BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – No. 18 WKU Volleyball used an all-around effort to extend its win streak to 14 matches while sweeping Old Dominion in straight sets, 3-0. The Hilltoppers added to their NCAA-best conference winning streak (42) to open their final home series of the season. WKU's potent offense worked at its second-highest clip of the season, .472, while holding the Monarchs to an even .000 attack rate.
"We were really good offensively," shared head coach Travis Hudson. "When you are hitting .472 for a match, you are doing some pretty good things. We had it working everywhere. Nadia was doing a really good job of moving the ball around, which means that our first touches were really good to allow her to do that."
"I think everyone was doing their best and doing what they are supposed to do," added Nadia Dieudonne. "It makes my job easier when my hitters are making good decisions and hitting the percentage they are. It's fun and I am proud of everyone and myself as well."
No. 18 WKU Volleyball is now 21-1 on the season while also improving to 9-0 in conference play. Old Dominion moved to 11-12 overall and 3-6 in league play. The Hilltoppers have swept all three meetings against the Monarchs in program history.
WKU saw a pair of veterans set program records on Thursday night. With her first of two solo blocks on the night, Lauren Matthews became the program's career solo blocks record holder at 118 – still with a season of eligibility remaining. Fifth year defensive specialist Hallie Shelton made a couple of marks in the record book, the evening's match marked her program-record 143rd career appearance as a Hilltopper. With three aces in the match, Shelton also moved into third on the Tops' all-time list in the category and has 178 on her career.
"It's pretty cool," shared Matthews of her record. "Everyone is always focused on the offensive part, but defense is a big key in this game."
Matthews racked up 13 kills on 19 attempts for a hitting clip of .579 on the night, marking the ninth-straight match the senior has led the Hilltoppers in kills.
Old Dominion at WKU - 25-13, 25-16, 25-14
Set 1
After Old Dominion scored the match's opening point, WKU ran out to a quick 4-1 lead and forced ODU timeouts at 6-2 and 22-12. Every Hilltopper that had an attack in the frame recorded at least two kills. The Hilltoppers were dominant in the first set, racking up 16 kills on 25 errorless attempts. WKU held Old Dominion to just six kills in the frame, operating on a -.083 hitting clip. Matthews led the way for the Hilltoppers, recording four kills on four swings. ODU would score just seven points in the set as the Tops committed six service errors in the frame.
Set 2
WKU took an early 6-3 lead, sparked by four kills from Matthews. Trailing 15-9, Old Dominion took its first timeout of the set. Out of the break, Matthews registered her record-breaking 117th career solo block, making the score 16-9 in favor of the Tops. WKU would ultimately take the second set 25-11, operating at a .423 hitting clip while holding the Monarchs to a match-best .188 hitting clip.
Set 3
Shelton struck for her third ace of the evening to make the score 4-2 in favor of WKU early in the third frame. The Hilltoppers would stretch their lead to 21-10 on the heels of a Katie Howard solo block, which immediately followed a block assist from Dieudonne and Matthews. The Tops went on to win the set 25-14, holding the Monarchs to a -.200 hitting clip.
Katie Isenbarger joined Shelton with multiple aces on the match, recording two of her own. Isenbarger registered six kills on seven attacks for an .857 hitting percentage as well as three digs and a solo block. Ashley Hood and Logan Kael each added an ace as well.
Matthews' 13 kills led WKU while she added four blocks as well. Paige Briggs tallied eight kills while hitting .583 and added six digs. Howard got in on the action with six kills and Kayland Jackson posted four.
Dieudonne dished out 31 assists while registering five kills on six attacks of her own. She added two digs and a pair of block assists.
Kael led the way in digs for WKU with eight.
NEXT UP
WKU Volleyball hosts the Monarchs again on Friday evening with first serve going up at 6 p.m. CT. The match will include both pre-game Senior Night and Alumni Night for the Hilltopper program. Senior Night recognition is scheduled to begin no earlier than 5:50 p.m.
Six Hilltoppers will be recognized in the pre-game ceremony including: Taylor Bebout, Nadia Dieudonne, Ashley Hood, Kayland Jackson, Logan Kael and Hallie Shelton.
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 fourth-straight match. This is the fifth different starting lineup to hit the floor for WKU and the unit is 4-0.
- WKU leads all-time series against Old Dominion, 3-0, sweeping all three meetings.
- Hallie Shelton added three of WKU's seven total service aces in the match. She's up to 178 aces in her career, moving her to third all-time in WKU history. Shelton also appeared in her 143rd career match, the most all-time in WKU history.
- Matthews added four total blocks including two solo and now sits at 118 solo blocks on her career – a new WKU program record. She's also up to 389 total blocks on her career, still good for sixth on that Hilltopper career list.
- With the win, the Hilltoppers improve to 21-1 (9-0 C-USA) on the season.
- The Tops' NCAA-best conference win streak is up to 42 with Saturday's victory, continuing to surpass the previous Conference USA record already held by WKU (38).
- With the day's results, head coach Travis Hudson is now 686-217 across his career.
- WKU Volleyball is now up to an all-time program record of 964-492 with Saturday's win.
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.
