July 2, 2014
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -With the move to Conference USA official on Tuesday, the WKU volleyball team will gear up for its 2014 campaign, as the schedule for the upcoming season is released featuring a 16-game league slate to go with a competitive non-conference portion.
With 32 total matches on the schedule, including 13 at E.A. Diddle Arena, WKU faces six teams that went to the NCAA Tournament last season with five coming in the first month of action. The Lady Toppers' opponents garnered six wins in NCAA postseason action, including a trio of teams advancing past the first round in Cal State Northridge (Second Round), Michigan State (Sweet 16) and Purdue (Elite Eight).
Ten opponents finished the campaign in the top 100 RPI, including a pair coming in the conference part with defending league champion UTSA and regional-rival Middle Tennessee. Three of the teams were ranked or receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) final 2013 poll. Out of the 27 opponents on the regular-season schedule, 17 posted winning seasons in 2013 with nine of those tallying 20 wins or more.
As the move to C-USA brings in a new conference slate, only four teams on the schedule will repeat from last season with WKU defeating each of those teams in UNLV, Belmont, Purdue and Western Michigan. The 2014 campaign also delivers seven first-time opponents.
WKU kicks offs the 2014 schedule August 29 in Las Vegas at the UNLV Invitational, facing UC Riverside and the Lady Rebels on the first day while finishing with CSU Northridge on August 30. A home match with Belmont on September 2 opens the home slate before the Lady Toppers hit the road for the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational in Springfield, Mo. WKU will go up against Incarnate Word and host Missouri State on September 5 before concluding the tourney with Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Oral Roberts on September 6.
A contest at Lipscomb on September 9 leads into the program's annual tournament--the Holiday Inn WKU Classic on September 12-13. The Lady Toppers welcome the Boilermakers on Friday night before a double dose of games on Saturday with Austin Peay and Western Michigan. The final regular-season tournament takes WKU to East Lansing, Mich., for the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational where the squad faces Milwaukee and Michigan State on September 19 and LIU Brooklyn on September 20.
A bout against Tennessee Tech on The Hill closes out the non-conference schedule on September 23, as WKU opens its C-USA era with LA Tech on September 26 in Ruston. The first league match at home in on September 28 against Rice. Other home matches include Charlotte (October 7), Marshall (October 10), North Texas (October 12), FIU (October 24), Florida Atlantic (October 26), UTEP (November 13) and Middle Tennessee for Senior Day (November 15).
WKU will hit the road for conference games at FIU (October 3), Florida Atlantic (October 5), UTSA (October 17), UTEP (October 19), UAB (October 31), Southern Miss (November 7) and Marshall (November 9).
The C-USA Tournament will take place November 21-23 in Hattiesburg, Miss., on the campus of Southern Miss.
To view the full schedule, click here.
Season tickets for the 2014 campaign are available online at WKUSports.com or by calling the WKU ticket office at 1-800-5-BIGRED. Season ticket holders will receive 13 general admission tickets with the flexible ticket package that can be used to attend the home games of his or her choice. This plan allows the flexibility to choose which volleyball games the buyer wants to attend and the number of tickets used for each game. Season ticket holders also gain exclusive access to pre-game chalk talks with head coach Travis Hudson, who enters his 20th season at the helm of WKU volleyball.
For all the latest news and information on WKU volleyball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the program on Twitter via @TravisHudsonWKU and @WKUVolleyball.
