[RV] Tops Set to Open Seven-Match Homestand With WKU Invite

Match Notes: WKU (PDF)| Tulsa (PDF)| Northern Kentucky (PDF)

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – After receiving votes in an AVCA Coaches Poll for the ninth-consecutive season, WKU Volleyball returns home to The Hill for its next seven matches. This weekend, the Lady Toppers will host the WKU Volleyball Invite and welcome Northern Kentucky, Tulsa and Samford to Diddle Arena for the two-day event.

COMPLETE WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 13 – 11 a.m. CT | vs. Northern Kentucky | Livestats | Stream
Friday, Sept. 13 - 1 p.m. CT | Tulsa vs. Samford | Livestats
Friday, Sept. 13 – 7 p.m. CT | vs. Tulsa | Livestats | Stream
Saturday, Sept. 14 – 10 a.m. CT | Samford vs. Northern Kentucky | Livestats
Saturday, Sept. 14 – 3 p.m. CT | Northern Kentucky vs. Tulsa | Livestats
Saturday, Sept. 14 – 5 p.m. CT | vs. Samford | Livestats

Up first for the Red and White this weekend will be the Norse from Northern Kentucky. NKU is off to a 5-4 start to the season and is coming off an upset of [RV] Cincinnati in its most recent outing. The Norse went 2-1 in their first two tournaments of the year before a 1-2 showing most recently. Friday's match will mark the first time that WKU and Northern Kentucky meet on the volleyball court.

In Friday night's primetime match, the Lady Toppers will face off against their second American Athletic Conference foe of the season as Tulsa visits Diddle Arena for the first time. After the Hurricane won the meetings in 1985 and 1988 in three sets, WKU swept the squad in the most recent meeting that took place in 1991. Tulsa is off to a 6-4 start on the 2019 season and has crossed paths with three Conference USA teams already, dropping four-set decisions to North Texas and UTSA while winning by the same margin over Louisiana Tech.

The Lady Toppers will close weekend action with a Saturday night showdown with Samford, who enters the weekend with a 6-1 record. After dropping their opening contests of the season, Samford has rattled of six victories, including a five-set upset of No. 24 Arizona on opening weekend.

All three weekend opponents appeared in either the NCAA Tournament or NIVC event last season. Samford earned the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament while Northern Kentucky and Tulsa each participated in the NIVC.

Through three weeks of Conference USA weekly awards, WKU Volleyball has already seen four Lady Toppers recognized with five different honors, displaying just how versatile Travis Hudson's 2019 squad is. Most recently, Lauren Matthews brought in Co-Offensive Player of the Week recognition while Paige Briggs picked up her second Freshman of the Week honor. In the second week of awards, Sophia Cerino was recognized as the league's Defensive Player of the Week after Nadia Dieudonne and Briggs were tabbed Setter and Freshman of the Week, respectively.

Off to a 10-1 start to the 2019 campaign, WKU Volleyball will play in the friendly confines of E.A. Diddle Arena for four additional matches following this weekend's slate. The Tops won't be on the road again until an Oct. 11 outing at Florida Atlantic.

After securing 20 wins last season, Coach Hudson and the WKU program have now posted 19-consecutive 20-win campaigns. The streak is the fifth-best active mark in the nation.

The 2019 season also marks Hudson's 25^th at the helm of WKU Volleyball. Hudson is one of just 31 coaches across Division I Volleyball to be leading a team for at least their 25^th season. Even more impressively, the WKU veteran is one of just 11 to coach every season at the same school. His .741 career win-percentage entering the season figures out to rank second-best of those 11 longstanding coaches as does his 25.4 wins-per-season average.

With the 2019 campaign underway, 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 25th season at the helm of WKU volleyball.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Paige Briggs

Sophia Cerino

Nadia Dieudonne

Lauren Matthews