2016 Schedule [PDF]
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Back-to-back Conference USA champion WKU volleyball and head coach Travis Hudson announced a challenging slate of games for its upcoming 2016 season Tuesday morning.
The Lady Toppers will begin the year in Athens, Ohio, as WKU is set to participate in the Bobcat Invitational, hosted by Ohio University on August 26-27.
WKU starts the weekend with a battle against the host Bobcats on Friday, August 26. Ohio finished with a 25-8 overall record in 2015 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament after capturing the MAC Tournament Championship.
WKU will complete the tournament Saturday with bouts against Villanova and Florida Gulf Coast. In 2015, Villanova finished second in the Big East and produced a 25-9 overall record on its way to a first round appearance in the NCAA Tournament while FGCU finished second in the Atlantic Sun with a 21-11 overall record. The match will be the first time the Lady Toppers have played FGCU.
After traveling to Clarksville, Tennessee, for a match at Ohio Valley Conference foe Austin Peay on Tuesday, August 30, WKU will complete its week in St Louis as the Lady Toppers are set to compete in three matches at the Saint Louis Tournament on Friday and Saturday, September 2-3.
The first game of the Saint Louis Invite will be a challenge for the Lady Toppers as WKU is set to face an Arkansas State squad that completed an impressive 2015 season with a 28-2 overall record on their way to capturing both the Sun Belt regular season and tournament titles and earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Red Wolves finished the year with a No. 24 ranking in the final Top 25 AVCA Coaches Poll.
WKU will complete play Saturday with matches against the host Bilikens and Cal-Poly. St. Louis finished with a 22-10 record in 2015 while Big West member Cal-Poly notched a final record of 19-8.
WKU's first home match of the season will come on Tuesday, September 6, as the Lady Toppers will host Belmont at 7 p.m. CT in E.A. Diddle Arena. The Bruins are coming off a 2015 campaign which produced an OVC Tournament title and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Toppers will continue its home stand the following weekend as WKU will once again host its two-day Holiday Inn University Plaza Invitational on Friday and Saturday, September 9-10.
WKU is set to welcome Southern Illinois, Cincinnati and Big Ten member Michigan State to E.A. Diddle Arena. Both Southern Illinois and Michigan State are coming off NCAA Tournament appearances in 2015 while American Athletic Conference member Cincinnati finished with a 21-10 overall record a season ago.
WKU's final preseason invitational will come the weekend of September 16-17 as the Lady Toppers are set to travel to Pittsburgh to participate in the Panther Invitational hosted by Pitt.
The Lady Toppers open the two-day invite against the host Panthers Friday as Pitt is coming off a 2015 campaign that produced a 23-9 overall record, including a 13-7 mark in ACC play. This will mark the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Matches against Robert Morris and Lehigh will conclude play Saturday. WKU has never played reigning Northeast Conference Champion Robert Morris as the Colonials finished 2015 with a 19-13 mark and made an appearance in the NCAA Tournament while Patriot League member Lehigh finished last season with a 19-13 overall record.
WKU's final preseason match will come on Tuesday, October 11, as the Lady Toppers welcome Lipscomb to E.A. Diddle arena for a 7 p.m. CT contest. The Bisons finished 2015 with a 23-9 overall record and a 13-1 mark in Atlantic Sun play as the reigning A-Sun champions finished the year by making an appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
"Our preseason schedule is put together in order to give us a chance to build the all-important RPI that is so critical to postseason bids," Hudson said. "It is hard to find many teams in there that aren't in the top tier of the 2015 RPI and that should serve us well."
In total, eight of WKU's 14 preseason opponents qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2015 while nine teams produced 20-win seasons. Five (Ohio, Villanova, Arkansas State, Southern Illinois, Michigan State) finished 2015 with a top-50 RPI in the final NCAA rankings.
"There will be challenges day in and day out against teams that are competing for conference championships and NCAA tournament bids and that is something I know our players are excited about," Hudson said.
WKU will begin its quest for a third consecutive Conference USA Regular Season title with a pair of home matches against Florida Atlantic (Sept. 23) and Charlotte (Sept. 25).
Three consecutive road contests follow as the Lady Toppers will close out the month of September by traveling to Louisiana Tech on Friday, September 30, and will make a quick turnaround and head to rival Middle Tennessee on Sunday, October 2. The road trip concludes in Hattiesburg with a Thursday showdown against Southern Miss on October 6.
WKU returns to E.A. Diddle Arena by hosting matches against UAB on Friday, October 14, and FIU on Sunday, October 16.
The Lady Tops will play their next four contests on the road as WKU heads to the Lone Star State the following weekend for matches against UTEP (10/21) and UTSA (10/23). Bouts at Marshall (10/28) and UAB (10/30) are set for the following weekend.
WKU ends its schedule with three straight home contests including an important contest against league rival Rice on Friday, November 4. The Owls were the only C-USA team to beat WKU in 2015 after taking down the Lady Toppers in a five-set thriller. A rematch against Middle Tennessee immediately follows on Saturday, November 5.
WKU concludes its 2016 regular season on Thursday, November 10, with a home contest against North Texas.
"Conference USA play is going to be incredibly challenging in 2016 as many teams return a solid core of veteran players," Hudson said. "We look forward to the challenges that lay ahead within this schedule. We are not a tremendously deep team, but we have a lot of talent. If we can manage to stay healthy, I think we have the chance to do some special things."
WKU is set to return nine letter winners from a team that finished 2015 with a 32-4 overall record, just one win shy of tying the program record, on their way to capturing both the Conference USA Regular Season and Tournament titles for the second consecutive season.
The Lady Toppers finished the year by making their ninth NCAA Tournament appearance where they advanced to the second round for just the second time in program history before falling to host BYU in Provo, Utah. WKU finished No. 22 in the final AVCA national rankings.
