Tops Push Win Streak to Double Digits with Sweep of Austin Peay

Tuesday, September 24

Bowling Green, Ky.

6 p.m. CT

Western Kentucky University

14-1

Austin Peay

2-12

Austin Peay

WKU

Katie Isenbarger Sophia Cerino 2019 celebration

Tops Push Win Streak to Double Digits with Sweep of Austin Peay

9/24/2019 9:09:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Interviews: Coach Hudson | Isenbarger | Cerino

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – WKU Volleyball pushed its win streak to double-digits with its 10^th sweep of the season in Tuesday night's victory over Austin Peay. The Lady Toppers conclude non-conference play with a 14-1 record and remain unbeaten in Diddle Arena with a perfect 8-0 reading.

"I wasn't really happy with the opening set tonight," head coach Travis Hudson opened. "I told our team at a timeout, I felt like we were scoring all the points, all of ours and most of theirs. A lot of unforced errors early on and missed assignments, things like that, which is not something I want us to be. I thought we cleaned that up a lot as the match went on. Certainly, played much better in the second set. I think the thing that sticks out to me that is the biggest bright spot is when we were struggling in that first set, it was Katie Isenbarger who really stepped forward and made some plays for us. We were waiting on that, we need her, and she's certainly capable, and tonight she stepped up and made plays."

After back-and-forth play in the first set saw the sides stay even to a 19-19 mark, WKU made a final surge to score six of the last eight points to claim the frame 25-21. Austin Peay and WKU registered nine ties and five lead changes in the opening set with the final flip coming out of a Lady Topper timeout that saw them trailing 18-16. Briggs tallied back-to-back kills out of the stoppage for two of her seven strikes in the frame. As a team, WKU operated at a .382 offensive clip with 17 kills while holding APSU to 13 kills and a .265 hitting percentage.

Set two saw WKU jump out to a quick 6-0 lead off the serve of Katie Isenbarger and the team never looked back. The Red and White would lead by as many as 17 points in the frame with a 23-6 advantage following a Sophia Cerino kill. A block by Matthews would claim the lopsided 25-7 second set victory.

"That is how clean we can play when we put all the phases together," Hudson shared. "We served it really well, we played good offense in that set, and we defended at a high level. That's what we did against Tulsa. When we play all three phases at a high level, we are pretty tough to beat, and the challenge is getting this young team there, and getting them to understand the importance of being that focused at all times."

The last time WKU held a team to single digits in a set was the first round of the 2017 Conference USA Tournament over Charlotte. WKU claimed the fourth and final set by a 25-6 decision.

Out of the break, Austin Peay came back firing and stayed even with the Tops out to an 8-8 tie, with ties at every point along the way. From there though, Cerino recorded back-to-back aces to open a string of six-straight serves as WKU took a lead and never looked back. The Lady Toppers would work out to an 18-9 advantage before the Govs would finally enter double digits. WKU would close the frame with consecutive kills by Isenbarger, Hallie Shelton and Matthews for the 25-15 decision.

With a total of four aces on the night, the NCAA service ace leader, Cerino, would extend her streak of 4+ aces in a match out to four. She's registered at least one ace in six-consecutive matches and 11-of-15 total contests this season.

Logan Kael added three more of WKU's 10 aces on the evening to go along with six digs.

Briggs and Matthews led WKU with 11 kills each and hit a combined .600 on the night with just one error. Briggs collected her eighth double-double outing of the season with a match-high 13 digs as well. Matthews would finish with four solo blocks on the night.

Leading WKU in blocks would be Cerino and Isenbarger, who teamed up for five block assists in the match.

Isenbarger finished with seven kills on a .333 attack clip while Kayland Jackson added six and Cerino chipped in five.

Nadia Dieudonne tallied 33 assists while leading WKU to a scorching .400 hitting clip – the squad's best mark since hitting .426 at UTEP on Oct. 26, 2018.

HUDSON ON CONFERENCE PLAY:
"Everything gets taken up a notch. Our scouting reports will be a little more in depth, everybody will know each other a little bit better, and every match has a little bit more importance. I think we were picked third in the preseason, so were going into this with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder, but this league is very good this year. Rice is playing at an unbelievable level and very much deserves to be in the top 25 right now. We just want to continue to build. Phase 1 of the season is over now, non-conference, and I couldn't be much happier than I am to be 14-1. Now it's about getting back in the gym. I think I am as excited to have good quality practice time over the next few weeks as anything else because were young and we have a lot of things we have to continue to get better at."

SOPHIA CERINO ON BEING THE NCAA ACES LEADER:
"It's kind of surreal. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed that this would happen. Throughout my career, going from my freshman year, sophomore year, all the way up to my senior year. I have always loved my top spin serve, and I have always tried to have been competitive with it, but never would I have ever imagined I'd be here, so it is such an honor, and I am really excited to continue to keep that up."

NEXT TIME OUT:
With its non-conference slate concluded, WKU turns its attention to C-USA action as Southern Miss visits The Hill on Sunday for a noon CT tilt.

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.