BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – After opening the 2025 season at home, WKU Volleyball heads to Milwaukee, Wis., to participate in the Marquette Invitational to take on #25 Dayton, (RV) Marquette, and Buffalo.
GAME INFO
- Location: McGuire Center
- WKU vs. #25 Dayton
- Sept. 5, 11 AM CT
- Location: McGuire Center
- Watch: YouTube
- Follow: StatBroadcast
- WKU vs. (RV) Marquette
- Sept. 5, 7 PM CT
- Location: McGuire Center
- Watch: ESPN+
- Follow: StatBroadcast
- WKU vs. Buffalo
- Sept. 6, 12 PM CT
- Location: McGuire Center
- Watch: YouTube
- Follow: StatBroadcast
ABOUT THE TOPS
- The Hilltoppers finished opening weekend going 2-1 with 3-0 sweeps over Wright State and Loyola Chicago.
- WKU nearly double its opponents hitting percentage, swinging for .290 [142-48-324] to its opponents' .159 [121-66-347].
- The Tops' defense also came through in a big way, collecting 29 total blocks compared to their opponents' 19. Of those 29 blocks, 15 were solo efforts. Overall, Gabby Weihe led at the net with six total blocks.
- Kaira Knox was named CUSA Freshman of the Week after tallying 46 kills in 11 sets for a rate of 4.18 kills per set. In addition, she contributed eight blocks at the net, 20 digs, and was responsible for 32.4% of WKU's offensive production over the weekend.
QUOTABLE
"It was actually a good weekend. It's nice to open up the year at home, which I'm not sure we've done here. I know we haven't done it in 11 years since I've been here. It's nice to be in front of a home crowd," said Associate Head Coach Craig Bere. "It was an exciting weekend on the hill. A little bit disappointing to finish 2-1 but to be honest with you, I don't know if disappointing is the right word. It's hard to describe because we feel really good about the weekend. You know, a 2-1 record we would feel really good about, it's just dropping that five-set match to Drake when you dominate two sets and then you let the second get away when you were a swing away from taking that set. We could've gotten out of there in three, but it was a very positive weekend... Then as we look into this weekend going up to Marquette, we open up with Dayton who went 2-1 this weekend. A really good team, very well-coached team, a great program. They're going to probably fight for that conference championship in their conference. Then we got Marquette at Marquette and they're coming off a very successful weekend. They went out to Hawai'i, played three top programs, went five with all three and got two wins out of it. They're going to be top of their conference as well. Then a Buffalo team that put up some big stats. It's going to be a very challenging weekend on the road but one we're really excited about. Great RPI, great weekend, it's going to challenge us. If we can get out of that weekend 2-1, we'll be pretty happy."
SERIES INFORMATION
- #25 Dayton
- WKU is 5-5 overall against the Flyers. WKU's last win was a 3-1 win on Sept. 20, 2013.
- (RV) Marquette
- The Tops are 2-3 overall against the Golden Eagles. WKU came up just short in 2024 in a 3-2 loss to Marquette. The last win was a 3-1 upset on Aug. 25, 2023, when Marquette was ranked #12 at the time.
- Buffalo
- This will be the second meeting in nearly 30 years, with WKU last playing the Bulls in Coach Hudson's second season as head coach in 1996. WKU won that match on Sept. 21, 3-0.
SCOUTING
- #25 Flyers
- Dayton was picked to win the A-10 after winning in 2024 following a perfect 18-0 record in conference play.
- The Flyers went out west to Utah, returning to Ohio with a 2-1 record. They defeated both Washington State and Lafayette in four sets but fell to #23 Utah in four.
- Kamryn Hunt and Corrie Anderson led the way with the pair posting 31 kills each.
- Three Flyers finished in double-digits in kills while Melina Schrader led the offense with 89 assists.
- On defense, Schrader collected 30 digs while Abbie Cresse led at the net with 15 blocks.
- Dayton advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2024 and finished at #12 for RPI.
- (RV) Golden Eagles
- Marquette was picked to finish second in the Big East Preseason Coaches' Poll behind Creighton. The Golden Eagles received one first-place vote.
- The Golden Eagles spent the weekend in Hawai'i, going 2-1. All three matches went five sets with wins over Utah State and Hawai'i and a loss to San Diego.
- Natalie Ring dominated across all 15 sets, finishing the weekend with 79 total kills and a .259 hitting percentage. Isabela Haggard led the offensive charge with 154 assists.
- At the net, Keira Schmidt finished with 19 total blocks with Elena Radeff close behind with 17.
- In 2024, the Golden Eagles reached the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual national champion, Penn State. Marquette finished 16th in RPI.
- Bulls
- Buffalo was picked to finish fifth in the MAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
- The Bulls went 2-1 over the weekend, hosting fellow CUSA member Liberty, Marist, and Rutgers. Buffalo was swept by the Flames but won in four against Marist and five against Rutgers.
- Manoela Forlin led the offensive charge with 44 kills and posted an impressive .298 hitting percentage. Emerson Matthews and Sydney Bell also finished in the 30s with 35 and 31 kills, respectively.
- Keira Kleidon led the back row with 51 digs while Maddie Mitchell and Emerson Matthews finished with 48 digs between them. At the net, Reese Collins led the way with nine blocks.
- The Bulls finished the 2024 season ranked #178 in RPI.
