It was a great weekend for WKU sports. Im actually going to say it was the BEST weekend WKU sports has had in the last five years. Although there have been great sports moments like “The Shot” and WKU’s magical sweet-16 run, but rarely have all of WKU sports been so successful in a single weekend. The Tops were truly on top this weekend. The Lady Toppers started off the weekend strong last Friday. The women’s soccer team had a dramatic finish against rival MTSU. With :16 seconds left in overtime, Mallory Outerbridge scored her 13th goal of the season and led the Tops to a 2-1 victory.
Simultaneously, the Lady Topper Volleyball team was looking to not only improve to an outstanding 24-3 on the season, but they were also looking to get Coach Travis Hudson his 400th career victory. The Tops came out strong against Denver and won in straight sets 25-12, 25-16, and 25-13.
Early Saturday morning WKU swept the conference meet in cross-country. The men’s meet results were: 1. WKU- 36; 2. UALR- 51; 3. MTSU- 64; 4. FIU 126. This was the first men’s title since 2008. WKU had three of the top five finishers in the meet. Deus Rwaheru finished 2nd (24:27.5), David Mokone finished 4th (24:47.0) and Peter Okwera finished 5th (24:53.1). In the women’s race, Marion Kandie (1st) and Vasity Chemweno (4th) helped the women’s team win their sixth straight cross-country title. WKU placed first with 60 points while UNT (74) and USA (97) rounded off the top three. This marked the 8th time (1st since 2008) that WKU has swept the conference tournament. Mokone was named SBC Freshman of the Year award while Coach Erik Jenkins won SBC Men’s Coach of the Year.
The Lady Tops volleyball played their last home game of the year on Saturday afternoon. On senior night, the Lady tops crushed North Texas in three sets to reach the 25-win mark on the season. This is the 10th straight season that WKU has compiled 25 wins. Senior Lindsey Williams finished the match with 11 kills, while Senior Tiffany Elmore added 7 kills in her final home match. WKU is now ranked 26th in the national rankings.
Shortly after the conclusion of the volleyball game, the WKU football team was in danger of losing a game in which they led 20-7. This 4th quarter collapse seemed to become a reality when ULM took a 1-point lead (21-20) with 1:00 left in the game. WKU didn’t want to relive their 4th quarter collapse to ULM last year and decided to respond. On the ensuing kickoff, WKU’s John Evans returned the ball to the ULM 9 yard line. Two rushes later, Bobby Rainey was in the end zone for his first touchdown of the day (2 point conversion good). However the game would only get more interesting. ULM marched down the field to score with six seconds left to tie the game at 28 (ULM decided to kick extra point instead of going for the win). In OT, ULM had first possession. Derrius Brooks intercepted the ball and allowed WKU an opportunity to win the game. WKU took advantage. After four rushes by Bobby Rainey, Roy kicked a 24-yard field goal to win the game. This marks WKU’s first 4-game win streak since 2005.
Swimming also opened their season this past weekend. The women’s team split the meet defeating Vanderbilt 240-54 but losing to UK 138-162. The men’s team lost to UK 141-159. Although the Hilltopper’s lost to UK, the meet was very close. The teams combined to win 10 events and both meet were decided by the last few events.
Clearly this was a good weekend on the hill. WKU teams were very successful in their respected games, meets, and matches this weekend. Hopefully this weekend will be just as successful. The WKU football team will look to continue their 4-game win streak vs FIU at home this weekend. Also, this weekend marks the “opening” of college basketball at WKU as both the men’s and women’s teams host exhibition games. GO TOPS!
Courtesy of Hilltopper Video
No comments:
Post a Comment