Nov. 21, 2002

Box Score

MIAMI - The University of Denver volleyball team let a 23-10 lead slip away in game one and Western Kentucky hit on a .263 attacking percentage in the match as the top-seeded Lady Toppers eliminated the Pioneers in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament quarterfinals Thursday afternoon with a 3-0 (30-32, 30-23, 30-24) sweep at Golden Panther Arena. The eighth-seeded Pioneers drop to 7-19 on the season, while WKU improves to 31-4.

Denver stormed out of the gate in the first game, taking a 7-2 lead after a pair of early kills and an assisted block from junior Andrea Baron (West Vancouver, B.C.) Leading 16-10, the Pioneers built the lead to 23-10 by blocking four of five WKU attacks that ended only when the Lady Toppers' Amanda Cecil stopped the Denver run with a kill to make it 23-11. Western then won 19 of the next 25 points and got even in the game at 29-29. After a WKU service error gave Denver a 30-29 lead, the Lady Toppers then scored the next three points to take the game and end any momentum the Pioneers created with that early lead.

"In the first game we were able to get them out of their system and that's how we built that big lead," head coach Beth Kuwata said. "Our blocking was good but once they were able to get back in their system it was difficult for us to stop them."

The second game was an evenly played game, with no team earning more than a five point lead at any point. Following a WKU timeout with the Pioneers leading 12-7, the Lady Toppers scored nine of the next 11 points to take a 16-14 lead. The two teams traded points until the game was tied at 20-20 when Western took control, taking a 25-20 lead that Denver was unable to overcome.

The third game was another evenly played game until about halfway through, when Western Kentucky took over again. Tied at 15-all, the Lady Toppers outscored the Pioneers 15-9 to take the game and the match.

"Losing game one pretty much killed our momentum," Kuwata said. "They're a very good team when they can play with the lead and they were able to do in the second and third games."

Baron led the Pioneers with nine kills and junior Olympia Hughes (Casper, Wyo.) added eight for Denver. Junior Jen Karas (Granby, Colo.) had a team-high eight digs for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers are next in action next Wednesday, Nov. 27 when they wrap up their season at Colorado State at 7 p.m.