WKU Volleyball: Tops Force 5th Set, Fall to Louisville 3–2 in NCAA Tournament.

WKU Volleyball’s magical run came to in end in front of 5023 fans at EA Diddle Arena as Travis Hudson’s squad came up short in the 5th set…

WKU Volleyball’s magical run came to in end in front of 5023 fans at EA Diddle Arena as Travis Hudson’s squad came up short in the 5th set ending their season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

WKU drew first blood in the first set as they lead by as many four points and cruised to a 25–21 set win as Paige Briggs had 8 kills in the first set alone.

The second set was going smoothly for WKU up 12–7 before the Cardinals went on a 11–0 run and WKU fell behind 18–12 before rallying to make it respectable but the damage was done as they lost that set 21–25.

WKU would once again build a solid lead in the third set (12–6) before Louisville would once again rally to tie it up at 19. The Cardinals would take the lead on the next point and would take the third set 25–22 to put the Hilltoppers on the brink.

The fourth set was different from the previous three, this time it was Louisville’s turn to blow a sizable lead as they were up 16–11. The Tops would rally, led by a Logan Kael’s service game WKU went on an 8–0 run and would win the set 25–21 to force a decisive 5th set.

The Cardinals would jump out quickly fifth set and never looked back as 7–1 lead and WKU ran out of gas succumbing to the Cardinals 15–5 as WKU’s magical season ended against the only team that beat them all season.

Despite the disappointing loss there’s no way to describe this season as anything other than the best in school history. Not only did WKU finish 32–2 but they earned their first ever national seed (#15) and swept Conference USA in the process. Travis Hudson not only took his program to the next level but the fans responded giving WKU its best attended volleyball games ever. The Tops return almost everyone of note (besides Sophia Cerino) as Paige Briggs, Lauren Matthews, Nadia Dieudonne and several others will return next year looking to finally take WKU to their first Sweet 16 in school history.

Here are your final stats from tonight’s tough loss