BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Western Kentucky University volleyball team will open its Sun Belt Conference schedule this weekend, hosting a pair of West Division foes in Arkansas-Little Rock and Arkansas State. The Lady Toppers (13-1) take on UALR on Friday and Arkansas State on Saturday with both matches set to begin at 7 p.m. at E.A. Diddle Arena.
"I want to continue to improve," WKU coach Travis Hudson said. "I still think there are things we can be better at. I think the challenge grows now that we are in conference play because these are teams that play us year in and year out and have a really good idea of how to go about defending us and that presents more challenges."
Arkansas-Little Rock enters conference play with a 5-9 overall record and having lost five of its last seven matches. The Trojans are 0-5 away in true road games this season. As a team, UALR has a .217 hitting percentages while averaging 11.59 kills per set and 11.47 digs per set. Freshman outside hitter Edina Begic leads the offense with 3.37 kills per set while senior Kristi Block is first with 1.04 blocks per set.
Over the weekend, the Trojans competed at the Oklahoma Invitational, going 2-2 with wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3-0 (25-7, 25-9, 25-9) and Texas Southern 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-3) and losses to No. 22 Oklahoma 0-3 (19-25, 16-25, 18-25) and Boise State 0-3 (19-25, 16-25, 15-25).
"They are going be a much improved team from a year ago," Hudson said. "Last year they ended up in a situation where they were without a setter and it really hurt them offensively and this year, obviously they have a setter, and are a much improved team both offensively and defensively."
Arkansas State enters Sun Belt action with a 9-5 overall record and has won five straight matches. The Red Wolves are 2-3 in true road games this season. As a team, ASU has a .216 hitting percentage while averaging 12.71 kills per set and 14.25 digs per set. Arkansas State went 4-0 last with wins over Southeast Missouri State, Alcorn State, Central Arkansas and Northwestern State. The win over SEMO was ASU's home opener and all four wins were 3-0 sweeps.
The Red Wolves had 19 service aces as a team against Alcorn State, the second highest total in school history. ASU is now 6-0 in matches that have gone just three sets this season. Cayla Fielder is now in ninth place on the all-time ASU kills list with 1,157 kills.
"Arkansas State is a team that's been together for the last couple of years," Hudson said. "They were really young and haven't really graduated anybody. They have a kid that is a legitimate player of the year candidate in the league in Cayla Fielder and they come in here off of a really good, solid non-conference schedule themselves and I anticipate them being right there as the West Division champ along the way too."
WKU leads the all-time series with Arkansas-Little Rock 22-12, including a 9-5 record in Bowling Green. WKU is 18-1 in the last 19 meetings between the two teams. Last year, the Lady Toppers swept UALR 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-12) in Little Rock.
The Lady Toppers trail the all-time series with Arkansas State 18-19 but lead at home 9-4. WKU is 15-2 in its last 17 meetings with the Red Wolves. The Lady Toppers swept Arkansas State 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-17) last season in Jonesboro.
"I'm not really thinking about momentum as much as I'm thinking about starting over," Hudson said. "I really think our team needs to let go of what has already been. I'm really looking more at starting fresh and building a conference resume if you will because that is the challenge that is in front of us right now."
For complete results and a recap of this weekend's action, please visit WKUSports. Live stats and video will also be available on the site.
Match Notes
