Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Western Kentucky
@HerdVolleyball Downed at No. 24 WKU, 3-0
11/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Marshall volleyball suffered a setback on Thursday night at No. 24 WKU, as the Herd fell in a 3-0 (17-25, 13-25, 21-25) decision.
Marshall moves to 15-13 (6-9 C-USA), while WKU improves to 27-3 (14-1 C-USA).
Leading the offensive attack for Marshall was junior Cassie Weaver (Huntington, W.Va.) with 12 kills. Following Weaver was sophomore Taylor Pelton (Louisville, Ky.) and junior Ally Kiekover (Grand Rapids, Mich.) with nine and six kills, respectively. Kiekover was her efficient self on Thursday night, as she was hitting at a .545 percentage. On defense for Marshall was junior libero Allie Kellerman (Louisville, Ky.) with 15 digs.
In the first set of the night, Marshall and WKU traded blows to begin the match, as neither team held a lead larger than one. With the two teams tied at six, the Lady 'Toppers went on a seven-point run to give itself a 13-6 advantage. From there, Marshall had to play catch up. The Herd was able to bring the set within two points off a Weaver kill to put the score at 17-15. WKU responded with four points in a row to give itself a six point edge. The 'Toppers claimed the first set, 25-17.
After dropping the second set, Marshall came out of the break to have its most competitive set in the third. Despite WKU leaping out to a 8-1 lead to start the set, Marshall responded by taking the next five out of six points to put the score at 9-6. The Lady 'Toppers maintained the three point lead over The Herd throughout the middle of the set. Marshall closed the gap to two points at the 21-19 mark, as it forced an attack error on WKU. Marshall couldn't complete the comeback, as it fell to WKU 25-21 in the final set.
COACH'S CORNER
Quotes from Head Coach Mitch Jacobs
On the game:
"I thought for the most part we were trying to play hard. We were just up against a tougher team, both physically and mentally than we are right now. We did battle though and made a couple good runs. Western just puts a lot of pressure on you to make plays and get your assignments right or they make you pay quickly."
On Kiekover and Weaver's play:
"Kiko was tough to stop when we were able to get her the ball. I thought Cassie worked hard out there, she just needs to stay patient and not give away the points. But tonight she was a point scorer so we can deal with a couple of the errors."
On WKU being able to shutdown Marshall's serve and pass game:
"We talk and train all the time about the importance of the serve and pass game and tonight we got absolutely schooled in those parts of the game. Credit Western for putting us away when we were fighting back in the third set. They are the premiere program right now in our league. We definitely have some catching up to do. We had a very young team out there in the third set which turned out to be the most competitive."
Looking forward to Middle Tennessee:
"Now obviously we are all sights forward to Middle Tennessee. They are playing well right now and we both know its win or go home time. Our C-USA tournament starts Saturday at Middle. There's really no other way to look at it."
UP NEXT
The season will come down to Saturday at 5 p.m. ET at Middle Tennessee. The Herd and Blue Raiders are tied for the eighth and final seed of the Conference USA tournament.
