SOUTH BEND, Ind. – WKU Volleyball closed out a perfect 3-0 weekend at the Golden Dome Invitational with Saturday's 3-1 win over Loyola Chicago. Lauren Matthews became just the 12th Hilltopper in program history to record 300 career blocks, racking up nine across the match, while Paige Briggs also reached the 700-kill milestone on Saturday. WKU operated at a .412 hitting clip off the steady setting of Nadia Dieudonne who'd finish with 49 assists.
"That was a phenomenal Loyola team," opened head coach Travis Hudson. "That was not the team we saw yesterday; they had three kids that had to sit out yesterday so this was their first match. From the get-go they looked like a completely different team and we knew we were in for a dogfight. We really had trouble getting them stopped in that second and third set and our offense had to kind of keep us in it, if you will."
"They [Loyola] didn't have a lot of answers for Lauren but when they made some adjustments KJ raised up and made plays and certainly she did with a career-high 14 kills as did Paige with 13," continued Hudson. "When one or two players are good offensively, it's maybe that kid but when a lot of people are good offensively, it has to do with the person delivering the ball and Nadia was special today. Not only was she really good, she was playing her tail off and was flying around and even balls dug with no control, she was running around to get those in front of hitters. She's just a special one that makes everything go."
The Hilltoppers are off to a 3-0 start and locked up the Golden Dome Invitational championship. Lauren Matthews earned Tournament MVP status while Logan Kael and Kayland Jackson also earned All-Tournament Team nods.
Set 1
Matthews kept the milestones coming as she teamed up with Kayland Jackson on the opening point of Saturday's match for her 300th career block. WKU was the first to double digits at 10-8 before the Ramblers responded and tied it back up. All even at 15, the Tops sided out and Ashley Hood would serve up the next five points, helping the Red and White to a 21-15 lead to force a Loyola timeout. Late in the frame, Kenadee Coyle would make her Hilltopper debut, checking in for a point before WKU claimed the 25-19 first-set decision.
Set 2
Loyola took an early 3-2 lead before WKU flipped it to 4-3 and went on to take a 10-7 advantage. Loyola battled back and took a late 18-16 lead forcing the Hilltoppers to call a timeout. Out of the break, Briggs struck for a kill before Katie Isenbarger crushed an overpass to tie it at 20-20 forcing an immediate Loyola break. Knotted again at 22-22, Jackson struck for a kill before Matthews tallied her 10th kill for a 24-22 lead. A Loyola attack error followed as WKU claimed the 25-22 win and took a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set 3
Jackson struck for the opening point of the third frame but Loyola would string together numerous runs throughout the frame and ultimately avoid the sweep. The Ramblers led by as much as 20-14, forcing a Hilltopper timeout. WKU hung around and made a late run scoring eight of the final 13 points of the set but would drop its first set of the season, 25-23.
Set 4
WKU came out of the gate firing in set four, jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead before extending it out to 7-3 and 10-4. From there, Jackson struck for her career-high 14th kill to make the score 13-7. Loyola battled back and pulled within two at 22-19 but after a quick Hilltopper timeout, Matthews took over with two kills and a block assist with Dieudonne.
SCHEDULE
Friday, August 27 – No. 16 WKU def. Oakland, 3-0
Friday, August 27 – No. 16 def. No. 25 Notre Dame, 3-0
Saturday, August 28 – No. 16 WKU def. Loyola, 3-1
NEXT UP
Due to WKU Volleyball's home opener against Belmont (Aug. 31) being postponed, the Hilltoppers will hit the road again for their next matches, heading to Lipscomb this weekend. A makeup date for the Belmont match will be announced when finalized.
POST-MATCH NOTES
- WKU kept its same starting lineup from the spring all weekend with Paige Briggs, Nadia Dieudonne, Avri Davis, Lauren Matthews, Kayland Jackson, Logan Kael and Katie Isenbarger.
- The Hilltoppers evened the all-time series record against Loyola at 2-2 with Saturday's win and has won the last two meetings against the Ramblers.
- Freshmen Kelsey Brangers and Katie Howard made their Hilltopper debuts against Oakland while Kenadee Coyle saw the court in Saturday's match against Loyola.
- Paige Briggs recorded her second double double of the weekend with a 13-kill, 10-dig effort against the Ramblers. She's up to 30 on her Hilltopper career.
- WKU outblocked Loyola 14-7, led by nine from Lauren Matthews – one shy of match her career high.
- Three Hilltoppers worked into double-digit kills for the first time of the season as Matthews (21), Jackson (14, career-high) and Briggs (13) each worked into double figures.
- Three WKU passers registered double-digit digs for the first time since the Tops' win over No. 17 Washington State in the NCAA Tournament last season. Ashley Hood registered a career-high 13 followed by Logan Kael's 11 and Briggs' 10.
- WKU operated at a season-best .412 hitting percentage, its best rate since the C-USA Tournament match against UTEP when the Tops hit .488.
- With the wins, head coach Travis Hudson is now 669-216 across his career.
- WKU Volleyball is now up to an all-time program record of 948-491 with Saturday's win over Loyola.
