Saturday, October 12, 2002

Western Kentucky defeats Volleyball, 3-1

estern Kentucky defeats FIU, 3-1 (24-30, 30-19, 23-30, 29-31), at Golden Panther Arena. Junior Jennifer Owens tied the match-high of 16 kills and five blocking assists to lead the Golden Panthers (5-14, 1-4 Sun Belt).

Senior Vanessa Gonzalez-Vinas recorded a match-high 17 digs. Freshman Oksana Zablueva and junior Adriana Fundora had 12 and 10 kills, respectively.

FIU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first game, followed by another 4-0 run for a 14-10 advantage. With the Golden Panthers up 22-21, the Hilltoppers (19-4, 5-0 SBC) took the next five points and wound up winning 30-24. Gonzalez-Vinas recorded a game-high eight digs in the game.

FIU built its game two lead steadily as a 8-5 lead went to 19-9 on five two-point service games. The Golden Panthers would eventually run away with the game, taking it 30-19. Zablueva had five kills in the game.

Western took the third game in the same fashion as FIU in the second. Holding on to a 10-9 advantage, the Hilltoppers took 15 of the next 20 points, leading to a 30-23 win.

FIU took a 7-3 lead on a Zablueva service ace, her fourth of the match, in the fourth game. WKU head coach Travis Hudson received a yellow card for arguing with the officials. FIU charged to game point, 29-26, on a Zablueva spike, before the Hilltoppers tied it at 29. Western then took advantage of an attack error and Jessie Wagner recorded the deciding kill for a 31-29 win.

"The team executed very well in game two," said FIU head coach Cookie Stevens. "It's a process. We have to be patient. Tonight was the strongest perfomance we had in a while."

Sara Noe led Western Kentucky with a match-high 52 set assists and Wagner tied Owens with 16 kills.

The Golden Panthers will next play at Miami on Wednesday night in Coral Gables.