Coach Hudson Interview
NO. 24 WKU SECURES 20TH-STRAIGHT 20-WIN SEASON WITH SWEEP AT MTSU
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – WKU Volleyball locked down its 20th-straight 20-win season with Friday night's sweep at Middle Tennessee. The Lady Toppers are the first team in the NCAA to achieve 20 wins in 2019 while also leading the country in sweeps with 14.
"Not our cleanest but we did a lot of good things. It's hard to come into your rival's place on a Friday night and play well but I thought we settled as the match went along…You can't complain when you come on the road and win in three so we'll take it."
WKU's win in Murfreesboro pushed the Tops to 20-1 overall on the season and 6-0 in Conference USA play. The Red and White have now won 16-straight matches, another mark that leads the nation. Middle Tennessee dropped to 7-13 on the season and 1-5 in C-USA.
After back-and-forth play to open the match, WKU would reel off a string including 13-of-14 points to push ahead to a double-digit advantage. WKU closed the frame with three aces, 11 kills and a .333 hitting percentage after securing the opening frame by a 25-15 decision.
Set two saw the sides even at 9-9 before WKU broke into double digits first and take an 11-9 lead. From there, Middle Tennessee worked ahead to a 15-14 lead, forcing a Lady Topper timeout. Out of the break, WKU reciprocated a four-point run to take an 18-15 lead and closed of the frame for a 25-19 second-set win. Through two sets, Lauren Matthews led the match with seven kills while Kayland Jackson posted five.
Out of the break, the Red and White jumped out to a 10-6 lead and would push that to a 14-9 margin by the time MTSU had called both of its timeouts. Avri Davis and Lauren Matthews would team up for a jaw-dropping block at the net to give WKU a 19-10 lead before the team would close the match with the 25-14 set three victory.
WKU has now won 14-consecutive matches over the Blue Raiders and now leads the all-time series 49-16.
WKU Volleyball continues to build upon the best start in program history with its 20-1 record. With 20 wins, the Lady Topper program also becomes just the fifth team in the NCAA with an active 20-win season streak at 20 seasons or better. Joining WKU on that list are Nebraska (44), Penn State (42), Florida (28) and Colorado State (24).
"Twenty wins, 20-straight years; I have trouble getting my mind around it," Hudson shared. "I only coached five years before then and two of those were a 7-26 year and 9-22 year so we've come an awful long way. It's great that it's alumni weekend on The Hill this weekend because this program has always been about all the players that and have worn the jersey and to accomplish something like that that's been over a 20-year span is pretty special."
NEXT TIME OUT:
WKU returns home to The Hill for its next match as UTSA visits Bowling Green on Sunday. First serve from Diddle Arena is scheduled for noon CT and a WKU Football ticket from Saturday's homecoming game against Charlotte will earn fans free admission to Sunday's match.
How to Follow WKU Volleyball: For complete information on WKU Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUVolleyball and head coach Travis Hudson at @TravisHudsonWKU. The team is also on Instagram and Facebook.
Due to a stat software issue, no stats are available at this time.
Please check back to WKUSports.com or reach out with questions.
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