WKU Volleyball opens season at UNLV Invitational

Kicking off a busy day on the Hill today will be Travis Hudson and his WKU volleyball squad, who will look to make an early statement in their brand new conference as they hit the road and head to the city of lights, Las Vegas, and compete in the UNLV Invitational, in which they’ll face UC Riverside (today at 3:30), host UNLV (today at 8:30) and will close play tomorrow against Cal State Northridge (3:30).

Like the Lady Tops, UC Riverside is a young team, with just three seniors and six freshman comprising of the squad. The Highlanders are also coming off of a season that, to put bluntly, wasn’t very good – a 2-26 record overall, and a 1-15 record in conference play, with lone wins coming against Winthrop last September, and the lone conference victory coming versus Cal Poly in a five set contest (the only time the Highlanders went to five sets all year).

UNLV, on the other hand, posted a winning record (16-14 overall, 11-9 in conference play), but failed to make the volleyball dance last year. The Lady Rebels and WKU actually got together last year, in Bowling Green, where the then-ranked 21st Toppers swept UNLV 3-0.

The Lady Toppers final opponent, Cal State Northridge, were picked to finish fourth in the Big West this year, and are coming off a 24-7 (13-3) year, and have a nice balance between veterans and youth on the roster. You might not have thought it when the schedule was released, but upon further review, CSUN might be the toughest team WKU faces this weekend.