Hilltopper volleyball falls to Vanderbilt in three sets

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — WKU Volleyball hosted Vanderbilt for the first time on Tuesday night but came up short in the 3-0 loss.

The Hilltoppers (6-3 overall) were held to a .152 hitting percentage while the Commodores (3-5 overall) swung for a .321 clip. Sophomore pin hitter Alivia Skidmore led WKU’s offense with eight kills while junior middle hitter Izzy Van De Wiele led at the net with two blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Set 1: 25-22

Both squads traded blows to start the first frame, and the Hilltoppers found themselves ahead by one, 15-14, going into the media timeout. The two teams tied the score a total of nine times before Vanderbilt went on a small 3-0 run at 18-19 to finish ahead, 21-20, and eventually took the first set. Sophomore middle hitter Faith Young paced the offense with four kills while Van De Wiele and junior pin hitter Kendall Meller were responsible for the sole block of the frame. Freshman right-side hitter Kaira Knox gave the Hilltoppers their sole service ace of the set.

Set 2: 25-21

The Hilltoppers continued to fight in the second set, improving from a .143 to a .190 clip, but the Commodores slipped past. Meller led WKU in the second set and recorded three kills while Skidmore and Van De Wiele collected two each. At the service line, Skidmore and senior defensive specialist Abby Schaefer notched two service aces. The Tops’ back row earned more digs than Vanderbilt, hitting double digits with 11 to their six.

Set 3: 25-23

The final frame of the night was WKU’s best, as they matched Vanderbilt in kills at 13, but were bested at the service line. The Hilltoppers had the lead after earning the first point of the frame but Vanderbilt went on a 4-0 scoring run and took the lead for the rest of the way. Skidmore and Knox led the Hilltoppers with four and three kills respectively while Knox and Van De Wiele helped at the net with the sole block. Sophomore libero Tayler Baron anchored the back row with five digs while Knox once again notched a service ace.

QUOTABLE

“Congratulations to Vandy on the win. Andres is a good friend of mine, and he’s doing a great job getting that program going at Vanderbilt. Huge appreciation to our crowd. What a great atmosphere we had in Diddle Arena. I’ve dreamt of having atmospheres like that for women’s volleyball here. Even though we came out on the wrong end of it, I certainly think it was an enjoyable experience for a fan to watch. A lot of high-level athleticism, but we’re just simply not ready to win a match like this yet. I keep talking about us growing up, and it’s just going to take time whether I like it or not and I don’t like it, let me be clear. It’s going to take time.

The difference in the match, if you’re looking for your story, was from the service line… A team that has the weapons that Vanderbilt has, you have to serve the ball aggressively, and you have to be in court, and we did neither of those things. But Vanderbilt served aggressive enough to keep us out of system, and our pin players performed really poorly because they were in a bad situation… Our kids fought, and both teams are really talented and can do a lot of things. This one is not a hard one to dissect, it’s as simple as what went on at the service line.”

NOTABLES

• Alivia Skidmore paced the Hilltoppers’ offense with eight kills.
• Tuesday’s match attendance of 1,724 is the highest so far this season.
• Kaira Knox was the best at the service line with two service aces.
• Tayler Baron finished with a team-high 11 digs.

UP NEXT

WKU will wrap up the tournament portion of its preseason schedule, hosting the Alyssa Cavanaugh Classic Sept. 19-20 at E.A. Diddle Arena. The Hilltoppers first match is against Bradley on Friday, Sept. 19. First serve is set for 12:30 p.m.