BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – No. 15 WKU Volleyball (7-1) started off the Holiday Inn - University Plaza Invitational with a sweep against Samford before suffering its first loss of the year at the hands of undefeated Ole Miss (7-0). Prior to the setback, the Hilltoppers had won 54-consecutive non-NCAA Tournament matches.
"I never felt pressure in it because it has never really been that big of a deal to me," shared head coach Travis Hudson when asked about the end of the streak. "To me it's about coming about and being us every single day. It's an extraordinary streak, right? Fifty-four straight regular season games. I mean, come on, please don't tell me people are disappointed in WKU Volleyball tonight. For the 55th time tonight, our kids played their guts out, and we just didn't get the result that we wanted, and it's about a process for me, and I thought our kids played their guts out tonight. We just weren't good enough and it's my job to make sure that we are. So, I relish the opportunity to get in the film and get back with my team and these are the things that bring your locker room closer together. You learn from these things, and we will certainly learn. We have tremendous character and we'll get better moving forward."
"I mean like Travis said, we were all just like putting it all out there, and stuck together through it all," shared defensive specialist Ashley Hood. "Through the goods and the bads, and like he said, we played our guts out, and we gave it all. We just didn't play well enough to finish it off, and like he said Ole Miss played really, really well, and I do think teamwork played a role, just by us continuing to fight and just push through, no matter what was going on. Just continue to try to just keep going. So I do think it played a part for us just like continuing to fight through the match."
WKU vs. SAMFORD – 25-14, 26-24, 25-18
Set 1
Both sides went back and forth and were tied at 5-5 after the first 10 points. WKU proceeded to go on a 6-1 run capped off by an ace from Paige Briggs, pushing the lead to 11-6. The Tops would extend their lead to as much as 11, ending the set on a 4-0 run for the 25-14 win. WKU operated at a .600 clip while holding Samford in the negative at -.037. Lauren Matthews tallied four kills on her own while aige Briggs and Kayland Jackson each added three.
Set 2
Set two never saw a lead greater than four points in either direction. Samford held the lead at 5-2 to open the set, but the Hilltoppers responded with a 5-1 run to pull in front, 7-6. WKU hit double digits first at 10-8, and extended their lead to 14-10 after a kill by Paige Briggs. Samford answered with a 10-4 run to hold the edge 20-18 forcing the Tops to use a rare timeout. WKU responded with another 5-1 run, including a momentum-shifting challenge by head coach Travis Hudson to give the Red and White the lead at 23-21. Samford responded once again, going on a 3-1 run to tie the set at 24-24 after an ace of its own. However, back-to-back kills by Matthews and Katie Isenbarger would give the Hilltoppers the 26-24 win in set 2 and a 2-0 lead. The Hilltoppers rattled off 12 kills in the frame on 30 attacks as the set saw ten ties and five lead changes.
Set 3
WKU opened the third set with an ace by Katie Isenbarger, and continued on a 4-1 run, finished off by another ace from Ashley Hood. The Hilltoppers would once again be the first to 10, taking the 10-7 advantage. The lead was pushed to 15-10 after another kill by Paige Briggs. A 4-0 run for the Bulldogs closed the gap to 1, 15-14. Although, that was the closest it would get. WKU closed the set on a 10-4 run that included two aces from Paige Briggs and one from Kelsey Brangers. Lauren Matthews and Kayland Jackson combined for a block to win set three, 25-18.
WKU's offense operated at a .415 hitting clip while the defense held Samford to a .141 rate. The Hilltoppers racked up seven aces and six blocks to go along with 27 digs.
Matthews led the way with 11 kills on 17 attempts hitting at a .471 clip.
Paige Briggs added 7 kills, 7 digs, and 3 aces, while Ashley Hood contributed 3 aces and 4 digs.
Katie Isenbarger and Kelsey Brangers each recorded an ace as well.
WKU vs. Ole Miss – 25-23, 25-20, 25-22, 25-17
Set 1
In set one, the Hilltoppers jumped out to a 3-0 lead led by a pair of kills from Matthews. Ole Miss would battle right back and would be the first to break the double digit mark. An attack error by the Rebels caused the WKU lead to stretch to 3 forcing Ole Miss to call a timeout with the Tops ahead 18-15. The sides continued to go back and forth before Ole Miss worked to a set point at 24-22. WKU would fend off the first set point before the Rebels took set one, 25-23. The Hilltoppers were held to a .206 rate while Briggs, Matthews and Davis tallied three kills apiece.
