C-USA Volleyball Tournament // November 18-20 // Diddle Arena |
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| Match 29: [8] Middle Tennessee (15-13) | Fri., Nov. 18 | 12 p.m. CT | ESPN+ | 102.7 ESPN // Listen Live | Livestats | ||||
| Match 30: Semifinals | Sat., Nov. 19 | 12 p.m. CT | ESPN+ | 102.7 ESPN // Listen Live | Livestats | ||||
| Match 31: Championship | Sun. Nov. 20 | 1 p.m. CT | ESPN+ | 102.7 ESPN // Listen Live | Livestats | ||||
| Media Center | WKU | Championship Central | Bracket | ||||
| Record Books | WKU | Conference USA | ||||
| Series History | MTSU | UNT | UAB | Rice | FIU | UTEP | Charlotte | ||||
| Social Media | @WKUVolleyball | @WKU Volleyball  | Facebook  | YouTube  | Tik Tok |
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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – After clinching the regular season title in a historic night inside Diddle Arena last Thursday, WKU Volleyball is prepped and ready to host the 2022 C-USA Volleyball Tournament for the first time since 2017, November 18-20.
The top seed from the win against Rice last week, WKU's opening match of the weekend will come on Friday at 12 p.m. CT against Middle Tennessee, the eighth seed. A single-elimination event, C-USA Tournament action would continue on Saturday for the Hilltoppers with a win as the winner of Friday's match will face the winner of North Texas and UAB at 12 p.m. CT on day two of the tournament. A win on Saturday would advance the Red and White to Sunday's championship match, slated for 12 p.m. CT inside Diddle.
All C-USA Tournament matches will be available on ESPN+, with Steve Schlanger on the call, for fans who elect to subscribe.
As is the case for every Hilltopper match this season, all the action will also be available on the radio with Brad Klein on the play-by-play call. Any matches the Hilltoppers play from Diddle Arena this weekend, will air on ESPN Radio 102.7 FM.
All C-USA member students will get in to every match for free with a student ID. All-session passes, good for seven matches, are available for $25 online or at the door. Adult tickets are $10 per match, while children (12 and under) are priced at $5.
Parking is available in Parking Structure 1 and 2, both entrances 1 and 2 will be open for spectator access throughout the weekend.
C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Friday, November 18 - Quarterfinals
Match 1: WKU (1) vs. Middle Tennessee (8) – 11 a.m. CT
Match 2: North Texas (4) vs. UAB (5) – 2 p.m. CT
Match 3: Rice (2) vs. FIU (7) – 5 p.m. CT
Match 4: UTEP (3) vs. Charlotte (6) – 7 p.m. CT
Saturday, November 19 - Semifinals
Match 5: Match #1 Winner vs. Match #2 Winner – 12 p.m. CT
Match 6: Match #3 Winner vs. Match #4 Winner – 2:30 p.m. CT
Sunday, November 20 - Championship
Match 7: Match #5 Winner vs. Match #6 Winner – 1 p.m. CT
WKU's all-time record against their first-round opponent, Middle Tennessee, is set at 56-16 in favor of the Red and White, as the Hilltoppers have also have not dated a loss to the Blue Raiders since 2011. A split home and away series, the Tops first saw MTSU in Murfreesboro back in the first weekend of conference play, which resulted in a Hilltopper sweep on September 24. The Blue Raiders came into Diddle Arena on October 23 for the second match up of the year, finalized by another WKU sweep. This season, Middle Tennessee owns an 15-13 record including a 4-10 mark in C-USA play.
Since joining C-USA prior to the 2014 campaign, WKU holds an overall record of 21-1 in the league's tournament. The Hilltoppers are 7-0 in tournament championship matches, winning seven of the eight possible championships as a C-USA member entering the 2022 event. In total, WKU has claimed 15 of 16 possible regular season and tournament championships entering the upcoming tournament.
The Hilltoppers closed the regular season with a 26-2 overall record, which included a 14-0 mark in league play to secure their eighth regular season championship in the conference. WKU has posted a 12-2 record when playing in front of the home crowd this season. Entering the tournament, the Tops have won their last 15 matches.
As a team, the Red and White are nationally ranked third in total offense, operating at a .317 combined hitting clip, just below Texas and UCF in offense. Redshirt-freshman Callie Bauer leads the conference in assists per set (10.99), total assists on the season (1,033), and produced the only triple-double out of the league in a non-conference match-up against Northern Kentucky on Sept. 8.
The Tops have claimed the No. 20 spot in this week's AVCA rankings, after winning their first top-25 match of the season against No. 21 Rice. WKU has now been ranked in 51-consecutive polls, dating back into the 2019 campaign.
TOP STORYLINES
- WKU has won 58-straight regular season Conference USA contests with their last loss dating back to October of 2018 – the longest streak across all of Division I volleyball.
- WKU will look to extend its 15-match win streak.
- The Hilltoppers have only lost eight sets all season, with three coming against Ole Miss - the Tops' lone loss in 2021.
- WKU picked up win #20 team this season back on Oct. 21 against Charlotte. The Hilltoppers now own 23-consecutive 20-win seasons, the second longest active streak in NCAA Volleyball, just behind Florida.
- WKU has been predicted to win the conference title in the Conference USA Preseason Poll voted by the league's coaches. Paige Briggs, Katie Isenbarger, and Lauren Matthews were all selected to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Matthews was tabbed Preseason Player of the Year. After meeting in last year's tournament championship, Rice was predicted to finish second.
- After a stellar night on the Teraflex court with 30 kills and 13 blocks in a single match, Lauren Matthews leads the Hilltoppers 389 kills on the season. The fifth-year is third all-time on the list for total kills, and is currently the all-time WKU leader in blocks, with 524 throughout her career on The Hill.
- Callie Bauer, Katie Isenbarger, and Paige Briggs were tabbed to Conference USA's 11-member All-Academic Volleyball Team on Monday, Nov. 15. The honor marks the first for Bauer, second of Isenbarger's career, and third for Briggs on The Hill.
- WKU Volleyball is more accessible than ever with radio broadcasts for every match. The Tops are 1 of just 10 Division I Volleyball programs that currently have live radio for home and away matches.
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.
