Western Kentucky’s volleyball team secured its first win of the season with a 3-1 (25-16, 14-25, 25-20, 25-17) victory over Morehead State on Friday at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.

Freshman outside hitter Alivia Skidmore led the Hilltoppers (1-0 overall) with 13 kills and a .303 hitting percentage. Joining her on the stat sheet was senior outside hitter Kaylee Cox, who secured her first double-double of the season with 11 kills and 14 digs.

“It’s early season volleyball,” WKU coach Travis Hudson said in a news release. “Even after 30 years, it’s still frustrating. You just never know what you’re going to get until you walk out there on game day. But we’ll take it. We grounded it out, we found a way and we’ll take it and move on to the next.”

With two ties through the first five points of set one, the Hilltoppers started to pull away after a kill from Skidmore put the Tops over the Eagles (0-1 overall), 6-4. WKU led by as many as 11 and were propelled by a .429 team hitting percentage and five total kills from senior right-side hitter Kenadee Coyle.

A quiet second set from WKU gave Morehead State the set to force at least four.

In the third, Skidmore came alive as she and Cox came together for nine of WKU’s 15 kills in the set. At the net, Izzy Van De Wiele stepped up and collected three blocks while redshirt junior setter Callie Bauer grabbed her most assists in a set with 13.

Morehead State forced four tied scores in the fourth set. Bauer collected three kills from setter dumps, while Cox secured another three kills for the Hilltoppers.

NOTES

All four newcomers, Camila Adams, Alivia Skidmore, Faith Young and Madyson Chitty made their debuts as Hilltoppers. … Izzy Van De Wiele’s seven blocks is a career-high for the Iowa native. … The win over MSU marks Travis Hudson’s fifth straight season-opening win. … Three different Hilltoppers finished in double-digit kills, Alivia Skidmore (13), Kaylee Cox (11), and Kenadee Coyle (11). … The Hilltoppers improve to 11-8 all time against the Eagles and 6-2 playing at a neutral site. 

NEXT UP

The Hilltoppers continue their time in Lexington with a match against Northern Kentucky on Saturday. First serve is set for 9:30 a.m. CT. A matchup against No. 9 Kentucky follows at 3:30 p.m.