With the victory, WKU has earned its 17th NCAA Tournament berth in program history, including its sixth straight and 10th in the last 11 seasons. The Hilltoppers have won 19 of a possible 22 CUSA championships (11 regular season, nine tournament).
Alyssa Cavanaugh Conference USA Player of the Year Kaylee Cox led the Hilltoppers with 23 kills in the match, to go along with 12 digs. Freshman Alivia Skidmore added 14 kills, while Izzy Van De Wiele had nine and Faith Young eight.
Cox was named Conference USA Tournament MVP. Callie Bauer, Kenadee Coyle and Izzy Van De Wiele were also named to the All-Tournament Team.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: 25-21
An unusually slow start for the Hilltoppers found themselves down 8-0 in the first set, but a couple Aggie miscues and five kills from Cox put the Hilltoppers within four by the end of the set. Having still hit for .300 [16-6-40], the Aggies' defense managed four blocks and were able to come away with the first set.
Set 2: 25-18
The Hilltoppers quite literally came out swinging, registering a .250 [15-7-32] hitting percentage and suppressing the Aggies to .040 [7-6-25]. WKU took advantage of six hitting errors from NMSU and also added a block to their total. Cox remained steady offensively, collecting seven more kills and posting a .272 [7-4-11] clip. Junior liber Abby Schaefer also eclipsed 10 digs in the second set.
Set 3: 25-19
WKU showed a balanced offense in the third set, as sophomore middle hitter Izzy Van De Wiele brought her total to nine kills with four in the third set. Meanwhile, on the other side of the net, the Hilltoppers' defense came alive, stuffing the ball on four different occasions. Skidmore, Van De Wiele, and freshman outside hitter Faith Young all chipped in, recording two blocks apiece.
Set 4: 25-21
With the CUSA tournament championship on the horizon, the WKU offense posted a match best hitting percentage of .333 [17-5-36] thanks to seven kills from both Skidmore and Cox. Senior rightside hitter Kenadee Coyle chipped in three kills of her own to bring her personal total to five on the match. Hitting errors plagued the Aggies again in the final set, as they finished with eight in the set and 24 total to post a hitting rate of .091 [11-8-33].
NOTABLES
- WKU has won 24 straight matches overall after starting the season 4-6.
- The Hilltoppers have won 92 straight CUSA regular season matches and all 40 CUSA matches over the last two seasons (regular season and tournament)
- WKU has won 34 conference titles (20 regular season, 14 tournament) under head coach Travis Hudson during his 30 seasons.
- Travis Hudson has now won 780 career matches.
- The Hilltoppers are 27-2 all-time in the Conference USA Tournament.
NEXT UP
WKU will learn its fate during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN. More information will be coming soon about how to join the Tops and celebrate their trip to another NCAA Tournament.
Much more information will be added later today.
