Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Western Kentucky
@HerdVolleyball Falls to WKU
9/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Marshall volleyball suffered a setback on Wednesday evening at the Cam Henderson Center as it fell to the WKU Hilltoppers, 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 10-25, 13-25).
Marshall drops to 9-5 (0-1), while WKU moves to 13-2 (1-0)
The Herd was hot coming out of the gates by controlling the tempo of the first set. Marshall took an early 3-1 lead in the set with kills coming from senior Lauren Legge (Pliny, W.Va.) and junior Ally Kiekover (Grand Rapids, Mich.). From there, MU never trailed, while only being tied twice. The first tie came at the 20-all mark as WKU recorded an ace. The Herd and the Tops went back-and-forth, but a kill from Kayla Simmons (Gainesville, Fla.) gave Marshall a 23-21 lead. The Herd closed out the set off a solo block by Legge. The Herd's attack game was on point, as it record 17 kills on 26 attacks with no errors for a .654 hit percentage.
Marshall tried to bring the momentum from the first set win to the second. The Herd held a 9-6 lead, including kills from four different MU players: Taylor Pelton (Louisville, Ky.), Ashley Arnold (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), Cassie Weaver (Huntington, W.Va.) and Kiekover. WKU battled back and tied the set up at 11-all. The set would end up having eight tied scores and four lead changes. After being tied at 16, WKU pulled away on a five-point run. The Hilltoppers went on to take the set, 25-20.
To begin the third frame, the two squads traded points until the 6-5 mark in the set, in favor of WKU. The Hilltoppers' Kaelin Grimes went on a run from the service line, as she had 11 serves in a row. The 10-point lead from the run was too much for the Herd to overcome.
With match advantage in the hands of the Hilltoppers, they wasted no time in taking an early lead into the fourth set. With the score at 15-7, Marshall went on a three-point run that included kills from Legge and Weaver. The five-point deficit would end up being the closest the Herd got within the Tops, as WKU pulled away by taking the final 10 points out of 13.
Three members of the Herd had double-digit kills. Leading the way was Kiekover and Pelton, who both had 11, while Legge followed with 10. Weaver held the edge in digs with 17, while Simmons had 33 assists.
Tonight's match is just one of six that WKU has been forced to play in that went longer than just three sets. The Hilltoppers were led by Noelle Langenkamp with 13 kills and five total blocks.
COACH'S CORNER
Quotes from Herd coach Mitch Jacobs
On what Coach Jacobs was impressed by in the first two sets:
"The biggest thing was that we mentally stayed in it. We stayed engaged and we stressed WKU with what they were doing. You have to be able to put pressure on them. There was no pressure being put on them after set two and they responded by blasting away."
On what changed from the first two sets to the final two:
"We weren't passing the ball. Pass and serve is the most important thing you play offensively against a team that good defensively. They amped up their serving and we didn't respond."
On what the team can take from tonight's match to help it succeed moving forward:
"We have to tighten up our passing game and can't let up on the serving game either. Our serving game was real strong early on tonight. Our whole philosophy is to serve tough. The misses are fine as long as we're going for it. Earlier in the match, we were getting the ball into their lanes that forced them to move to pass everything, which got them off the net a little bit and made it easier on our defense. It was a really good match through that, but they were just mentally stronger in the serve and pass game and then we broke down. They showed why they're the number one team in the conference."
UP NEXT
The Herd looks to bounce back as it welcomes the Charlotte 49ers to the Henderson Center on Friday for a 6 p.m. first serve.
