Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The University of Central Arkansas volleyball team wrapped up the WKU Tournament with a three set loss to host Western Kentucky at E.A. Diddle Arena on Saturday night. The Lady Toppers (8-3) downed the Sugar Bears (6-6) 25-15, 25-20, 25-22.

WKU dominated the first set by hitting .419 with 15 kills, compared to a .065 percentage and nine kills for the Sugar Bears. Junior outside hitter Jessica Hays recorded five kills and two aces in the frame for UCA.

UCA improved by hitting .296 with 12 kills and only four errors in set two, but WKU continued their torrid pace with 17 kills and a .412 hitting percentage.

Down 21-18 in the third set, Hays and freshman Jessica Nagy combined for back-to-back blocks and senior Chloe Smith blasted a kill to tie the game 21-21. The Lady Toppers responded with three straight kills to push the lead to 24-21. Hays came up with a kill to cut the lead to two, but the match ended with a UCA service error.

Hays led the Sugar Bears with 12 kills, three aces and four blocks to go with seven digs. Junior libero Cristin Curl had 10 digs and Smith had five kills and four blocks.

Jordyn Skinner led WKU with 11 kills and Sarah Rogers had 16 digs. Melanie Stutsman recorded 37 assists.

For the match, the Lady Toppers hit .311 with 48 kills, while the Sugar Bears had 29 kills and hit .137. UCA outblocked WKU 8-5.

Nagy, a middle blocker from Carleton, Mich., was named to the all-tournament team.

UCA will make their home debut on Thursday night when they host Northwestern State to kick off the Sugar Bear Classic.