Set 2
WKU opened the second frame with a quick 2-0 lead after a service error and a kill by Matthews. Ole Miss responded with four-straight points forcing WKU to call an early timeout trailing 8-5. Ole Miss worked ahead to an 18-14 lead but the Hilltoppers would battle back late and force a Rebel timeout after cutting the deficit to three at 23-20. WKU upped its offensive production to a .273 rate in the frame but Ole Miss would open a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set 3
Out of the break, Ole Miss took a 2-0 lead but an Isenbarger kill put the Hilltoppers on the board. Working ahead, another Isenbarger kill would knot the score at 19-19. The Hilltoppers pushed ahead to a 21-20 lead before a Kayland Jackson kill would secure the 25-22 third-set win for WKU. Ole Miss was held to a .100 hitting percentage in the frame.
Set 4
Ole Miss once again developed a 2-0 lead before a kill from Briggs put WKU on the board. The Rebels didn't take long to build a lead back up and force a Hilltopper timeout at 10-6. Another Briggs kill pulled WKU within two at 11-9 and would secure her fifth double double of the season. After WKU battled back and tied the score, Ole Miss rallied right back with a 3-0 run for a 16-13 advantage. Ole Miss would shut the door in the final frame and hold off any attempt at a Hilltopper comeback to take set four, 25-18.
The Rebels racked up 15 blocks in the match and held the Hilltoppers to just a .168 hitting percentage in addition to holding a 6-2 advantage in aces. Ole Miss also owned a 59-46 advantage in digs.
Briggs led the way for the Hilltoppers with 12 kills, 10 digs and three blocks, working at a .265 clip. In doing so Briggs tallied her fifth double double this season, which is the 33rd of her career.
Hood ended up with 11 digs as well as an ace. The 11 digs by Hood are her second most on the season.
Isenbarger accounted for a team-best five blocks marking the third time this season Isenbarger held the team lead in the category.
SCHEDULE
Friday, September 10 – No. 15 WKU def. Samford, 3-0
Friday, September 10 – Ole Miss def. No. 15 WKU, 3-1
Saturday, September 11 –No. 15 WKU vs. UT Martin - 1:30 p.m. CT
NEXT UP
WKU will conclude Holiday Inn - University Plaza Invitational play on Saturday with a match against UT Martin at 1:30 p.m. CT. The Tops will take on Hilltopper Volleyball alum, Julia Noe, who is in her 11th season working with the Skyhawks.
Flexible season ticket packages are on sale now and include 13 vouchers that fans can use at any regular-season home match in whatever fashion they choose. Fans can opt for the traditional use of one ticket for all 13 home matches or bring a group to a few matches. Flexible ticket packages are available for $50 at WKUTickets.com, by calling 1-800-5-BIGRED or by coming to the WKU Ticket Office during regular business hours.
POST-MATCH NOTES
- WKU kept its same starting lineup for both matches with Paige Briggs, Nadia Dieudonne, Avri Davis, Lauren Matthews, Kayland Jackson, Logan Kael and Katie Isenbarger. This combination is 7-1 on the season.
- WKU's early win over Samford is the seventh all time over the Bulldogs, a series in which the Hilltoppers lead 7-0.
- Friday night's match with Ole Miss was the first ever between the two programs with the Rebels now holding Bragging rights leading the series 1-0.
- Paige Briggs added another double double Friday night against Ole Miss, this is her 5th of the season and the 33rd of her career.
- The Tops are now 17-13 against Power Five opposition since joining Conference USA prior to the 2014 campaign and own a 3-1 record on the 2021 campaign against P5 squads.
- Two Hilltoppers worked into double-digit kills as Matthews (10) and Briggs (11) as well as two with double-digit digs, Briggs (10) and Hood (11).
- With the day's results, head coach Travis Hudson is now 673-217 across his career.
- WKU Volleyball is now up to an all-time program record of 952-492 with the Friday split.
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.
