Southern Miss
-79 (12, CUSA)
Western Kentucky
-125 (30, CUSA)
WKU outlasts Golden Eagles in Five Sets
9/26/2018 2:44:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - After a 32-day wait, Southern Miss fans were finally treated to Golden Eagles volleyball. WKU (12-5, 3-0 C-USA) and Southern Miss (7-9, 1-2 C-USA) did not disappoint in a five-set thriller (23-25, 25-16, 17-25, 25-22, 11-15) in which the Lady Toppers won.Â
The Golden Eagles flew out to a hot start en route to taking an 18-12 lead. However, WKU responded late in the set to tie things at 21-all. The Lady Toppers continued to climb back and took the first set via a 26-24 score. Senior Sarah Bell recorded her 1,000th career dig in the set and joined the 1,000 assists and 1,000 digs club.Â
With the Golden Eagles unable to capitalize on their early lead in set one, they were able to fly out to another hot start in the second set, but didn't let up on the gas this time. Leading 18-12 after a kill by Alexis Coombs, Southern Miss was able to score 7 of the last 11 points to tie the sets at 1.Â
Mimicking Southern Miss, WKU had just of a dominant third set after the Golden Eagles did the same thing a set prior. While WKU took a 2-1 lead, the Golden Eagles were forced to a fourth set and needed to win. They did just that after trading leads with the Lady Toppers until they fully gained control with a 16-15 lead. The win forced a winner-take-all fifth set and the two squads battled to the end.
WKU exploded to a 6-2 lead, but Southern Miss was able to cut the deficit to two early in the set. Despite the comeback attempt, Southern Miss dropped the final set via 15-11.Â
Bell led both teams with 46 assists and she also posted 12 digs. Kylie Grandy also led both teams with 18 kills and a .204 hitting percentage. At the net, Ashley Berry dominated with seven blocks.Â
The Golden Eagles travel to Middle Tennessee for an afternoon match on Sunday.Â
