BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Paige Briggs is no stranger to winning championships.
The former WKU Volleyball standout was a part of nine Conference USA titles during her All-American career as a Hilltopper, and on Sunday she added another accomplishment to her decorated resume. Briggs capped off her first professional volleyball season with the Omaha Supernovas by winning the inaugural Pro Volleyball Federation Championship.
WKU Athletics conducted a Q&A with Briggs to discuss her first season playing professional volleyball, winning the PVF Championship, and how WKU helped set her up for success after her time on The Hill.
Q: Going back to the start of your professional career, you got drafted and then traded to Omaha with the No. 5 overall pick. What was that experience like and the emotions of that event?
A: I got that phone call on draft day from Amy Pauly from Orlando (Valkyries) and I was super excited. I was just so happy to be drafted. Then I get a call about an hour later from the Omaha coaches and they were like, 'Hey, you got traded.' I had no idea that was even a possibility. It was definitely a shock, but I was still excited that I'm even playing professional volleyball. I had a call with the coach later that night talking about contract stuff, but I don't know, it just happened really fast and I was so excited, but it was just like, 'OK, we're doing this.' I didn't know what to think, really, because it happened so fast.
Q: You were the preseason favorites in Omaha. That's obviously a situation that you're used to from your college days. How was it different, or exciting, or what were the emotions like when you saw that before the season even started?
A: That's pretty big pressure. I don't know if everyone really played into that so much because we didn't know what the league even looked like, but I definitely got some fans when we would go to team events be like, 'We don't lose here. We don't lose.' I was like, 'Oh, OK.' This person I just met five minutes ago was just like, 'You better be good,' and I was like, 'Oh, OK, I'll be good.'Â
Q: Going back to your first professional match, what was that like? What do you recall from that day?
A: Oh boy. I think that game Brook Nuneviller rolled her ankle and I got to go in. The coaches didn't really give me much time to think. They said, 'Paige, you're in,' and I was not expecting it at all. All my instincts just kicked in and I was like, 'I'm just playing volleyball out here.' It was so fun. To be in that arena with so many people – Omaha held all the records for attendance – and it was just crazy. You could feel the energy the whole time. It was so awesome. The fact that I always felt like I was the underdog and I was like, 'I'm actually doing this professional thing,' and it was so rewarding and so cool.
Q: Was there a certain point where you were like, 'Yeah, I belong here'Â during the season?
A: We had training camp before we had games, and that was, like, two weeks. I trained as a libero for the first week, but when we started to hit – the first day I got to hit, they were like, 'OK, let's see what she can do as an outside.' I think my teammates realized – they were like, 'Oh, she's an outside hitter. She's not a libero.' That was one of the things that they recognized – my ability – and that made me realize that I could do this. Maybe within the first two weeks, but I didn't know that's how that would line up in games. Definitely in practice, it was just my teammates realizing what kind of player I was and the training that WKU gave me. Everything I learned there really showed and people were picking up on that.
Q: You led into the next question. You talked about your training with WKU with Coach (Travis) Hudson, Coach (Craig) Bere, Kristi Griffin, and everybody there at Western Kentucky. How did their development help you prepare for your first professional season?
A: I owe them so much. I called them many times during the season just asking for advice or training things, or 'Hey, did you watch the game? And what did you see?' They're such great resources and they trained me so well from freshman year all the way through super senior year that you could say I know what I'm doing, but I still need their help. They're the best coaches I've ever had in my life and I could just lean back on little things Travis said to me me, or Craig said to me, or Kristi, and I'm like, 'Oh, this is what I need to do.' Not necessarily professional volleyball coaches, like, coach – they're more of facilitators and make tough decisions. I really had to lean back on WKU coaches just giving me little cues in my head even though they weren't there. WKU set me up perfectly for this, I'd have to say. They are great. They trained me and made me a great human being so I could be OK in that situation where I had no idea what I was doing.
Q: As the season went on, how did you feel your game grow as you got used to the professional level?
A: Professional volleyball is a lot faster. Everyone's a lot bigger, a lot faster, and there's a small margin for error. You've got to be almost perfect. I definitely had to get up to speed and that took me a little bit, but I also had to get my mind right to how they think. I had very veteran players on my team that I am so grateful for, and they just taught me things. There were times in practice when I just looked at them like, 'How did you know to think of that?' They thought I was messing with them and I was just like, 'I've never thought of it like that.' It was crazy. It's kind of one of those things where I didn't know there was this much to know about volleyball still. I just learned so much.Â
Q: Fast forwarding to recently when you were able to win the championship – you've won a ton of championships in your playing career, including at Western Kentucky. How does this one compare to all those you won at WKU?
