TOPS CLOSE OPENING WEEKEND ON THE HILL WITH WIN OVER UT MARTIN
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – No. 15 WKU Volleyball (8-1) finished off the Holiday Inn - University Plaza Invitational with a sweep against UT Martin on Saturday afternoon at Diddle Arena. The Hilltoppers finished the weekend 2-1, after beating Samford, and losing to Ole Miss on Friday. Paige Briggs and Nadia Dieudonne earned spots on the All-Tournament Team for their performances.
"I'm really, really proud of the way our kids came out today," opened head coach Travis Hudson. "Really solid effort with 13, 14, 14 [scores] shows a good level of consistency so I'm just really proud of the way they bounced back. These kids are winners and this stuff is hard on them and it was a quick turnaround. So to do all those things and come back the way we did, I'm really proud."
"With the schedule we've played, to be at 8-1 right now is a really good start to our season," continued Hudson. "We'll just continue to move forward and get better from here."
In total, 13 Hilltoppers saw action in Saturday's win while Kelsey Brangers and Katie Howard made their first starts for the Red and White.
"I saw them doing what they've been training to do up until now," Lauren Matthews shared of her teammates that saw action in the match. "It's really exciting to see their progress and all the good stuff that's coming out of it. Shannon, Kenadee, Katie and Kelsey, it was good stuff from them."
"I feel like the transition is easier because we have such good leadership on this team," said Katie Howard. "Every single freshman has a senior in their position so it really helps them lead us into the things we're supposed to do."
WKU vs. UT Martin – 25-13, 25-14, 25-14
Set 1
Lauren Matthews got going early in set one, racking up six kills on eight attempts and finding the floor on four of the first five Hilltopper points. Tied at 6-6, the Tops looked to take the lead and proceeded on a 9-3 run for a 15-9 advantage to force a UT Martin timeout. Kenadee Cole and Shannon Keck checked in with the Tops just four points from winning the set and contributed in a big way, combining for a block to extend the lead to 23-13, and a set-ending kill from Coyle to win it, 25-13. The Hilltoppers racked up 13 kills in the first frame, hitting at a .379 clip.
Set 2
Second-set action saw the sides remain even before a kill from Nadia Dieudonne would tie it at 9-9. The Hilltoppers went on to score the next seven points, pushing out to a 16-9 lead to force the Skyhawks to use their second timeout of the set. From there, Isenbarger capped another 4-0 run with a block to extend their lead to 10 at 21-11. WKU finished the set off with back-to-back kills from Kayland Jackson and Jennifer Rush to win the second frame, 25-14. Fifteen kills found the floor on 29 attempts for the Hilltoppers in set two, to go along with four blocks and an ace.
Set 3
Set three broke open early, as WKU took the 8-2 advantage, with four kills coming off the hands of Matthews, Kael and Howard. The Tops hit double digits first in the third, leading 10-5 after a kill by Briggs. UT Martin would cut the deficit to three at 12-9, but that is as close as it would get. The Red and White scored 13 of the last 18 points and took set three 25-14, with a match-ending kill by Coyle.
WKU operated at a .375 hitting clip while the defense held UT Martin to a .064 rate - the lowest opponent efficiency this season. The Hilltoppers racked up three aces and eight blocks to go along with 52 digs.
Matthews led the way with 16 kills on 23 errorless attempts hitting her season-high at .696, also adding a team-leading five blocks.
Dieudonne added 33 assists, eight digs, two blocks, an ace and a kill, while Briggs recorded eight kills and nine digs.
Kayland Jackson contributed five kills and two blocks while Katie Howard added five kills and a block.
Defensively, Brangers led WKU in digs with 12.
SCHEDULE
Friday, September 17 – No. 15 WKU vs. Ohio - 1 p.m. CT
Friday, September 17 – No. 15 WKU vs. Austin Peay - 6:30 p.m. CT
Saturday, September 18 – No. 15 WKU vs. St. John's - 1 p.m. CT
NEXT UP
WKU will host the WKU Volleyball Invitational next Friday and Saturday, Sept. 17-18. Friday, the Tops will welcome Ohio and Austin Peay before closing its weekend slate against St. John's on Saturday.
Flexible season ticket packages are on sale now and include 13 vouchers that fans can use at any regular-season home match in whatever fashion they choose. Fans can opt for the traditional use of one ticket for all 13 home matches or bring a group to a few matches. Flexible ticket packages are available for $50 at WKUTickets.com, by calling 1-800-5-BIGRED or by coming to the WKU Ticket Office during regular business hours.
POST-MATCH NOTES
- WKU mixed up the starting lineup for Saturday's match with Paige Briggs, Nadia Dieudonne, Lauren Matthews, Kayland Jackson, and Logan Kael, while adding two new faces in Kelsey Brangers and Katie Howard.
- Freshmen Kelsey Brangers and Katie Howard made their first starts as Hilltoppers. Brangers collected 12 digs while Howard tallied five kills.
- WKU's win over UT Martin is the sixth all time over the Skyhawks, and marks four-straight wins over UTM.
- Lauren Matthews ended the day with 16 kills, five blocks and zero errors. The Indianapolis native tallied a hit percentage of .696, eclipsing her season high of .667 set last weekend in the win over Kansas.
- Dieudonne recorded 33 of the 37 Hilltopper assists
- WKU held UT Martin to a hit percentage of .064, edging out the previous low of .071 in the win over Wake Forest on September 4.
- With the win, the Hilltoppers improve to 8-1 on the season and will wrap up the non-conference tournament schedule as they host the WKU Volleyball Invitational next weekend.
- With the day's results, head coach Travis Hudson is now 674-217 across his career.
- WKU Volleyball is now up to an all-time program record of 953-492 with Saturday's win.
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.
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Tops Close Opening Weekend on The Hill with Win Over UT Martin - WKU Athletics
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