Western Kentucky’s volleyball team won its final home match of the season at E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, taking down Florida Atlantic 3-1 (25-20, 27-29, 25-20, 26-24) in Conference USA action.

“Well we played at a championship level today and that’s what is exciting,” WKU coach Travis Hudson said in a news release. “We’ve been fighting for that all year. A little bit of confidence is starting to creep in with these kids down the stretch. We played at a really high level, Florida Atlantic is a fantastic team and we knew we had to play well to be in. You just hope with a young team, as I said way back in August, you hope by the end you are starting to play pretty good volleyball and that’s seems to be what we are doing.”

Seniors Rachel Anderson and Mary Martin led the Lady Toppers, as Anderson tallied 15 kills and Martin recorded 47 assists, her most in an outing this season. Martin also had 11 digs for her first double-double performance of the season. Anderson added seven blocks.

The Lady Toppers picked up their fourth straight win while concluding their 2018 home slate with an 11-4 record. WKU improved to 18-9 overall and 9-3 in league play with the victory. Florida Atlantic moved to 19-6 overall and 9-3 in C-USA.

Leading WKU in kills on the day was junior Sophia Cerino, who racked up 16 while hitting .387. She had a career-high six aces including three in the third set in addition to three digs and a block.

Lauren Matthews finished with nine kills along with two digs and two blocks. Kayland Jackson added a pair of blocks along with six kills for the Lady Toppers.

From the service line, WKU racked up a season-best 13 aces.

The last time WKU reached that mark was on Oct. 14, 2016, in a four-set win over UAB.

With its home schedule complete, WKU will hit the road for the final week of conference play. On Thursday, the Lady Toppers are at UAB before the squad heads to Ruston, La., to visit Louisiana Tech on Sunday.

Lady Tops wrap up fall schedule in Chattanooga

Western Kentucky’s women’s tennis team wrapped up its fall season Sunday at the Chattanooga Fall Invite in Chattanooga, Tenn.

WKU recorded nine wins across the singles and doubles competitions, with each Lady Topper notching at least one victory.

Junior Lisa Friess and sophomore Laura Bernardos led the squad in singles, each winning two matches. Friess defeated opponents from Jacksonville State and host Chattanooga in straight sets. Friess played in the No. 4 spot throughout the weekend.

Bernardos defeated two of her opponents in three sets each. Bernardos and fellow sophomore Millie Khoury traded off the No. 1 and 2 spots during the invite.

In the doubles competition, Khoury and junior Lucia Diaz Saez paired up in Diaz’s first appearance of the season. Two freshmen Lady Toppers, Zeniece Charles-Hall and Judit Gonzalez Agud, played together in the doubles round. Both WKU duos defeated tandems from Jacksonville State, each with final scores of 6-2.