[RV] Tops Take Down Liberty in Five Sets

Hitting .609 in the first set, the Tops collectively worked with a .294 hitting clip adding in 54 kills. Paige Briggs notched yet another double-double, the 44th double-double of her five-year career. Adding up points for WKU, Katie Howard led the Tops with four aces from the service line.

WKU 3, LIBERTY 2: 25-14, 24-26, 24-26, 25-15, 15-13

Set 1
In a heavy defensive match for the Hilltoppers, Kenadee Coyle and Gabby Weihe combined for a block stuffed on the right side of the net to open up the five-set match. After the Flames evened up the board, the Tops went on a 3-0 run to take a two-point lead. After the Tops advanced on six straight points that featured two kills from Paige Briggs and KayleeCox, and back-to-back blocks from Logan Grevengoed – Liberty burned a timeout suffering a seven-point deficit. Out of the break, the Red and White jumped on a 7-2 run before Liberty hit double-digits on the scoreboard. The two opponents rallied on the court, until a Briggs kill down the line solidified the first frame.

Set 2
Both the Hilltoppers and Flames evened up the score three times. Before the host school dug into a 5-0 run to force a Hilltopper timeout. Both teams went back-and-forth on the scoreboard, as LU held a slight lead. WKU expanded on three straight with a Grevengoed/Cox block and a kill from the redshirt-freshman middle hitter to be within one. After trading on the board, Paige Briggs and the Hilltoppers ran through six straight – two aces from Katie Howard and two kills from Briggs to lead Liberty by three and force a timeout. The Flames caught momentum out of the break, gaining four on the board to mark set point, until a shot from Briggs cross-court forced extra points. Liberty ran onto two more points to even the match.

Set 3
As the set was tied at two apiece, the Hilltoppers ran on three in a row with another Katie Howard service ace and sideoutpoint from Liberty. Both teams rallied on the board until the Flames attacked on a 5-0 sprint, wagering a two-point set. After a 3-1 run, both opponents were set at 10 points even – thanks to kills from Grevengoed and Coyle. As the score ran out back-and-forth on both sides featuring six set ties, Liberty jumped on set point after a Hilltopper errant serve. A kill and WKU attacking error would seal the frame at 26 points, giving the lead to the Flames.

Set 4
Liberty took the lead in the fourth, 3-1. The Tops called back three points straight with kills from the middle. The next rally of points featured three ties on the scoreboard until WKU attacked on a 4-0 run with kills from Bauer and Coyle and two sideout points from the host. With the 11-9 lead for the Red and White, the Flames called back with three of their own to tie the frame up at 11. After the final tie of the set, WKU marched on an 8-1 run to mark 20 points with three kills. After Liberty cut the run with a kill of their own, WKU advanced on four straight points including a Briggs kill, Bauer/Grevengoed block, and Liberty sideout. Capping on the team’s .313 hitting clip in the set, Briggs led WKU into the fifth set with a kill to the back line.

Set 5
Entering only the second five-set match for WKU this season, the Toppers took care with 10 kills in the entire frame. The Tops opened up with a kill right down the middle off the hand of Grevengoed. The Flames followed behind with two right away, later leading to a 5-3 advantage for the home team. Two kills from Gabby Weihe in the middle led for a Tops 3-1 run and narrowed the scoreboard to just one point. A kill on the right side line from Coyle gave the Hilltoppers the tie at eight points. Both teams traded points until the most crucial run of the entire match was three straight Hilltopper points due to back-to-back kills from Briggs and a combination block on the left with Briggs and Weihe. Sealing the deal and first five-set win of the year, Paige Briggs struck the ball into the back court for the final point at 15.