Marshall enters the series with a 5-1 overall record and 3-1 mark in league play. WKU sits at a perfect 9-0 and 4-0 in C-USA action after postponing matches at Old Dominion a couple weeks ago. The Hilltoppers are off to the best undefeated start in program history, surpassing the three prior teams that opened 8-0.
The matches will be available to stream on CUSA.tv, Conference USA's home for live events, for fans who elect to subscribe.
MATCHES 10 AND 11
WKU (9-0) at Marshall (5-1)
February 28, 2021 | Noon CT
Cam Henderson Center | Huntington, W.Va.
WKU (9-0) at Marshall (5-1)
March 1, 2021 | Noon CT
Cam Henderson Center | Huntington, W.Va.
BROADCAST
Watch: Both matches –
CUSA.tv Stream (Subscription required)
Match Notes: WKU | Marshall
Live Stats: WKU Volleyball Stats
TOP STORYLINES
- The Hilltoppers are 13-2 all-time against Marshall with the most recent meeting being a 3-0 win for WKU on October 6, 2019 in Bowling Green. WKU is 5-1 against Marshall when playing in the Cam Henderson Center and has been victorious in the last nine meetings between the sides.
- WKU Volleyball is back in action after its matches at Old Dominion (Feb. 14-15) were postponed due to a positive COVID-19 result in the Hilltoppers' Tier 1 testing group.
- Hilltopper Volleyball head coach Travis Hudson enters the weekend series with a career record of 651-215. Hudson is just the 15th active Division I Volleyball coach to reach the 650-career win milestone, earning every victory as a Hilltopper.
- When including regular-season and Conference USA Tournament matches, WKU Volleyball owns a record of 101-7 against fellow C-USA teams entering this weekend's contests with the Thundering Herd.
- WKU Volleyball is coming off back-to-back sweeps of Charlotte on Sunday and Monday. With those six straight sets, WKU has now won its last 22 sets of action and has swept eight of its nine matches this season.
- Paige Briggs and Nadia Dieudonne were recognized with Conference USA weekly accolades in the league's first week of distribution this season. Briggs was selected as the Offensive Player of the Week while Dieudonne was chosen as the Setter of the Week.
- After another week of play, Dieudonne made it back-to-back Conference USA Setter of the Week awards.
- Most recently, Dieudonne collected her third C-USA Setter of the Week honor and Lauren Matthews was tabbed the league's Offensive Player of the Week.
- Lauren Matthews was named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week on Wednesday, Feb. 24 after turning in an exceptional weekend performance against Charlotte. Matthews averaged 6.50 kills per set, 1.17 blocks per set, 0.17 digs per set for an outrageous 7.42 points per set and .630 hitting percentage across the two matches. The junior connected for kills on 23 of her first 24 swings of the match and deep into the third set was on pace to break the NCAA single-match record of .950 for 20 or more attempts. She finished with a career-high 25 kills in the three-set sweep of Charlotte for an average of 8.33 kills per set which went up to 9.00 points per set when factoring in her trio of blocks. Matthews' .828 hitting percentage in Monday's match is the second-best percentage of hitters with at least 20 attempts in all of NCAA Volleyball this season. More impressively, Matthews' 25 kills are the most in a three-set match across the entire country this season.
- WKU Volleyball will be wearing "AC" patches on all of its jerseys this season to honor the life of Hilltopper legend Alyssa Cavanaugh who passed away on December 25, 2020. Cavanaugh is the most-decorated player in program history.
- In Conference USA's first season utilizing divisions, WKU has been predicted to win the East Division by the league's coaches. WKU's counterpart from the West was Rice – a program that the Hilltoppers have no shortage of high-level battles against.
- Junior Lauren Matthews was selected as the Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year and was joined on the Preseason All-Conference Team by Paige Briggs and Nadia Dieudonne. All three won superlative awards last season and would go on to earn AVCA All-Region accolades.
- WKU Volleyball held at the No. 20 ranking in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association Poll (AVCA). WKU came in at No. 25 in the Preseason Poll and has been ranked every week since.
WIESEMANN ORTHODONTICS
Your 2020-21 WKU Volleyball spring season is presented by Wiesemann Orthodontics – get the smile you have always wanted!
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.