A: This one was different I've got to say. Championships are always something that you have this mental picture in your head, like I'll never forget this moment. I don't think any of them rank any differently. The difference in this one was the crowd. The crowd ran out on the court after the game and there was just so many people around us. I was like, 'What's happening?' That doesn't normally happen in college when you win a championship. I don't know. I don't think I can rank them. I think all of them are their own special moment with that specific team because they're all so different. I will say, though, it was weird spraying champagne and not water. I was like, 'What? This is happening right now?'Â
Q: You've talked a little about the fans and everybody surrounding you and all the records you set there in Omaha. I believe the number I saw for the championship match was over 10,600 fans. What's it like playing in environments like that?
A: When I'm playing on the court, I kind of go deaf and I can't really hear it. But when you have a timeout or a challenge and you look around, you just feel people and you just know this is a big moment. Nebraska being a volleyball state was pretty cool. Everyone talked about volleyball, whether they talked about the Supernovas, or people would talk to me about Nebraska volleyball. It was so cool to be enveloped by volleyball.
Q: When you look back at this experience – winning a championship, one of your co-owners was there, Jason Derulo, and you got to hang out with him after the match, but even beyond that and just being able to go from college, where a lot of times athletes aren't able to go to the professional level and you are, and there's a handful of WKU Volleyball players playing professionally, but you're able to do it here in the United States – what is that opportunity and all of the opportunities together this has provided you mean to you?
A: It is a really amazing experience and opportunity. When I was in college and I got to my final season, I had a conversation with Travis just about do I want to play professionally? Does that mean going overseas? That didn't really sound all that fun. I am so grateful for it to be in the United States and be around my family and have family come to random games. I had people in San Diego and I was like, 'I didn't know I had so many people.' It's been such a blessing. It's so amazing that there's a league, and it's about time that we have a volleyball league where people don't have to go overseas, they don't have to spend nine months in Italy, France, Switzerland, anything. It's a dream come true. It's one of those things that seems really corny, but it is for me. I've never wanted to go overseas. I wanted to play here and do what I love at home and it's such a blessing.
Q: Travis talks about it all the time – he says, 'Come to one match and you'll be hooked.' When it comes to the growth of volleyball, for you, personally, how have you seen it grow just in your lifetime?
A: It's grown so much. The amount of kids that I've seen at WKU Volleyball camps, that number has increased every year. The amount of people in Nebraska – I went to a couple of different clubs to ambassador for the Supernovas – and there's just so many teams, there are so many girls, and they all have a role model now in the United States, and they get to watch people play here and then they have the hope of playing here. It's just going to grow the game and it's amazing. It's really crazy how this has blown up from even my freshman year all the way to this year. It's huge now.
Q: I know we started this off by going back to when you first got drafted, but to kind of wrap up, going back to your recruitment to Western Kentucky, what do you remember about that moment and, looking back on that now, did you ever think you'd be doing an interview as a champion professional volleyball player?
A: Definitely not. I did not think I would be playing pro volleyball at all. I didn't know how I would even fare in college. I knew my coaches – Travis and the coaching staff – really thought highly of me, but it's different when you go from high school to college. That recruiting process with WKU – I don't want to say it was strange because recruiting was always strange for me. I was always so shy so it was really hard. But it was perfect how everything worked out. It was like I feel at peace here, I feel safe here, and I think that's just a huge part of why I went there. I was going to be a part of a family and they're going to take care of me no matter what – if I played, didn't play. It didn't matter who I was as a volleyball player. It mattered who I was as a person. That recruiting process was hard, but it was one of those God-given things just how perfect it lined up.
Q: Now looking forward, what's next for Paige Briggs?
A: Well, getting married in three weeks. That's my next step. Then hopefully playing another season in the PVF. I don't know where. I would love to play in Omaha again. I'd love to play in Grand Rapids because it's close to home. I don't know. Wherever they'll take me is where I want to go.
How to Follow WKU Volleyball: For complete information on WKU Volleyball, follow the team on X at @WKUVolleyball and head coach Travis Hudson at @TravisHudsonWKU. The team is also on Instagram and Facebook.
