Washington State Suffers First Loss; WKU Wins Tournament Title

WKU Tournament

• Bowling Green, Kentucky
• Sept. 14-15, 2018

Western Kentucky won its second straight tournament title, finishing 2-1 thanks to a five-set win over Northern Illinois on Saturday.

Meanwhile, #18 Washington State suffered its first loss of the season, falling to East Tennessee State in five sets earlier in the day.

Final Standings

1. WKU 2-1
2. Washington State 2-1
3. ETSU 2-1
4. NIU 0-3

All-Tournament Team

• MVP – Sophia Cerino (WKU)
• Rachel Anderson (WKU)
• Braedyn Tutton (ETSU)
• Meg Wolowicz (NIU)
• Taylor Mims (WSU)
• Ella Lajos (WSU)

Friday Results

• Washington State def. Northern Illinois 3-0 (25-14 25-16, 25-18)
• Western Kentucky def. East Tennessee State 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22)
• ETSU def. Northern Illinois 3-0 (25-18, 34-32, 25-15)
• Washington State def. Western Kentucky 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-23)

East Tennessee State def. Washington State 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-13)

• ETSU moves to 11-3; Washington State falls to 9-1
• Box Score
• ETSU Recap / Washington State Recap

Notables

• Washington State outdid ETSU in aces (6-4), blocks (10-8) and hitting efficiency (.273 to .245), but trailed the Bucs in kills (61-59) and committed three more hitting errors (24-21).
• ETSU hit at a match-high .364 clip in Sets 1 and 5. Washington State hit over .300 in Sets 1, 2 and 4 (.300, .360 and .333).
• Leah Clayton notched a career-high 25 kills, eight digs and a block, while hitting .308 to lead ETSU. Kaela Massey added 10 kills, seven digs and three aces. Braedyn Tutton and AJ Lux chipped in nine putdowns apiece.
• McKenna Woodford downed 17 kills to pace WSU, while Taylor Mims (16) and Ella Lajos (11) followed. Mims hit at a team-best .303 clip and added 10 digs and three blocks. Jocelyn Urias was tops in blocks with six stuffs.
• Ashley Brown turned in a 47-assist, 10-dig double-double for the Cougars and served up four aces.
• Washington State led 4-1 in Set 5, before ETSU broke off a 9-3 run, including three Cougar miscues and two Clayton putaways. After falling behind 10-7, WSU cut the margin to one five times, last at 14-13, thwarting a match-point try with a Woodford kill. Tutton answered it, however to seal the upset.

Western Kentucky def. Northern Illinois 3-2 (25-19, 17-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9)

• WKU moves to 8-5; NIU falls to 2-13
• Box Score
• WKU Recap / NIU Recap

Notables

• WKU boasted a 64-49 lead in kills and outhit NIU .247 to .138 in the match. The Huskies outdid the Lady Toppers in aces (6-3) and blocks (9-6).
• Western Kentucky bookended the match with hitting efforts of .471 and a match-high .500 clip.
• Sophia Cerino downed 19 kills at a .485 clip (19-3-33) and put up three blocks en route to tournament MVP honors.
• Rachel Anderson (14) and Katie Isenbarger (10) also reached double-digit kill tallies for WKU.
• Meg Wolowicz recorded 18 kills and five blocks to pace NIU. Jori Radtke followed with a 13-kill, 15-dig double-double.
• Miranda Karlen pulled up a match-high 27 digs, while Jasmine Kemp added five blocks.
• Western Kentucky built a 9-4 lead in Set 5, including eight kills, three by Taylor Bebout. Northern Illinois would get no closer than three the rest of the way, last at 12-9. Cerino pounded down three straight kills to clinch the win.