WKU Volleyball: Lady Toppers Make Quick Work Of Gamecocks in First Round Sweep
WKU now awaits either host Georgia Tech or The Citadel in the second round on Saturday.
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers made quick work of the South Carolina Gamecocks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday afternoon, taking down South Carolina in straight sets 25-20, 25-13, 25-19.
Here’s how each set broke down.
Set 1 - WKU 25 - South Carolina 20
The opening set started relatively evenly, with the Tops and Gamecocks essentially trading points through the first 20, tying the set 10-10.
From that point, the set belonged to the Lady Tops, thanks in large part to a 6-0 run by WKU that saw a strong effort at the net from Katie Isenbarger and a couple of strong kills from Paige Briggs to put the Tops firmly ahead in the set.
After that point, the closest South Carolina got was within three, at 20-17, as the Tops took Set 1.
The nation’s best offense didn’t show any signs of nerves or slack, hitting .536 in the set and committed just two errors while forcing five out of the Gamecocks.
Set 2 - WKU 25 - South Carolina 13
WKU showed no mercy in the second set, holding the Gamecocks to a .029 hitting percentage in the frame and winning in dominant fashion.
After trailing 3-2 early, the Lady Tops turned on the burners, rattling off two different 4-0 runs, a 5-0 run and a 6-0 run to jump out to a 20-9 lead.
No, that isn’t a typo. WKU led an SEC volleyball team twenty to nine. In the NCAA tournament.
The Tops themselves actually hit worse in the second set than they did in the first, hitting just .312, but was able to force enough miscues from South Carolina to put the set out of reach early.
Set 3 - WKU 25 - South Carolina 19
In what was easily the most competitive set of the match, the lady Tops jumped out to a 13-7 lead before the Gamecocks slowly began to climb back, at one point going on their best run of the game, scoring six of seven points to draw within 16-14, but WKU never let it get any closer as the Tops put it away by scoring six of the last eight points to end the match.
In the decisive set, the Tops defense stayed strong, holding the Gamecocks to a .118 hitting percentage (and a .158 mark for the match) while forcing yet another six attacking errors.
It was a domination in every sense of the word: WKU out-killed (46-33), out-dug (47-33) and out-hit (.375-.158) South Carolina.
Hilltopper star Lauren Matthews led the Tops in hitting percentage, clocking in a .591 clip (minimum 10 attempts) and had three blocks, along with Isengarger.
It’s now a 21-match winning streak for WKU, who will look to make it 22-straight and punch their ticket to a second-straight Sweet 16 on Saturday when they’ll take on the win Georgia Tech/Citadel winner.