Hilltoppers outlast Dukes 3-2
Published 11:38 pm Friday, September 11, 2026
Western Kentucky players celebrate a point during Friday’s 3-2 win against James Madison at E.A. Diddle Arena.
(STEVE ROBERTS/WKU Athletics)
Western Kentucky’s volleyball team (5-3) rallied past James Madison in five sets for a 3-2 (25-17, 16-25, 20-25, 25-22, 16-14) win on Friday evening at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Despite trailing after three sets and dropping the second set by a score of 25-16, the Hilltoppers battled to claim the fourth and fifth sets — winning the fifth by a score of 16-14. The offensive attack was led by a trio of Hilltoppers in Kaira Knox, Faith Young and Alivia Skidmore. Knox set a new season-best 15 kills, Young added a dozen and Skidmore matched her total from Thursday night with 11. The Hilltoppers fired off 14 service aces on Friday, the most in a match in nearly four years.
“What an incredible volleyball match. Credit to James Madison, they’ve got a great team and are well coached,” WKU coach Travis Hudson said in a news release. “You knew this was going to come down to the last play and it took our entire team, staff, crowd, and everything to get us over the finish line and I’m really happy to see that happen.”
Kennedy Cherry served to open action Friday, but the Dukes took the first point. Kate Rush then dumped one over to throw the defense off and notch the kill. Skidmore’s first kill then evened things at two all. Even at three, a service error ignited a 4-0 Hilltopper run to grab a 7-3 advantage. The Dukes then pulled within two. WKU responded to push the margin back to four, first to 10 with a 10-6 lead off Knox’s first kill. Eliza McKnight and Aubrey Sears followed to double JMU’s score at 12-6. McKnight pushed her kill total to two for a 15-9 lead at the media break. Young tallied her fourth kill of the frame to push the lead to seven at 17-10, sparking a 5-0 run, highlighted by a pair of aces off the hand of Rush for an 11-point lead at 22-11. With the Hilltoppers up nine, JMU put together a three-point flurry for a 23-17 score. Knox found a gap to give WKU a seven-point lead and set point. Skidmore closed things out with her fourth kill and the 18th team kill of the frame for a 25-17 win.
JMU grabbed the first point in the second, but an errant serve evened the score. JMU took a 3-1 lead. An attack error and Knox’s first ace evened things up. A 3-0 WKU run allowed for a 6-4 lead to develop, highlighted by the first service ace from Baron. The Dukes took the lead right back at 7-6. JMU was first to 10 in the set, holding a two-point advantage. WKU’s fourth kill of the frame came from Sears for an 11-10 score. Two quick points for JMU pushed the deficit back to three. McKnight dropped an attack right over the net to stop the run. A 4-0 run for the Dukes forced the Tops into a timeout, facing their largest deficit of the night of six at 17-11. A service error and Young kill brought WKU back within four at 17-13. Skidmore placed down another ace to bring WKU within three at 18-15. The Dukes closed the frame on a 7-1 run for a 25-16 win.
WKU jumped out to a 3-2 advantage in the early going. Young fired off a kill to spark a 4-0 run, highlighted by a pair of aces by Young for a 7-2 lead. The Dukes responded with a run of their own for an 8-7 score. WKU was first to 10 off a JMU attack error but the Dukes logged consecutive points to take an 11-10 edge. JMU’s 10th block of the match gave the Dukes a two-point cushion at 14-12. The first block of the night for Sears brought the Hilltoppers within one at 15-14.
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Down 17-15, a JMU serving error kicked off a 4-0 Hilltopper run, forcing JMU into a timeout, leading 19-17. The Dukes were first to 20, following three straight points. The third consecutive attack error from WKU gave JMU a 21-19 lead, forcing the Tops to take a timeout. Out of the break, the Dukes tallied consecutive kills, forcing WKU to burn their final timeout down 23-19. The 6-0 JMU run was snapped by a kill from Skidmore, now down three. JMU closed out the frame with an ace for a 25-20 set three win.
Rush logged a kill to open up action in the fourth frame. Sonja Laaksonen’s pair of kills powered WKU to a 4-1 advantage. Cherry served one up that found its way over the net for a 7-3 advantage. A JMU attack error pushed WKU into double digits for a 10-5 lead. The eighth kill for Skidmore added another for WKU, this time up 11-6. JMU answered back to cut the lead down to three. Knox recorded her eighth kill to go back up four. JMU scored twice, but an attack error gave the Hilltoppers a 15-10 advantage at the media break. The Dukes followed with a 3-1 run before Skidmore stuffed a block to push the margin to four at 17-13. Knox bumped WKU over 20 with a cross-court kill to maintain the four-point lead. Three straight for the Dukes forced a Hilltopper timeout, up 20-19.
Even at 20-all, Knox fired one to the left corner for her 10th kill and a narrow lead. Back-to-back aces by Knox pinned the Dukes into a timeout, now leading with set point 24-21. JMU committed an attack error and the Tops forced a fifth set by a score of 25-22.
The first four points of the fifth set were split for a 2-2 tie. Knox fired off her 11th kill to jump start a 4-0 Hilltopper run and force the Dukes into a timeout, trailing 6-2. A 3-1 run for JMU cut the WKU lead down to two at 7-5. The Hilltoppers responded and the ninth point came by way of a Baron ace, forcing another timeout. WKU broke 10 with Young’s 11th kill for a 10-6 edge. Five of the next eight points were scored by JMU. Knox punched over a kill for a 14-11 lead and match point. JMU responded with three in a row to even things up. A service error gave the Tops match point for the second time and Skidmore slammed the door shut for a five-set victory.
Knox paced the WKU attack on Friday, matching her double-double from Thursday, logging 15 kills and 11 digs. The sophomore added a team best four aces and three blocks in the effort. The four aces for Knox mark a career best, beating her previous, three, set against Dayton on Sept. 5. Her three blocks and 11 digs both match a season best.
Young added a dozen kills on 22 attacks to finish with a team best .409 hitting percentage to go along with three blocks, two aces and two digs. Young’s 12 kills match a season best and the fourth time this season the middle hitter has hit double figures in kills.
Skidmore also tallied double-digit kills in the win, finishing with 11 for the second straight match. The junior added three aces, two blocks, and two digs. Skidmore’s three aces match a career high set last week against Dayton.
Rush tallied 38 assists on the night alongside eight digs, five kills, three aces and three blocks. Friday marked the fifth match this season in which Rush has managed three-plus service aces.
McKnight also logged five kills in the win. The freshman had a team high four blocks, matching a season best.
Baron led the defensive effort, finishing with 19 digs, three assists and a pair of aces from the service line. The Dukes outperformed the Hilltoppers in most categories, but the service line proved to be vital as WKU finished with 14 aces compared to six for JMU. WKU’s 14 aces mark the most in a match since they tallied 17 in a 3-1 win over UTEP on Oct. 16, 2022.
The Hilltoppers wrap up action at the Alyssa Cavanaugh Classic on Saturday against Eastern Kentucky. First serve is set for 3 p.m.
