Lady Topper Volleyball Wraps Up Exhibition Against No. 5 Kentucky

Thursday, August 16

Bowling Green, Ky.

5 p.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

Kentucky (Exh)

Photo by: Steve Roberts/WKU Athletics

Lady Topper Volleyball Wraps Up Exhibition Against No. 5 Kentucky

8/16/2018 8:37:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Post-match interviews: Hudson | Kowalkowski | Cerino

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – In the inaugural volleyball exhibition match hosted in Diddle Arena, WKU got its first taste of action in the 2018 campaign as No. 5-ranked Kentucky came to town. Both Bluegrass programs went deep into their benches to take advantage of the live match setting.

"When you play a team the quality of Kentucky, you get exposed a lot of ways and that's exactly what we wanted to be," head coach Travis Hudson shared following the exhibition. "I wish we would have done a better job controlling the things that we can, but certainly we're going to be exposed to a certain degree as well."

Back-and-forth action had an impressive Diddle Arena crowd to its feet on several occasions throughout play. Both the Wildcats and Lady Toppers are poised to make significant noise again this season with rosters filled with talent from top to bottom.

Exhibition play did not strictly adhere to the usual match format. Both teams agreed to play in a cooperative format so each side's bench could gain valuable match setting playing time in addition to some players being unavailable due to injury. The head coaches of both programs have agreed to not release scores from the exhibition. Anyone that missed out on Thursday night's action should plan a visit to Diddle Arena as soon as possible to catch the team in action. The full 2018 WKU schedule can be found HERE.

With just over a week until the regular season kicks off, an exciting campaign awaits the Red and White. Returning All-American Rachel Anderson earned Preseason Player of the Year honors from Conference USA and is expected to put together a thrilling senior season to cap her dominant career on The Hill. Hilltopper Nation should also get used to hearing the names Payton Frederick, Ashley Hood, Katie Isenbarger and Lauren Matthews - all four rookies are capable of making instrumental contributions for the Red and White as the year progresses.

The Lady Toppers are coming off their 16^th-straight 25-win season in 2017 while stretching their 30-win season streak to four-consecutive campaigns with a 31-4 record. The Lady Toppers secured their seventh-straight regular-season conference championship with a 13-1 record in Conference USA action and went on to win the C-USA Tournament for the fourth-straight year as well. The tournament championship marked the Red and White's 11^th NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002 and the seventh appearance in the past eight seasons. Once in The Dance, the Lady Topper squad swept Notre Dame - a defensive powerhouse – in the first round to make its third-ever appearance in the Second Round.

There will one more chance to catch the WKU Volleyball unit in action for free prior to the Aug. 28 home opener. This Saturday, the squad will put on its second annual Volleyball 101 and scrimmage. Action will open at 10 a.m. from the main court of Diddle Arena with an hour long scrimmage before splitting into the kids clinic and Volleyball 101 informational session at 11 a.m. Parking in PS2 is free as well.

With the 2018 campaign just around the corner, volleyball season tickets are available online at WKUSports.com or by calling the WKU ticket office at 1-800-5-BIGRED. Season ticket holders will receive 15 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 Hudson, who enters his 24th season at the helm of WKU volleyball.

How to Follow the Lady Toppers: For complete information on WKU Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUVolleyball and head coach Travis Hudson at @TravisHudsonWKU.