WKU extends win streak with sweep of New Mexico State
Published 3:32 pm Saturday, November 2, 2024
Western Kentucky players celebrate a point during the Hilltoppers' 3-0 win against New Mexico State on Friday at E.A. Diddle Arena. (STEVE ROBERTS / WKU Athletics)
By MICHEAL COMPTON / micheal.compton@bgdailynews.com
The Western Kentucky women’s volleyball team is one step closer to another Conference USA regular-season championship after a 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 26-24) win over New Mexico State on Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena.
WKU (21-6 overall, 14-0 Conference USA) survived three tight sets to complete the sweep over New Mexico State and keep its two-game advantage over UTEP in the conference standings with four games left to play. WKU owns the tiebreaker over UTEP by virtue of last weekend’s sweep in El Paso and now only needs two more wins to lock up the top seed in the Conference USA Tournament later this month.
“We knew going into this that last weekend and this were probably our biggest challenges,” WKU assistant coach Jena Otec said. “Down at UTEP in that tough environment, we were able to pull two out. New Mexico State was big and physical. We met in the conference tournament last year to win it. We figured they were going to give us a battle, which they did. Each of the two weekends were critical.”
WKU was once again without head coach Travis Hudson and associate head coach Craig Bere. Hudson is recovering from surgery for a Lisfranc injury, while Bere is recovering following surgery for a torn Achilles tendon. Hudson and Bere also missed last weekend’s trip to UTEP.
“I’m super impressed with our players,” Otec said. “They come in every day during the week for practice just ready to get better. We put it on them. We told them we were a little short staffed, so not as many eyes to watch what you are doing. You guys have to take a little bit of ownership of your responsibilities. I am really proud of our girls for how they battled adversity these last two weeks.”
WKU was able to sweep New Mexico State (14-12, 8-6) despite a tough battle with all three sets coming down to the final points.
In the first set, an early WKU 10-6 lead was erased when three aces from Makayla Martinez sparked a 5-0 run that briefly put New Mexico State in front.
A kill from Kenadee Coyle and an ace from Kaylee Cox pushed the Hilltoppers back in front. WKU wouldn’t trail again the set, but was unable to get some breathing room until three straight points made the score 22-19.
WKU got it to 24-21 after an ace from Katie Howard, with New Mexico State fighting off two set points before Alivia Skidmore’s kill put WKU up 1-0 in the match.
In the second set, WKU jumped out to a 6-2 lead and pushed the advantage to 14-8 before New Mexico State started chipping away, pulling within 17-16 after a kill from Maggie Lightheart. The Hilltoppers were able to push the advantage back to 21-17 before the Aggies used a 5-1 spurt to tie the set at 22-all.
After a service error from both teams, WKU was able to close it out with a kill from Izzy Van De Wiele and an ace from Howard.
New Mexico State came out red-hot to start the third set. After WKU erased a 3-0 deficit to tie the set 5-all, the Aggies used a 10-2 run to build a 15-7 lead.
The margin grew to 21-11, when WKU started to mount a comeback. A kill from Faith Young started a 5-0 spurt that trimmed the deficit in half. The lead continued to shrink with WKU pulling within 23-22 before a kill from Starr Williams gave New Mexico State set point.
WKU fought off two set points with a kill from Van De Wiele and a net violation. Cox’s ace gave WKU match point, with Van De Wiele’s kill completing the comeback and securing the match.
“That definitely wasn’t in my speech between sets two and three, to let them get out to a hot start,” Otec said. “We struggled a little bit in serve receive. I was just really proud of our girls battling back from adversity.”
WKU had a balanced offensive attack, posting a .327 hitting percentage in the match. Cox, Skidmore and Young all finished with 10 kills each, while Van De Wiele added eight kills. Abby Schaefer finished with a team-high 10 digs, while Callie Bauer had 32 assists.
“We struggled a little bit offensively (Friday),” Otec said. “I think we hit about .200, which my time here I don’t remember the last time we hit that. We struggled a little bit … but we were stopping ourselves. Today we were much more balanced.”
WKU will make its final road trip of the regular season facing Sam Houston State for a pair of matches, the first match scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday.
About Micheal Compton
I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.
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