June 15, 2000
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Western Kentucky University volleyball team will play four conference champions and three NCAA Tournament squads in the 2000 season as part of a rugged schedule released Thursday by WKU Athletics Director Dr. Wood Selig and Lady Topper head coach Travis Hudson .
Western will also participate in three tournaments, all in the first month of the season, and is scheduled to battle Conference USA co-champions Cincinnati and Louisville, as well as Southeastern Conference rival Kentucky during the upcoming campaign. Matches with Trans America Athletic Conference kingpin Central Florida and Ohio Valley Conference runner-up Austin Peay also dot the Lady Toppers' non-conference schedule.
The Sun Belt Conference docket should be even more grueling, with the additions of Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State and North Texas to the league. Both NMSU and UNT come to the Sun Belt from the Big West Conference, which placed three schools in the top 10 in the nation last season, and had two teams (Pacific and Long Beach State) reach the semifinals of last year's NCAA Tournament.
The SBC will also be split in two divisions this season, with Western Kentucky being placed in the Eastern Division, along with defending Sun Belt champion Arkansas State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Florida International, Louisiana Tech and Middle Tennessee. The Western Division will be made up of Denver, Louisiana-Lafayette, New Mexico State, New Orleans, North Texas and South Alabama. Each school will play every team in their own division twice (home and away) and will face each team in the other division once.
"This will definitely be the strongest conference schedule we have ever faced," Hudson said. "With New Mexico State and North Texas coming from a very strong conference like the Big West, that adds even more strength to the Sun Belt. Hopefully, our non-conference schedule, with high-quality teams like Cincinnati, Kentucky and Louisville, will give us the experience and preparation we will need when the conference season begins."
Western will open the 2000 season Sept. 2-3 at the IUPUI Volleyball Invitational in Indianapolis. After a brief trip home to face Cincinnati, the Lady Toppers will embark on a nine-match road trip, including four matches at the Valparaiso Popcorn Classic, and three contests at the Raider Challenge, hosted by Wright State. WKU will wind up its road swing at Kentucky before kicking off Sun Belt play with a three-match homestand beginning Sept. 22 against Louisiana Tech.
Other highlights of WKU's 2000 schedule include the Lady Toppers' first-ever trip to North Texas (Sept. 29 in Denton, Texas), the first match between Western and Louisville since 1996 (Oct. 10 in Louisville), and the first visit by New Mexico State to Diddle Arena (Oct. 13). The NMSU match, along with the Oct. 15 contest against Denver, will be part of Homecoming Weekend on the Hill. The season wraps up with the Sun Belt Tournament, to be held Nov. 16-19 at Kiefer UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
Western Kentucky returns eight letterwinners and four starters from last year's squad which went 18-14 and reached the semifinals of the Sun Belt Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Lady Toppers will be playing their 20th season of intercollegiate volleyball in 2000, having amassed an overall record of 356-362 on the Hill.
