WKU Volleyball dropped a heartbreaking five-set decision to No. 6-ranked Kentucky Saturday night in Memorial Coliseum with the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 on the line. After the Lady Toppers took a 2-0 lead in the match, the No. 4-seeded Wildcats clawed back to take the final three sets despite four WKU double-digit kill performers.
“I’m usually not a person that has trouble coming up with words but this is one of those times,” head coach Travis Hudson opened. “Our kids played their guts out. They gave me everything that they had and Kentucky played like champions. We gave them our best shot. Kentucky is a high-character group of kids. Kentucky is a high-character staff. They’re well coached and we knew they weren’t going to go away. We certainly didn’t think we were going to cruise on out of here in three games. I have nothing but respect for what they did and what they accomplished in coming back and winning this match.”
Finishing its fourth-straight season with 30 or more wins, WKU closed the year with a 31-4 record. With all 11 NCAA Tournament appearances coming under Hudson, the Red and White are now 3-11 all-time in The Dance.
“As I told our kids, there are 63 teams in this tournament that are going to go home disappointed, but all the reasons they hurt so bad right now are all the reasons that I’m so proud of them because they were invested in this, they poured their hearts into this, and certainly have no regrets,” Hudson continued.
Over the last four years, WKU Volleyball put together a combined 123-17 record as the senior class departs as the program’s first group to appear in the NCAA Tournament all four years on The Hill.
“Well, it is going to be hard to top,” Hudson said of the senior class. “You know, I really like our team coming back next year but there is a legacy there. There is a legacy there for these kids – It is incredible. They have played college volleyball for four years. They have won four regular season championships. They won four tournament championships. They went to four NCAA tournaments. They went to the second round twice and were as close as they were tonight to getting to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history at a university that prior to 2002 had never been to a NCAA tournament. Their legacy is large and it is lasting and they are all high level students as well. They have laid a foundation and hopefully continue to catch the attention of people in the country that WKU has got a pretty special volleyball program.”
WKU continued right where it left off Friday night, jumping out to a 10-5 lead in set one on Saturday. Cavanaugh struck early and often in the frame, racking up eight kills. Kentucky opted for its first timeout trailing 13-8. A few points later, Cavanaugh strung together back-to-back kills followed by a solo block for a 17-11 Lady Topper advantage. From that point, the Red and White closed things out with a 25-16 set one win to hand UK its first set lost since Nov. 8.
In that first set, Jessica Lucas and Cavanaugh connected on a kill that gave Lucas the all-time program assist record at 5,295. Lucas surpassed former Lady Topper Melanie Stutsman for the record.
Second set action was much tighter as the sides traded leads twice and were knotted on seven occasions. Kentucky took its first lead in the set at 16-15 and pushed ahead 20-17 to force a WKU timeout. Out of the break, the Lady Toppers rattled off four-straight points before UK responded to knot the score at 21-21. The hosts would only score once more in the set, avoiding the first set point before WKU closed the set with an Anderson kill for the 25-22 victory.
The Lady Toppers struck first for the third-straight set out of the break. In a set that ultimately saw 10 ties and seven lead changes, Kentucky avoided a sweep by claiming the 25-19 victory. After working at a .347 clip through the first two frames, WKU was limited to a .088 efficiency in set three as Kentucky utilized a .308 rate. Through three frames, Cavanaugh matched her first round numbers with 18 kills.
Despite scoring the opening point of the fourth set, WKU trailed 7-4 to force an early timeout. While the Red and White were able to cut the Kentucky lead to one point on multiple occasions, the Wildcats stayed strong to force a fifth and decisive set. WKU worked at a .323 offensive clip in the frame but the Wildcats’ .440 mark was too much to overcome.
Trailing 4-0 to open set five, WKU responded out of a timeout with a Sydney Engle kill followed by a Taylor Dellinger strike to cut the lead in half. The Lady Toppers continued the push as Dellinger tallied another kill to make it 4-3 before UK ended the run. At the trade, Hudson’s crew trailed by three but Lucas helped WKU to the next point by winning a joust. The Lady Toppers pulled within one at 8-7 but the Wildcats pushed ahead to an 11-8 advantage to force WKU’s final stoppage. Dellinger found the floor with her 12th kill of the night to tie the frame at 12-12 and force a Wildcat stoppage but it was all Kentucky out of the timeout as UK won the set 15-12.
Engle registered her second double double in as many days with 14 digs and 10 kills, leading WKU in the dig column. The senior was one of four attackers with double-digit kills on the match, joined by Cavanaugh, Dellinger and Anderson.
In two days, Cavanaugh racked up 41 kills as the senior found the floor for a new WKU NCAA Tournament match record 23 strikes. Cavanaugh used a .405 hitting percentage against the Wildcats to lead the Lady Toppers to a .268 clip.
Anderson finished one block shy of a kill-block double double in the contest with nine stuffs and two digs to go along with her 10 kills. Dellinger chipped in 12 kills.
Lucas finished with 51 assists to reset the WKU program’s career record to 5,338 helpers. The senior added eight digs, six kills and four blocks in addition to an ace on the night.
Emma Kowalkowski finished with 12 digs while Hallie Shelton added nine and Darby Music posted seven.
As a team, WKU finished with 69 kills to Kentucky’s 64 on the night while UK won the hitting percentage battle with a .313 rate. In the dig column, the Wildcats notched two more tallies, owning the 60-58 margin. Both teams finished with 11 blocks as WKU closed the season with six-consecutive matches of nine or more stuffs.
How to Follow the Lady Toppers: For complete information on WKU Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUVolleyball and head coach Travis Hudson at @TravisHudsonWKU.
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Jessica Leifheit
Assistant Director
WKU Athletic Communications/Media Relations
