Washington State Suffers First Loss; WKU Wins Tournament Title

  0 Wendy Mayer | September 15th, 2018 | College - Women's Indoor, Conference USA, Division I Mid-Major, News, Pac 12

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)

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)

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.

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About Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer

Wendy Mayer has worked in athletics media relations for the last 20 years. The Northwest Missouri State alumna is currently senior writer for Volleymob.com after spending the last 15 years with Purdue athletics.

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