Hilltoppers Fall to Sooners in Five Sets

WKU Athletics Media Release

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Volleyball (5-6) fell to Oklahoma in five sets on Thursday night in Diddle Arena.

WKU outhit Oklahoma in the match, logging a .312 mark compared to a .247 clip for the Sooners. The Hilltoppers stuffed 12 blocks compared to four for Oklahoma. Eliza McKnight led all scorers with a career high 17 kills for a .654 hitting clip along with six blocks, the most by a WKU Freshman since 2023.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Oklahoma 3, WKU 2
SET ONE – Oklahoma 25, WKU 23

A bad set by the Sooners gave WKU the first point Thursday. A long serve evened the score at one. Sonja Laaksonen tallied the first Hilltopper kill to take the lead back. A pair of Kaira Knox kills bookended a Sooner kill for a 4-3 WKU advantage. The first Oklahoma lead came off consecutive kills, up 6-5. The sixth Hilltopper kill came by way of Faith Young for a 7-7 score. The Sooners hit 10 first off of an errant serve. An Oklahoma serving error evened the score at 10 all. Knox served off the second WKU ace to even the score and force an Oklahoma timeout, tied at 18. The Sooners broke 20 first with a narrow one-point edge before Young tallied her third kill to push the Tops to 20. Four of the next five went Oklahoma’s way for a 24-22, set point score. Knox charted her third kill in six attempts, but the Sooners would take the first frame 25-23. The Hilltoppers hit .419 in the frame, highlighted by McKnight’s perfect five kills on five attempts.

SET TWO – WKU 25, Oklahoma 23

Oklahoma fired a serve into the net to give WKU the first point of the frame. The Sooners responded with consecutive successful tries for a 2-1 edge. The fifth kill tallied by Young evened the score and a bad attack gave the Tops a 3-2 lead. Kennedy Cherry became the third Hilltopper to log an ace for a 6-4 Hilltopper advantage. The Sooners used a 3-0 run to take a 7-6 lead before Alivia Skidmore fired down a kill to even things up. A block by Kate Rush and Young pushed the Hilltoppers over 10 for a three-point lead. The second Hilltopper block of the frame extended the lead to four and forced Oklahoma to use a timeout. WKU would maintain the four point edge at the media break. Consecutive Sooner aces cut the lead in half and forced a timeout, at 17-15. Knox became the fourth Hilltopper to record five plus kills. Rush stuffed a solo block to push WKU to 20 and force Oklahoma into their second timeout, leading by four. Consecutive Sooner points cut the WKU lead back to two at 22-20. Laaksonen fired a kill for set point. Two quick points brought Oklahoma within one. A kill gave WKU the second frame, 25-23. The Hilltoppers combined for four team blocks in the second frame.

SET THREE – WKU 25, Oklahoma 22

A Sooner kill started off action in the third. Young became the fourth Hilltopper to serve up an ace. A bad set pushed the lead to 3-1. The Sooners evened the score before consecutive attack errors followed by a block pushed the WKU lead to 6-3. The sixth kill for Knox pushed the advantage to four. Rush found Young in the middle to push the Hilltoppers into double figures at 10-7. The Hilltoppers then used a 7-1 run to take their largest lead of the frame, capped by a pair of aces off the hand of Cherry for an 18-10 lead. Three straight from Oklahoma forced a Hilltopper timeout. McKnight responded with consecutive kills, pushing her total into double figures, and giving WKU a 20-13 edge to force a Sooner timeout. Out of the stoppage, McKnight fired off her third straight kill for an eight point lead. The ninth Oklahoma serving error pushed the WKU lead to six. Laaksonen tallied a kill for a 24-17 lead and set point. Five straight for Oklahoma cut the Hilltopper lead down to two and forced a timeout. A bad set would give WKU a 25-22 third set win. The Hilltoppers logged a total of four aces in the third set of action.

SET FOUR – Oklahoma 25, WKU 21

Laaksonen and Young combined for a block and the first point of the fourth. The Sooners would tally the next two before a 3-0 Hilltopper run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Knox and McKnight gave The Red and White a 4-2 lead. WKU would hold the lead until Oklahoma evened the score up at seven. Young logged her 10th and 11th kills to push the Hilltoppers into double digits with a 10-7 advantage. The Hilltoppers hit the 15-point mark credit to the second ace for Knox, now up four at 15-11. A 4-0 Oklahoma streak cut the margin to one and forced a WKU timeout, now leading 17-16. Young pushed her kill total to a dozen, but the Sooners would even the score at 18 all. The Sooners would take their largest lead of the frame aided by a 3-1 run, forcing a WKU timeout, trailing 21-19. Oklahoma found themselves with set point, but Laaksonen and McKnight stuffed a block to keep the Sooners at bay, 24-20. After a McKnight block, the Sooners would tally the final point for a 25-21 set win.

SET FIVE – Oklahoma 15, WKU 13

Rush sent over an ace to start the fifth frame. Oklahoma responded with three straight before Knox logged her 12th kill for a 3-2 score. An errant serve ended a 5-1 Oklahoma run. Knox added her second kill of the frame and the fifth for WKU to pull within one. A three point Oklahoma lead developed to force a WKU timeout, down 8-5. Young’s 14th kill of the match brought WKU within one, down 9-8. Laaksonen fired off a kill for the ninth Hilltopper point. Straight points by Oklahoma forced WKU into their final timeout, down three. The second kill of the frame for Laaksonen and her sixth overall pushed WKU to 10. Knox followed with a kill for a one point score, forcing an Oklahoma timeout. An errant attack evened the score at 12-all. Oklahoma would take the fifth set by a score of 15-13.

QUOTABLE

On the loss, head coach Travis Hudson said “There’s lessons and then there are lessons learned and those are two different things. We continue to get taught the same lesson but we’re not learning it very fast. We’ve got to go through the fire if we’re gonna find a way to win big games like this.”

NOTABLES

• Eliza McKnight had a stellar offensive performance on Thursday. The freshman tallied a career high 17 kills on 26 attacks for a .654 hitting percentage. McKnight added six blocks and an assist in the effort.
• McKnight is the first freshman Hilltopper to finish with six blocks in a match since Izzy Van De Wiele did so against UTEP on Nov. 18, 2023 in the CUSA Semifinal.
• Kaira Knox and Faith Young both finished with 14 kills apiece along with two aces each. Young added five blocks and two digs while Knox added four blocks and three digs.
• Young’s five blocks are one shy of a career high and the most for the middle hitter this season.
• Albeit a quiet night from the attack line, Kate Rush finished with a new career high in assists with 49. The setter also tallied four blocks and three digs.
• For Rush, her four blocks match a career best, last done against Missouri State on Oct. 3, 2025.
• Tayler Baron logged her third 20-plus dig match of the season, finishing with an even 20.
• Alivia Skidmore tallied seven kills, along with two digs and an ace.
• Kennedy Cherry logged a season best and team high three aces on Thursday. The sophomore added four digs and an assist.
• Sonja Laaksonen was the fourth Hilltopper to scratch the kill category on Thursday. The sophomore finished with six alongside three digs, two blocks, and an assist.
• WKU’s 12 total blocks on Thursday mark the first time this season the team has stuffed 10+ and the most in a match since they had 12 against Missouri State on Oct. 3, 2025.
• The Hilltoppers finished with 58 kills on Thursday, marking the sixth time in 2026 the team has tallied 50+ in a match.

NEXT UP

WKU will host ETSU on Saturday, Sept. 19. First serve is set for 12 p.m. CT. Tickets can be purchased HERE.