No. 19 WKU Volleyball is now 20-1 on the season and was the first team in the country to reach the 20-win plateau. The Hilltoppers continue their run through Conference USA East, improving to 8-0 in league play.
Hallie Shelton added one of WKU's seven service aces on the match. She's up to 175 aces across her career – one shy of tying for third on the Tops' career list. Shelton has now appeared in 142 matches throughout her career, good enough to tie the record on the WKU all-time list.
Lauren Matthews added six total blocks including one solo and now sits at 116 solo blocks on her career – tying the program's all-time record. She's also up to 385 total blocks on her career, moving into sixth on that Hilltopper career list.
As a team, the Hilltoppers doubled the Owls' hitting percentage, .298 to .149 and their blocks, 14-7.
WKU at Florida Atlantic – 25-10, 23-25, 25-20, 25-21
Set 1
After Florida Atlantic opened up a quick 3-1 lead, WKU took control quick as a 6-0 run would give the Hilltoppers a 7-3 advantage. A Nadia Dieudonne serving run took WKU out to a 16-6 lead and Paige Briggs followed with another run to get the Tops out to a 23-8 margin. WKU would ultimately take the set 25-10 while operating at a .529 hitting clip and holding the Owls to a .053 rate. The Red and White racked up four aces and four blocks in the frame.
Set 2
WKU's sets won streak would come to an end at 37 as the Owls claimed set two, 25-23. The Hilltoppers fought back and avoided a couple match points to pull within 24-23 before Florida Atlantic evened the set at 1-1. FAU held WKU to a .281 hitting clip while operating at a .342 mark of its own.
Set 3
FAU took a quick 3-2 lead in the third frame before Matthews struck for a kill and Hallie Shelton followed with her sixth ace of the weekend. The Hilltoppers pushed out to a 14-9 lead before the Owls battled back and owned a lead as late as 18-17. From there, a 4-0 Hilltopper run pushed the Tops ahead at 21-18. FAU's final point pulled it within 22-20 before WKU closed the frame on a 3-0 run to regain a lead in the match, 2-1.
Set 4
Action opened with back-and-forth scoring yet again in the fourth frame. The Owls held a lead at 8-7 before a 5-0 Hilltopper run on the serve of Paige Briggs gave the Tops a lead at 12-8. As the set went on, FAU stayed close and was within two at 21-19. WKU would ultimately claim the set off an Isenbarger kill for the 25-21 decision.
Dieudonne racked up 41 assists as the Hilltoppers operated at a .298 clip on the match. Dieudonne collected eight digs, four blocks, two kills and an ace.
Matthews struck for 18 kills and six blocks. Kayland Jackson and Katie Isenbarger each recorded 11 kills to put three Hilltoppers into double digits in the category. Isenbarger led the way for WKU blocking with eight while Jackson added three of her own.
Briggs tallied a team-best 12 digs to go along with seven kills, three aces and two blocks.
Logan Kael also worked into double-digit digs with 11.
NEXT UP
With its fourth Conference USA series of the season wrapped up, the Hilltoppers are headed home for Senior Week. Old Dominion is headed to The Hill for 6 p.m. CT matches on Thursday and Friday nights. Friday evening will mark both Senior Night and Alumni Night for the WKU Volleyball program.
POST-MATCH NOTES
- WKU used the lineup of Paige Briggs, Katie Howard, Lauren Matthews, Katie Isenbarger, Kayland Jackson, Nadia Dieudonne and Logan Kael at libero for the third-straight match. This is the fifth different starting lineup to hit the floor for WKU.
- WKU leads all-time series against Florida Atlantic 29
- With the win, WKU Volleyball secured its 22nd-straight 20-win season and became the first team to reach 20 wins across all of NCAA Volleyball on the 2021 fall campaign. WKU's streak is the second-longest streak in the nation.
- WKU is now 5-0 on the season when three Hilltoppers record double-digit kills.
- Hallie Shelton added one of WKU's seven service aces on the match. She's up to 175 aces across her career – one shy of tying for third on the Tops' career list. Shelton has now appeared in 142 matches throughout her career, good enough to tie the record on the WKU all-time list.
- Matthews added six total blocks including one solo and now sits at 116 solo blocks on her career – tying the program's all-time record. She's also up to 385 total blocks on her career, moving into sixth on that Hilltopper career list.
- Katie Isenbarger recorded a season-high 11 kills while matching her season-best of eight blocks.
- With the win, the Hilltoppers improve to 20-1 (8-0 C-USA) on the season.
- The Tops' NCAA-best conference win streak is up to 41 with Saturday's victory, continuing to surpass the previous Conference USA record already held by WKU (38).
- Additionally, WKU's NCAA-leading road streak grew to 21 matches with the win.
- With the day's results, head coach Travis Hudson is now 685-217 across his career.
- WKU Volleyball is now up to an all-time program record of 963-492 with Saturday's win.
