Tops Sweep BGSU, Ohio State to Open Home Tournament

Friday, September 13

Bowling Green, Ky.

11 a.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

7-1

Bowling Green

5-3

Bowling Green

WKU

9/13/2019 10:57:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Interviews: Hudson | Dieudonne | Matthews

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Volleyball picked up its fifth and sixth sweeps of the season with victories over Bowling Green and Ohio State to open action in the Holiday Inn – University Plaza Invite on Friday. With the Red and White's win over Ohio State, the squad picked up its 12^th Power Five win across the last six seasons and improved to 2-1 in such outings this year.

"This was really a hard-fought match," Head Coach Travis Hudson opened following WKU's sweep of Ohio State. "We didn't do a lot of things well, but we were steady and we did handle the ball really, really well. Lauren Matthews is just playing really well right now for us. I love this team and I have a lot of faith in us. Even when we lost that lead late in the third set, I had faith that we'd pull this off. I have a lot of faith in this team and what we have the ability to do and it was certainly a lot of fun to watch them compete tonight."

With the wins, WKU is now 8-1 on the season, claiming its last four decisions in straight-sets. Bowling Green moved to 5-3 with the loss while Ohio State fell to 3-5 with a pair of setbacks on the day.

Across WKU's two outings, Lauren Matthews racked up 27 kills and a .396 hitting clip to go along with six blocks for 31 points. As a team, WKU worked at a .242 offensive clip while holding its opponents to a .159 rate.

WKU 3, BOWLING GREEN 0

WKU opened Friday's action with a three-set win over Bowling Green. The opening frame was the tone setter for the Red and White as the squad took the lead by a score of 25-22. The team racked up 22 total kills, at a .326 clip led by 21 assists from Nadia Dieudonne.

Second-set action saw WKU take control as they took a 22-15 lead with the help Paige Briggs and Lauren Matthews, each finishing with 12 kills. Play went back and forth with neither team taking more than a three-point advantage until WKU pushed ahead to an 18-14 lead. A few points later, Logan Kael pushed the Lady Topper advantage to a handful with an ace. BGSU pulled back within 23-21 but kills by Sophia Cerino and Kayland Jackson helped seal the 25-22 victory.

Following the break, the Falcons hung tight, owning a lead as late as 14-13 over the hosts. WKU pulled away with Cerino at the service line for five-straight points to open up an 18-14 advantage. The Tops would lead the rest of the way en route to a 25-21 set three win, capped off by a Cerino and Lauren Matthews block assist.

Matthews and Paige Briggs led WKU with a team-high 12 kills each. Briggs added 14 digs for her fifth double-double performance of the season. Jackson added nine kills on a .500 hitting clip while Cerino chipped in eight more kills to go along with five aces.

Nadia Dieudonne notched 43 assists as WKU found the floor for 47 kills on a .248 hitting percentage in the match.

WKU 3, OHIO STATE 0

WKU's second win of the day came over the Big Ten's Ohio State Buckeyes after a slow start that saw the Tops in a 9-5 hole early to OSU. WKU would score four-straight points to be the first to double digits and seven of the next eight tallies to take a 12-10 lead. The Lady Toppers pushed ahead to a 23-19 lead but the Buckeyes hung around and knotted the frame back up to force a WKU timeout. Out of the stoppage, Matthews found the floor for a kill before an Ohio State attack error gave WKU the 25-23 win.

The Lady Toppers ran out to a quick 9-4 lead in set two and never looked back, leading by as many as eight points on numerous occasions including 22-14. The Buckeyes would string together a few points and pull within four at 24-20 before a service error gave WKU the 25-20 win and 2-0 lead in the match.

Out of the long break, WKU would be the first to double digits again with a 12-9 lead. The frame saw both benches string together handfuls of points at a time resulting in nine ties and five lead changes throughout. WKU owned a 22-20 lead before three-straight OSU points put the visitors up 23-22. The sides would then trade kills, giving Ohio State set point at 24-23. From there, Matthews fired off back-to-back kills before Briggs sent everyone home with the match-deciding kill.

Matthews led the way for WKU again with 15 kills and a .414 hitting percentage. Jackson added eight more strikes while working at a .357 clip. Dieudonne would tally 31 assists and eight digs. Logan Kael led the squad in digs with nine after a 12-dig outing in the early contest.

WKU out-blocked the Buckeyes 8-3 in the contest. Katie Isenbarger racked up two solo blocks to go along with a pair of block assists.

As a team, WKU worked at a .236 offensive clip while holding Ohio State to a .127 rate.

WKU has now swept Ohio State in back-to-back meetings to even the series at 2-2. The Lady Toppers visited Columbus, Ohio, during the 2017 campaign and swept No. 25 Ohio State for the program's first-ever sweep of a top-25 ranked team.

HUDSON ON POWER FIVE WINS:
"I think we're that good; I think we're playing at that level every year. We're recruiting against Power Five teams year in and year out. The kids in our lockerroom had chances to play at Power Five schools but came here. Western Kentucky Volleyball has been a perennial Top-40 volleyball team over the last 10 years. We think we belong in these matches and our kids enjoy the opportunity to show out."

NEXT TIME OUT:
WKU will close out weekend play on Saturday with a 6 p.m. CT, showdown with Tulane. The Green Wave played once on Friday, taking down Ohio State in four sets.

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.