[RV] Opens League Play with Southern Miss on The Hill

WKU Match Notes

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Fresh off closing its non-conference slate with a 14-1 record, the Lady Toppers will open up Conference USA action this Sunday as Southern Miss visits The Hill. First serve between the Lady Toppers and Golden Eagles is set for noon CT, at E.A. Diddle Arena. The match will be streamed on Facebook by HSSN.

FOLLOWING INFORMATION
Sunday, Sept. 29 – Noon CT | Southern Miss | Stats | Facebook Live

Southern Miss made a Friday night stop in Huntington, W.Va., on Friday before heading to The Hill for Sunday's rematch of the 2018 C-USA Tournament First Round matchup. The Golden Eagles are still searching for their first victory of the 2019 campaign, winning just two sets en route to a 0-13 record including a sweep at Marshall. USM won a set off Tulane – the squads' lone common opponent – and one off Seattle in the season opener.

Last November, Southern Miss ended WKU's season with a five-set win in the opening round of the C-USA Tournament from Huntington, W.Va. After the Red and White claimed the first two sets, USM came back to win the final three.

In the all-time series, WKU leads 6-2, including wins in all five regular-season meetings. The programs met for the first time in 1988, when USM claimed the initial contest – a five-set decision. WKU is 3-0 when facing the Golden Eagles in E.A. Diddle Arena.

With a 14-1 overall record entering conference play, WKU Volleyball owns the third-best winning percentage in the country, behind only California and Baylor – the two remaining unbeaten teams. WKU's start is the fourth-best in program history behind only an 18-1 opening in 2005, a 17-1 start in 2011 and a 16-1 reading in 2004.

For the second-consecutive week, WKU Volleyball is receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll. After entering the poll at 36^th with nine votes, the Lady Toppers have moved up to 31^st while receiving 19 tallies. Head coach Travis Hudson's program has now been ranked or receiving votes in 10-consecutive seasons.

Following an 18-ace weekend and four more aces Tuesday night against Austin Peay, Sophia Cerino nearly doubled her season output and is now the NCAA leader in both aces and aces per set. The senior owns 46 aces on the season for a 0.88 aces per set rate. The lefty has been lethal from the service line for the Red and White, owning four-straight matches with four or more aces to bring her season total to seven such outings.

Through four weeks of Conference USA weekly awards, WKU Volleyball has already seen four Lady Toppers recognized with seven honors, displaying just how versatile Travis Hudson's 2019 squad is. Most recently, Nadia Dieudonne and Paige Briggs were recognized as the league's Setter of the Week and Freshman of the Week, respectively.

WKU Volleyball is in the midst of a 12-match stretch that features 11 home contests. Following Sunday's tilt with Southern Miss, the Lady Toppers will remain home on The Hill for two more matches next weekend.

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Paige Briggs

Sophia Cerino

Nadia Dieudonne