| WKU Volleyball vs. Arizona | NCAA Tournament | First Round | |
| Date | Friday, December 4 |
| Location | Provo, Utah I George Albert Smith Fieldhouse |
| Interactive Bracket | NCAA Tournament Bracket |
| Video | TheW.Tv |
| Live Stats | |
| Match Notes | WKU Match Notes |
PROVO, Utah -- No. 20 WKU volleyball (31-3) begins its ninth overall NCAA Tournament appearance in program history Friday evening as the Lady Toppers are scheduled to meet Arizona at 6 p.m. CT on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
WKU comes into the contest with the Wildcats riding an eight-match win streak as the Lady Toppers finished its regular season schedule with five consecutive sweeps in order to capture the program's first outright Conference USA regular season title in program history. WKU continued its success in San Antonio, Texas, as the Lady Tops defeated Marshall, North Texas, and host UTSA in order to secure its second consecutive C-USA Tournament Championship.
Arizona comes into Friday's match with the Lady Toppers with a 19-13 overall record, including a 9-11 mark in PAC-12 play. The Wildcats are led by setter Penina Snuka and outside hitter Kalei Mau who were both all-PAC-12 selections this past year. Snuka ranked second in the PAC-12 with an average of 10.93 assists/set and led the league with 21 double-doubles. Mau is ranked third in the conference with an average of 4.33 kills/set. Freshman Tyler Spriggs was named to the all-freshman team after ranking second on the team with an average of 2.67 kills/set.
WKU, No. 13 in the latest RPI rankings, currently ranks in the top-10 nationally in both team-hitting percentage and opponent hitting. The Lady Toppers rank fifth with a .296 team-hitting clip and are at No. 8 after limiting its opponents to just .149 hitting on the year.
Friday's match will be the first-ever meeting between WKU and Arizona. The Lady Toppers hold a 1-3 all-time record against current PAC-12 schools with the lone victory coming over Arizona State in 2008.
If WKU advances, the Lady Tops would face either the host and No. 13 overall seed BYU (26-3, 16-2 WCC) or MAC Champions Ohio (25-7, 13-3 MAC) in the second round on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT. WKU has never played BYU while Ohio holds a slim, 3-2, edge over the Lady Toppers in the all-time series. The two teams last met in 2013 as Ohio earned a 3-0.
How to follow the Lady Toppers: WKU's first round bout with Arizona will be streamed online for free via TheW.tv. Live stats will also be available and fans are encouraged to follow along with in-match updates on the team's Twitter (@WKUVolleyball) and Instagram (@WKU_Volleyball) accounts.
-WKU Notes-
SCHEDULE
Friday, Dec. 4
6:00 p.m. CT Arizona vs. #20 WKU
8:00 p.m. CT Ohio at #11 BYU
Saturday, Dec. 5
8:00 p.m. CT Winner G1 vs. Winner G2
TOURNAMENT TESTED
So far this season, WKU has faced eight teams that made the NCAA tournament and have finished with a 6-2 record against them. The Lady Toppers earned victories over Wisconsin, Southern Illinois, Furman, Lipscomb, Belmont, and Northern Iowa and fell to both Missouri State and Dayton.
EIGHT IS GREAT
WKU enters the NCAA Tournament on a eight-match winning streak. Six of those victories have come in straight-sets with the other two lasting four sets. WKU is no stranger to long winning streaks as the Lady Toppers captured 17 consecutive matches beginning with a sweep over Big Ten foe Northwestern on Sept. 11 and ending with a five-set loss to Rice on Saturday, Oct. 31. The Lady Toppers have not dropped a match since the setback to the Owls.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
The Lady Toppers moved up to 20th in the most recent AVCA Coaches Top 25 released this past Monday. It marks the eighth consecutive week the Lady Topper have been ranked. Earlier this season, WKU also owned the No. 20 spot after defeating then-fifth-ranked Wisconsin and capturing the 2015 HotelRED Invitational. The program's highest ranking came in 2013 when the Lady Toppers were slotted at No. 15. WKU's RPI improved to No. 13 in the NCAA's most recent RPI rankings.
STATEMENT VICTORIES
WKU opened the 2015 season by earning a four-set victory at then-fifth ranked Wisconsin in front of 4,000+ fans in the UW Fieldhouse. UW finished the seasoan 26-4 and is the No. 6 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. WKU finished 3-0 on the year against teams from the Big Ten and SEC after victory over the Badgers and sweeps of both Northwestern and Alabama. 2015 marks the second straight year a WKU beat a ranked foe as the Lady Tops defeated then No. 16 Purdue in 2014.
