WKU tops Pepperdine in Four Sets to Open Alyssa Cavanaugh Classic

WKU Athletics Media Release

44 minutes ago

WNKY Staff,

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Volleyball (4-3) defeated Pepperdine in four sets on Thursday evening at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The Hilltoppers logged one of their best offensive performances of the season, hitting .516 in a 25-16 win in the third set followed by a .400 hitting clip to secure a four set victory over the Waves. Stifling defense aided in the win as WKU held Pepperdine to a .027 hitting clip in the final set, only allowing seven kills on 37 attacks.

WKU was led by the duo of Aubrey Sears and Kaira Knox. Both logged a match best 14 kills, combining for nearly half of WKU’s 60 total kills. For Sears, it marks a career high. Kate Rush added a career best 46 assists along with six kills, five digs, and a pair of aces. Defensively, the Hilltoppers were led by Tayler Baron who tallied 22 digs, along with Knox, who scratched a double-double adding 11 digs to her offensive performance.

HOW IT HAPPENED
WKU 3, Pepperdine 1
SET ONE – WKU 25, Pepperdine 22

In front of the home faithful for the first time in 2026, Rush logged a kill and fired off an ace for a two-point edge. Now up 3-2, Faith Young tallied back-to-back aces for a three point lead. WKU held a 7-5 advantage when Pepperdine sparked a 5-0 run to break 10 first as WKU trailed 10-7. Alivia Skidmore snapped the run with a kill, and added another to bring the Hilltoppers within one. Young hammered down a kill to tie the set up at 10. A back-and-forth battle ensued as Pepperdine was first to break 15 with a narrow one point lead over WKU. The Tops grabbed the lead right back, following a Knox kill and Kennedy Cherry’s first ace of the night for a 16-15 lead. The next 10 points were split before WKU evened the score at 22-all off a Pepperdine service fault. Alivia Skidmore and Eliza McKnight stuffed a block that gave WKU a 23-22 lead, McKnight then fired off a kill for WKU set point. An errant attack by the Waves gave the Hilltoppers a 25-22 win. WKU served up four aces in the first compared to just one for Pepperdine.

SET TWO – Pepperdine 25, WKU 16

The Waves jumped out to the early lead in the second but Sears first kill of the night evened things at two apiece. Pepperdine jumped out to a 6-3 lead forcing a WKU timeout. Down 7-4, straight kills from Skidmore and Knox cut the margin down to one but consecutive points pushed the deficit back to three. Rush then found Skidmore for her fourth kill to keep WKU with two. Pepperdine grabbed an 11-7 lead, forcing WKU into a timeout, off the heels of a 3-0 run. The Waves grabbed their largest lead of the match at 13-8 before Young fired off a kill to cut it back to four. Pepperdine punched back with two straight for a six point edge at the media break Knox pushed the Tops into double figures, trailing 16-10. Down nine, Knox and McKnight stuffed a block to keep WKU within, 20-12. Knox’s seventh kill pulled WKU back within eight at 23-15. Sears followed and fired off a kill for a seven point margin. The Waves took the last two points of the frame to claim a 25-16 set win and even the score at one all.

SET THREE – WKU 25, Pepperdine 16

Knox fired off a crosscourt kill from the right side to even the score at one. The Hilltoppers added three more for a 4-1 lead. Pepperdine found success at the service line, connecting on consecutive aces. Sears pushed her kill total to six and gave WKU a 5-4 lead. The Waves secured three of the next five points to even the score at seven. Skidmore gave WKU a one point lead and Sears followed with her second kill of the frame for a 9-7 edge. Young logged the eighth WKU kill of the set to push the lead to three, forcing Pepperdine into a timeout. After Pepperdine pulled within one with consecutive points, three of the next four were awarded to The Red and White for a 13-10 lead. The Tops were hitting at a .450 clip at the media break with 11 of their 15 points via kill. Leading by three, the Waves pulled within one at 16-15 before Rush added some cushion with her fourth kill and the seventh for Young, followed by six points in a row, highlighted by five kills, to give WKU set point at 24-15. Straight service errors gave WKU a 25-16 victory in set three. The Hilltoppers out hit the Waves in the frame .516 to .114.

SET FOUR – WKU 25, Pepperdine 17

Sears became the first Hilltopper into double figures with her 10th kill for the 1-0 lead to get the third underway. Young found space in the back corner for her ninth kill and a 5-0 Hilltopper lead forcing the Waves into a timeout. Pepperdine logged seven of the next eight points to even the score at seven all. The two went back and forth before Knox charted consecutive kills to spark an 8-0 Hilltopper run. WKU had logged 13 kills on their first 16 points before Pepperdine logged a point for a 17-10 score. Now up by five, Sears logged her 13th and 14th kills for a 21-15 advantage. McKnight’s third kill extended the WKU lead back out to seven. A pair of Pepperdine errors and the 14th successful attack for Knox sealed the deal on a 25-17 fourth set win. The Hilltoppers held Pepperdine to just seven kills on 37 attacks in the fourth frame, while managing 17 to close out the set at a .400 hitting clip.

QUOTABLE
On the win head coach Travis Hudson said “Sets three and four were as clean as we’ve played the game so far this season with the final two scores being 25-16 and 25-17. I hope that this shows our team what we are capable of when we can stay out of our own way. What a huge win for our team.”

NOTABLES

Kaira Knox led the way for WKU on Thursday, logging a double-double, finishing with 14 kills, 11 digs, three blocks, and two assists.
For Knox, her 14 kills mark a season high and the fourth time the right-side hitter has finished in double figures this season.
Aubrey Sears also played a key role in the offensive production, managing a career best 14 kills on 24 attacks for a .417 hitting percentage.
Alivia Skidmore also tallied double-digit kills in the win. The junior finished with a season-high 11 kills, alongside three digs, and a block.
Faith Young was the fourth Hilltopper to finish in double figures. Young notched an even 10 kills on 19 attacks for a match best .526 hitting percentage. She added two aces from the service line, two blocks, and a dig.
Young has hit .500 or better in each of the last three matches.
Kate Rush yet again logged a career high 46 kills Thursday. The setter added six kills, five digs, a pair of aces, and two blocks.
Rush has finished with 40-plus assists in four of the last five matches. The sophomore also has notched multiple service aces in 6-of-7 matches in 2026.
Defensively, WKU was led by Tayler Baron. Baron tallied 22 digs, for a .923 reception average, in addition to two assists and an ace.
For Baron, Thursday marks her first match of the season logging 20-plus kills in a match, the most for the junior since she tallied 22 against Sam Houston on Oct. 18, 2025.
Izzy Van De Wiele saw her first action of 2026. The senior logged a block in two sets.
The last time four Hilltoppers tallied 10+ kills in a match was against FIU in the CUSA Championship match on Nov. 23, 2025.
WKU last managed 60+ kills in a match against Delaware on Nov. 7, 2025, also a 3-1 win.
WKU has hit .300 or better in three matches this season, winners in all three.