DALLAS – WKU Volleyball saw four Hilltoppers earn spot on the C-USA All-Conference teams as Paige Briggs, Nadia Dieudonne, Katie Isenbarger and Lauren Matthews earned recognition from the league's coaches.
For the first time in her career, Isenbarger landed All-Conference honors for her efforts across the 2020-21 campaign, landing second team honors. The junior middle started all 57 sets this season, posting a .423 hitting percentage to go along with 48 blocks (0.84/set). She recorded multiple blocks in 16-of-18 matches while racking up 110 kills while operating at a rate of .400 or better nine times. Isenbarger owns a 94.7% success rate from the service line in 113 attempts as well.
Briggs, Dieudonne and Matthews each earned First Team All-Conference recognition for the second time in as many seasons with this year's honor.
A six-rotation outside hitter, Briggs is hitting .347 on the year with 216 kills (3.79/set) and 203 digs (3.56/set). She added 27 blocks and 17 aces as well. Across 18 matches, Briggs tallied 10 double doubles, despite the Hilltoppers sweeping 15 of those contests. A primary passer for the Hilltoppers, the Ortonville, Mich., native recorded just five receive errors in 204 attempts for a 97.5 reception rate this season. Briggs was a two-time Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week and racked up 11 double-digit kill outings along with 11 double-digit dig efforts.
A Senior CLASS Award finalist, Dieudonne has now earned back-to-back First Team All-Conference honors after facilitating the second-best offense in the country to a .356 hitting percentage. The six-rotation setter started all 57 sets this season and averaged 11.77 assists per set, which leads C-USA and ranks fourth in NCAA Volleyball. Dieudonne racked up 671 assists despite the Hilltoppers sweeping 15 of 18 matches. The Louisville, Ky., native added 1.77 digs per set along with 27 blocks this season. Dieudonne earned 5-of-10 Setter of the Week honors.
Matthews turned in another stellar season as a middle hitter for WKU. She owned a .438 hitting clip with 219 kills (3.84/set) and 78 total blocks (1.37/set). Her hitting percentage ranks second in C-USA and 15th in the nation while her 1.37 blocks per set average leads the league and sits 27th in the nation. Starting all 57 sets for the Hilltoppers, the Indianapolis, Ind., native was named AVCA National Player of the Week on Feb. 24 and earned the league's Offensive Player of the Week honors the day prior. Matthews tallied 13 double-digit kill outings and nine matches with five or more blocks.
The Hilltoppers have posted the second-ranked team hitting percentage in the nation at .356 in addition to the sixth-best opponent hitting percentage across the NCAA at .105. WKU Volleyball went a perfect 18-0 through the regular season and secured the 2020-21 Conference USA East Division championship. The Hilltoppers have now claimed a regular season title six of seven years in C-USA.
COMPLETE LIST OF 2020-21 C-USA VOLLEYBALL AWARDS
Player of the Year
Nicole Lennon, Rice
Setter of the Year
Carly Graham, Rice
Defensive Player of the Year
Destiny Leon, Marshall
Libero of the Year
Sarah Schank, Marshall
Freshman of the Year
Emani' Foster, Charlotte
Coach of the Year
Karen Weatherington, Charlotte
All-Conference First Team
Emani' Foster, Charlotte
Ciara Debell, Marshall
Rhett Robinson, North Texas
Anota Adekunle, Rice
Carly Graham, Rice
Nicole Lennon, Rice
Fernanda Maida, UAB
Cheyenne Jones, UTEP
Lauren Matthews, WKU
Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
Paige Briggs, WKU
All-Conference Second Team
Amani McArthur, Charlotte
Sydney Rowan, Charlotte
Destiny Leon, Marshall
Sarah Schank, Marshall
Sydney Lostumo, Marshall
Alessia Sgherza, Old Dominion
Ellie Bichelmeyer, Rice
Duquesne Moratzka, Southern Miss
Alex Kells, UAB
Serena Patterson, UTEP
Katie Isenbarger, WKU
All-Freshman Team
Emani' Foster, Charlotte
Lara Kretschmer, Charlotte
Amelia Van Der Werff, Middle Tennessee
Teresa Atilano, Old Dominion
Danyle Courtley, Rice
Erin Powers, UAB
Ava Palm, UTEP
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.
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