Four Lady Toppers registered at least eight kills each Sunday with Kayland Jackson recording a match-high 11 as Western Kentucky’s volleyball team defeated Middle Tennessee 3-1 (25-21, 25-13, 20-25, 25-15) in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Lady Toppers improved to 14-6 overall and 5-1 in Conference USA. MTSU dropped to 5-13 and 0-5. Jackson worked at an efficient .429 clip with 11 kills on 21 swings. Rachel Anderson finished with nine kills off 17 attacks for a .353 hitting mark. Sophia Cerino added eight kills and four blocks. Lauren Matthews finished with eight kills, seven blocks and three digs. Mary Martin and Taylor Bebout shared setting duties again. Bebout finished with 18 assists in the start. Martin took over down the stretch and finished with 14 helpers. WKU finished with 11 combined blocks in the outing – its fourth double-digit block outing of the season and second straight. Defensively, Payton Frederick racked up a match-high 16 digs to lead WKU in the category for the 10th time this season. Frederick has posted seven outings of 15 or more digs on her debut season. The Lady Toppers host UAB at 6 p.m. Friday.{&end}

Western Kentucky’s offense shined for the second straight match with three first-half goals, and the Lady Toppers held off a furious UTEP comeback attempt in the second half to earn a 4-3 victory Sunday at the WKU Soccer Complex.

Freshman Ambere Barnett played a role in all four WKU (4-7-2, 2-4 C-USA) goals. Barnett scored the first and third goals while assisting on Sarah Gorham’s pair of goals, including what would become the match-winner in the 56th minute.

Barnett leads the Lady Toppers in goals (five), assists (five) and total points (15) through 13 matches.

Gorham’s pair of goals capped a strong weekend for the Lexington native, who also had the match-winning goal Friday against FIU. Gorham led all players with four shots on the afternoon and played the entire 90 minutes.

In goal, Bailee Witt earned her fourth victory of the year and made three saves.

For UTEP (6-7-1, 1-4 C-USA), Lauren Crenshaw put all three of her shot attempts on goal and scored the Miners’ final goal directly off a free kick in the 84th minute. Alyssa Palacios played the opening half in goal and took the loss while making a pair of saves, and Caley Leask relieved her for the second half, also making two saves and giving up one goal.

Following its weekend sweep of FIU and UTEP, WKU has secured six points in the race for the C-USA Tournament and will continue its homestand with two matches next weekend. First, the Lady Toppers will battle North Texas on Friday at 6 p.m., then WKU will welcome Rice on Sunday at 1 p.m.{&end}