself (59) than the Lady Tops did as a team (55). Noelle Langenkamp was the only WKU player to finish with double-digit kills, 13, but Heather Boyan, Alyssa Cavanaugh and Haley Bodway each finished with nine. Langenkamp also went without an offensive error, and hit .464, being outdone only by Sydney Engle’s .538 mark.
The Boilermakers, on the other hand, had three finish in double-digit kills – Annie Drews, who set a career high with 33, Kierra Jones (12) and Faye Adelaja (11). Purdue would out hit the Lady Tops .215 to .209, and a poor fourth set from WKU certainly helped that discrepancy.
What we learned tonight is just how good this program is. Granted, Purdue’s resume wasn’t that impressive coming in, but especially on a team with five freshman, it’s easy to look at the number eight next to the opponents name and get psyched out – which is nearly what happened after jumping out to a 2-0 lead – but they played back and played hard, and are far and away better right now than anyone could imagine them being. And the scary thing is, the goal coach Travis Hudson had was to be playing their best volleyball in November. If that wish is to be fulfilled, C-USA better watch out. Because, even though they’re not at their best, this WKU volleyball program is still pretty damn good.