Hilltoppers Drop Wednesday Match to No. 3 Louisville

WKU Athletics Media Release

1 hour ago

WNKY Staff,

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Volleyball (5-5) fell to No. 3 Louisville in three sets on Wednesday night in Diddle Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Louisville 3, WKU 0

SET ONE – Louisville 25, WKU 15

The first Hilltopper point was recorded on an errant serve. Young tallied the first kill of the match for WKU, now down 3-2. Baron’s first ace of the day brought WKU within two points. The Cardinals were first to 10, leading by three. Knox found a gap in the defense for her second kill and a 14-11 score. The Cardinals led at the media timeout by a score of 15-11. Louisville was first to 20, ahead by seven, their largest lead of the frame, forcing WKU into a timeout. Out of the break, Skidmore tallied a kill, but the Cardinals would finish the set on a 5-1 run to take it, 25-15.

SET TWO – Louisville 25, WKU 19

A long rally off a Rush serve that was capped off by a kill from Laaksonen from the left side gave WKU the early lead. Rush fired off an ace from the service line for a 2-0 score. Laaksonen and Young combined for a block to go up 4-0 and force Louisville into a timeout. Louisville cut the lead down to one, and an error pushed the WKU lead back out to two. A 5-0 Cardinal scoring run forced the Hilltoppers into a timeout, trailing 8-5. The first kill for McKnight and the second of the frame for WKU followed by a Louisville error brought WKU within one. Down 12-9, Rush and Laaksonen’s kills highlighted a 3-0 Hilltopper run to even the score. Louisville led by three at the media break. The third Laaksonen kill cut the deficit down to a pair. Behind three, Young and Knox fired off consecutive kills for a one-point margin. A 3-1 Louisville run forced WKU to burn their second timeout, trailing 19-16. The Cardinals would take the second set, 25-19.

SET THREE – Louisville 25, WKU 19

After the first two went in Louisville’s favor, Laaksonen logged a kill and Rush notched an ace to even things up. Down 7-4, McKnight’s second effort gave WKU the point, and Skidmore followed that up with the fourth block of the night for WKU. The first block for McKnight brought WKU within one, but the Cardinals scratched 10 first, up two. An error and Skidmore’s third kill evened the score at 10 all. Louisville retook a two-point edge before Skidmore cut the margin to one. A 5-0 Cardinal run allowed for a six-point deficit to develop, forcing a Hilltopper timeout. Louisville broke 20 with a seven-point lead. A serving error followed by an ace off the hand of Kennedy Cherry cut the deficit to five. Louisville would claim the set and match by a 25-19 score.

QUOTABLE

On the result and the environment, head coach Travis Hudson said “So much respect for Dan (Meske) and the program at Louisville for what they’ve done. So grateful to the Hilltopper fans for coming and making a great atmosphere for our players. What the sport of volleyball has become in the State of Kentucky is a pretty special thing. I think the whole Commonwealth should be proud of what’s going on around our state in terms of the level of volleyball that is being played.”

NOTABLES

A trio of Hilltoppers all logged five kills on Wednesday. Kaira Knox, Sonja Laaksonen, and Alivia Skidmore combined for 15 of WKU’s 24 total kills.
Kate Rush led the assisting effort, tallying 20 assists along with a team best two aces, seven digs, and three kills.
The defensive effort was led by Tayler Baron. Baron tallied 17 digs for a .833 reception mark along with an ace and an assist.
Kennedy Cherry was the third Hilltopper to record an ace from the service line. She added five digs in the effort,
2,681 were in attendance for Wednesday’s match, marking the seventh largest crowd in WKU Volleyball history.

NEXT UP

WKU will host Oklahoma on Thursday, Sept. 17. First serve is set for 6 p.m.