BOWLING GREEN, Ky. The University of Denver volleyball team had four players in double-digits in kills but could not win a four-game match against Sun Belt Conference opponent Western Kentucky, 3-1 (31-33, 29-31, 30-23, 23-30) on Saturday night.

“Neither team could stop each other,” head coach Beth Kuwata said. “All the stats were very even. Offensively we could both do what we wanted. At the end Western Kentucky strung together the points they needed for the win. We just aren’t doing a good job of taking advantage of situations that would give us the wins. We have to be able to sieze the opportunities.”

Junior Kerry Porter (Western Springs, Ill.) led the way for the Pioneers setting season-highs in both kills and attack percentage with 16 and .600 receptively. Seniors Kim Muller (Ballwin, Mo.) and Alyssa Hampton (Parkville, Mo.) had 13 kills apiece, while junior Holly Benson (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had 11. Porter, Muller and Benson each were part of five blocks apiece as the Pioneers had 11 total blocks to WKU’s eight.

The first game of the match was back-and-forth. Denver (8-9, 2-2 SBC) trailed by just one point at 18-17 and would take a three-point lead, 21-18 on a Western Kentucky (15-3, 4-0 SBC) error. The Pioneers led by as many as four points four times, but the Lady Toppers kept battling back. DU took the 31-30 lead on a kill by Muller but the Lady Toppers answered with a kill to tie it, 31-31. A net violation by the Pioneers and a kill by WKU’s Jenna Gideon gave WKU the 33-31. Denver did hit .410 in the game with 17 kills.

The Pioneers would trail early in the second game but ripped off seven straight points to go up 7-1. Denver would keep the pressure on WKU, going up by five points at 20-15 on a kill by Porter. The Lady Toppers would go on a 5-0 run to tie the game at 20-20. The Pioneers would trail by two but Hampton and Muller would record back-to-back kills to tie the game at 23-23. Staving off three game points by WKU the Pioneers tied the game at 29-29 on an error by WKU. Western Kentucky would post consecutive kills to win the game, 31-29.

DU came out slow in game three trailing by as many as four points early. A three-point swing for Denver, capped by an attack error by WKU tied the game at 13-13. DU and WKU would tie the game four more times, the last at 17-17 before the Pioneers would take over. DU would lead by as many as seven points, including winning by seven, 30-23. Denver would hit .258 in the third frame.

The fourth set was a seesaw battle in the beginning, but DU would trail by three points after WKU went on a 3-0 run. Denver staged a comeback and tied the match at 10-10 on an attack error by Western Kentucky. The two teams would tie the game eight more times before Western Kentucky took the 19-18 lead on an attack error by Hampton. Denver would only within three points late in the game but the Lady Toppers held on for the 30-23.

The Pioneers return home on Friday, Oct. 5 to face Florida Atlantic at 7 p.m. in Hamilton Gymnasium.