Oct. 18, 2003

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Western Kentucky volleyball team held the University of Denver to a season-low .102 hitting percentage and defeated the Pioneers for the fifth straight time Saturday night, 3-0 (30-13, 30-25, 30-27) at EA Diddle Arena. The loss drops Denver's overall record to 14-8 on the season, 5-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. Western Kentucky improves to 18-6, 5-2.

WKU opened the match with a 30-13 win by outhitting the Pioneers .308 to -.097. Both teams put together a strong offensive showing in the second game, with each team tallying 21 kills and hitting over .300. Western held a slim two-point advantage, 19-17, late in the game, but slowly pulled away and went on to a 30-25 win. The Pioneers looked as if they would extend the match to a fourth game, building a 26-23 lead in the late stages of game three, but the Lady Toppers pulled through thanks in part to a few key plays from junior Amanda Schiff. WKU's middle hitter teamed up on a block with junior Lyndsey Broerman to put Western ahead 28-26, then sealed WKU's 12th sweep of the season with a kill.

One of the lone bright spots for the Pioneers was the play of senior Olympia Hughes (Casper, Wyo.), who was the lone Pioneer to register double digits in kills with a team-high 14. Freshman Shannon Parker (Woodridge, Ill.) came off the bench and led Denver with 22 assists and 12 defensive digs.

"This was a case of lack of offense tonight," head coach Beth Kuwata said. "Shannon (Parker) came in and set for us tonight and she set great for us and I was pleased with that. They play great defense and we knew they would battle and throw the ball back over on us, we just didn't respond very well to that. In game one we came out a little flat and it pretty much set the tone for the rest of the match."

Denver is next in action on Tuesday, Oct. 21 when they travel down I-25 to take on Air Force at 7 p.m.