Lauren's My Story Blog (7/22/20)
ACADEMIC HONORS
WKU Dean’s List (Spring 2021)
WKU President's List (Fall 2021)
WKU Dean's List (Spring 2022)
Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll (2021-22)
WKU Dean's List (Fall 2022)
Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll (2022-23)
As a Fifth-Year (2022): 2022-23 Conference USA Michael L. Slive Female Athlete of the Yea...AVCA Second Team All-American - Now the first WKU player to land on an AVCA All-American team three times over their career... AVCA South Region Player of the Year... AVCA All-Region... VolleyballMag.com Second Team All-American... C-USA Alyssa Cavanaugh Player of the Year... C-USA First Team All-Conference... C-USA All-Tournament Team... 2x C-USA Offensive Player of the Week... 2x Defensive Player of the Week... CECFU Invite All-Tournament Team... Hampton Inn Invite Tournament MVP... C-USA Preseason Player of the Year... Started all 33 matches, playing in 111 sets... Tallied 467 kills (4.21 per set -- 29th in the nation) and 114 blocks (1.03 per set) on the year with a .406 hitting clip... Marked as the all-time blocks leader for WKU, totaling 530 over her career... Currently second all-time at WKU in kills, finishing with 1,882... Led the Hilltoppers in kills in 20 matches... Led in blocks in 14 matches... Picked up her third career double-double with a 30 kill, 13 block performance against Rice to win the conference title outright (11/10/22)... Hit season-best .778 with 22 kills and only one error against North Texas (11/19/22)... 28 matches with double-digit kills... Hit over .300 in 28 matches... Seven outings with five or more blocks... Left with a career .422 hitting average that led the nation prior to the 2022 NCAA post-season.
As a Senior (2021): AVCA Third Team All-American - First WKU Volleyball player to ever land on an AVCA All-American team multiple times in their career…VolleyballMag.com Second Team All-American…AVCA South Region Player of the Year…AVCA All-Region…C-USA Tournament MVP...C-USA All-Tournament Team…C-USA Defensive Player of the Year...C-USA Alyssa Cavanaugh Player of the Year...C-USA First Team All-Conference...Four-time C-USA Offensive Player of the Week…C-USA Defensive Player of the Week…WKU Volleyball Invite MVP...LUV Invite All-Tournament Team...Preseason C-USA All-Conference...2021 NCAA single match hitting percentage record of .929 against FIU (10/1/21)...NCAA Volleyball national leader in hitting percentage with a .480 mark on the season - a new WKU program record…Started in all 30 matches appearing in all 97 sets…Averaged 4.54 kills per set, which ranked 14th in the nation (3rd in C-USA)...123 total blocks led Conference USA…An 18-kill, 10-block double double against Middle Tennessee - the second double double of her career…Led Conference USA in total points with 519…Recorded 15 or more kills in 14 matches…10 matches with five or more blocks…Named an alternate to the 2022 U.S. Women's Collegiate National Team.
As a Junior (2020-21): AVCA Second Team All-American (Second Hilltopper to ever land on a team)…VolleyballMag.com Second Team All-American…AVCA All-Region…Conference USA First Team All-Conference…C-USA Tournament MVP…C-USA Preseason Player of the Year…C-USA Offensive Player of the Week…AVCA National Player of the Week (2/24/21)… WKU’s John O. Oldham Student-Athlete of the Year Award…Career-high 25 kills in the three-set sweep of Charlotte while hitting .828 – the second-best percentage of hitters with at least 20 attempts in all of NCAA Volleyball on the season…25 kills were the second-most in a three-set match in the country on the season…18-kill, 10-block double double against West Virginia – first of her career…1.22 blocks per set ranked second in C-USA…Recorded 95 total blocks to lead C-USA and rank 21
st in the country…Hitting percentage of .444 ranked second in C-USA and seventh in the NCAA…309 total kills ranked third in conference and 38
th in the NCAA while 3.96 kills per set were fifth in C-USA…371.5 total points (third in C-USA) and 4.76 points per set (fifth in C-USA)…Led WKU in kills in 14 matches…Led WKU in blocks in 18 matches…Six outings with 15 or more kills…Nine matches with five or more blocks.
As a Sophomore (2019): AVCA Honorable Mention All-American…AVCA South Region Player of the Year…AVCA All-Region…Conference USA Player of the Year…First Team All-Conference USA…Conference USA Tournament MVP…Conference USA All-Tournament Team…Four-time Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week…NCAA hitting percentage leader at .448, which ranks second on WKU’s single season list…Set WKU’s single-match hitting percentage record at .882 against Samford…Her .882 hitting clip was tied for the second-best mark in the NCAA on 15-19 attempts…Invited to U.S. National Team Tryouts and earned spot in U.S. Collegiate National Team – Anaheim Program…C-USA Preseason All-Conference…Toledo Blue & Gold All-Tournament Team…Louisville All-Tournament Team…Holiday Inn – University Plaza Invitational Tournament MVP…WKU Invitational Tournament MVP…557.5 total points ranked tied for 25
th across the nation and led C-USA despite WKU leading NCAA Volleyball in 3-0 wins…Led C-USA in total blocks with 139 and ranked fourth in the league with 1.18 blocks per set…Ranked second in C-USA with 470 kills on the season…Tallied 36 solo blocks (fifth on WKU’s single-season list) and 103 block assists (eighth on WKU’s single-season list) to go along with 36 digs and an assist…Started all 34 matches and appeared in all 118 sets…Led WKU in kills across 24 matches and blocks in 24 outings…Career-high 22 kills against Northern Kentucky (9/20)…Tallied a career-best 8 blocks in matches against Arizona State and Tulane…Most kills by NCAA hitting percentage leader (470) since 2007 and most attacks since 2006… Matthews' All-American honor marks the 22nd in program history awarded by the AVCA, with nine different Lady Toppers combining for the mark...Of the nine different All-Americans, Matthews is the fifth to earn the honor as a freshman or sophomore…30 double-digit kill matches…14 outings with 15 or more kills…26 multi-blocks matches and 13 outings with 5 or more blocks.
As a Freshman (2018): Conference USA All-Freshman Team selection...Conference USA Freshman of the Week (Sept. 24)...Led WKU in kills in five matches...Led WKU in blocks in seven matches...Drew 12 starts while appearing in 77 sets across 20 matches after missing nearly a month to injury...Notched 196 kills while working at a .278 attack percentage...Recorded 25 solo blocks and 35 block assists for 60 total blocks...Eight matches with double-digit kills including a season-best 20 in WKU's win over Charlotte...10 matches with 3+ blocks and four contests with 5+...Averaged 2.55 kills per set, 0.78 blocks per set and 3.10 points per set.
High School: Four-time volleyball letterwinner at Lawrence North HS...School record holder in career blocks with 541 and career kills at 1,121...Helped the squad to its first sectional championship since 1979...Two-time First-Team All-State selection...Earned First-Team All-Conference and All-Marion County honors from 2015-17...Helped Asics Team Indiana Elite 181 club to third place AAU 18 Open finish in 2018...Named an AAU 18 Open All-American.
Personal: Born January 2, 2000...Daughter of John and Celina Matthews...Has a younger sibling, Ashlyn...Majoring in agriculture business on The Hill.
