Western Kentucky middle hitter Amara Listenbee (11) celebrates a point during their 3-0 win over Southern Miss on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017, at E.A. Diddle Arena. (Austin Anthony/photo@bgdailynews.com)

The Western Kentucky volleyball team used a strong defensive effort to put itself in position to defend the Conference USA Tournament championship.

Western Kentucky held Southern Mississippi to a .118 hitting percentage, sweeping the Golden Eagles 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-20) in the Conference USA Tournament semifinals Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena.

WKU (29-3) earned its 22nd straight home win and its 54th straight home victory in conference play, to advance to a fourth straight C-USA championship game.

“On the defensive side of the ball that is probably as well as we’ve played all year,” WKU coach Travis Hudson said. “Offensively, we did some good things, but we were very up and down. From a defensive perspective we were really locked in.”

The Lady Toppers used 6-0 runs in each of the first two sets to take the lead for good and go up 2-0 heading into set three.

Southern Mississippi (20-12) didn’t go down without a fight in the third set. The Lady Eagles scored five straight to take a 14-10 lead, prompting Hudson to call a timeout.

“Travis called that timeout … and he was like, ‘I think we are good. We just have to make a couple of stops, get a couple of side outs and we are back in it,’ ” WKU senior Sydney Engle said. “I never had any doubt that we were going to lose any of our energy or focus or competitiveness because it’s tournament time.”

The teams split the next four points, keeping the WKU deficit at 16-12 before the Lady Toppers were able to surge ahead for good with an 8-0 run that made the score 20-16. Alyssa Cavanaugh had three kills and a block during the run, while Jessica Lucas had a block and a kill.

Southern Miss was unable to get closer than three points the rest of the way.

WKU finished with a .264 hitting percentage and a 58-38 advantage in digs.

Cavanaugh, who had 24 kills in a 3-0 sweep over Southern Miss in a regular-season matchup, finished with a team-high 17 kills Saturday.

“When the lights come on I always try to be ready,” Cavanaugh said. “It goes back to my team. We have good defense and Jessica Lucas just puts the ball wherever it needs to be. To be able to have that opportunity in this tournament is awesome.”

Engle had a team-high 14 digs, while Lucas had 38 assists, 10 digs and three kills.

Kylie Grandy led Southern Mississippi with 10 kills.

WKU will look to make it four titles in four years in Conference USA in Sunday’s championship game at noon.

“I think it means more on our home floor – to kind of do something that hasn’t been (done) in our four years,” Cavanaugh said. “Starting in Conference USA as freshmen, just to finish that out would be great.”

The Lady Toppers will face North Texas in Sunday’s championship. North Texas beat WKU 3-2 on Nov. 9, snapping WKU’s 38 game conference winning streak.

“Our focus will be on us,” Hudson said. “We will let the chips fall where they may and hopefully just be a good version of us. Our kids are going to be ready to play and I know they are going to pour their hearts into it and give everything they can until the last ball falls.

“If somebody can come in here and beat us when we are at that frame of mind then we probably need to shake their hand and congratulate them on a championship because they would have earned it.”{&end}