Big Performances Help Tops to Tournament Crown; Dieudonne Named MVP

Saturday, August 31

Toledo, Ohio

11 a.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

3-0

Toledo

1-2

WKU

Toledo

Big Performances Help Tops to Tournament Crown; Dieudonne Named MVP

8/31/2019 6:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

TOLEDO, Ohio – A pair of Saturday sweeps secured WKU Volleyball the opening weekend crown from Toledo's Blue & Gold Tournament after a five-set win Friday night. Lady Topper freshman Paige Briggs added another double-double performance while Lauren Matthews worked at a scorching .609 clip en route to 17 kills in the tournament finale.

"I'm really happy with the weekend overall," head coach Travis Hudson started. "We improved with each match throughout the weekend and that is what's most important to me at this point, regardless of the outcome."

In her first weekend as a Lady Topper, Nadia Dieudonne proved to be a game changer and earned the Toledo Blue & Gold Tournament's MVP honor. Fellow newcomer Briggs along with C-USA Preseason All-Conference selection Matthews earned spots on the Blue & Gold All-Tournament Team as well.

Throughout the weekend, the Red and White put up big numbers in nearly every facet of the game. Offensively, the Lady Toppers posted a .320 hitting clip while limiting their opposition to a mere .163 rate. WKU tallied 151 kills led by Briggs' 44. Three different WKU student-athletes tallied four aces including Briggs, Sophia Cerino and Katie Isenbarger.

Defensively, Logan Kael (39), Dieudonne (35) and Briggs (34) all racked up 30+ digs. At the net, Cerino, Isenbarger, Matthews and Avri Davis all recorded six or more blocks on the weekend.

WKU Volleyball is off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2017 when the team opened with four-straight wins before dropping a decision. In total, the Lady Topper program has begun a season 3-0 10 times under Hudson.

WKU 3, TOLEDO 0

WKU Volleyball picked up its first sweep of the season on Saturday morning with a win over the weekend host, Toledo. For the second-straight match, Briggs led the Red and White in kills, finishing with 11. The freshman added seven digs, four aces and a .333 hitting clip on the outside.

The Lady Toppers won the opening frame in demanding fashion with a 25-13 over the Rockets. Set two would prove to be the closest of the three frames but WKU prevailed in a 25-19 fashion. Following the break, the Red and White claimed their largest margin of victory in a 25-10 decision to close out the sweep.

As a team, WKU operated at a .398 offensive rate while limiting Toledo to a .140 reading. Sophia Cerino led the Lady Topper charge with seven kills on 11 swings for a .545 rate.

Nadia Dieudonne recorded 34 assists, six digs, two kills and an ace. Leading the WKU defense, Logan Kael posted her second double-digit dig outing in as many matches as a Lady Topper.

WKU 3, NORTH DAKOTA STATE 0

In their final match of the weekend, the Lady Toppers opened the first set against North Dakota State evenly splitting the first 12 points. From there, WKU exploded to a first-frame victory after scoring 19 of the next 25 points for a 25-12 win. Katie Isenbarger and Paige Briggs each recorded five kills in the set.

After hitting at a collective .400 clip in set one, WKU added 15 more kills in the next frame. For the second-straight set, the Lady Toppers held the Bison to a sub-.100 attack rate as WKU took a 25-18 decision for a 2-0 lead in the match.

North Dakota State responded out of the long break and pushed WKU the entire set with neither bench leading by more than three in the frame. In the end, the Lady Toppers would hold on for a 25-23 win to secure their second sweep of the day. Hudson's crew would hit .394 in the frame to bring their mark on the match to .295.

Matthews led the Red and White with 17 kills on the match to go along with a scorching .609 hitting percentage.

Briggs recorded the second double-double performance of her debut weekend, notching 15 kills and 16 digs. The freshman operated at a .351 clip.

Dieudonne remained impressive as well, tallying 42 assists and nine digs in the weekend's final match. For the third-straight match, Kael reached double-digit digs. All nine Lady Toppers to see the course recorded at least one dig in the outing.

At the net, Matthews and Cerino led WKU with three blocks apiece. The Red and White finished with 10 in the contest.

Across the weekend, WKU's attack percentage was more than double all three of its opponents after leading NDSU .295-.130.

NEXT TIME OUT

WKU Volleyball will get back to work this week before heading up the road to Louisville for next weekend's UofL-hosted outing. Along with the Cardinals and Lady Toppers, Arizona State and Tennessee Tech will also be at the event.

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.