HATTIESBURG, Miss. – WKU was crowned the 2020 Conference USA Volleyball Champion for the sixth time in seven seasons on Saturday afternoon as the 19^th-ranked Hilltoppers took down No. 24 Rice, 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 25-21, 25-22) in a battle between the league’s East and West Division titleholders. Both squads will learn of their postseason fates when selections for the NCAA Tournament field are announced at 3 p.m. CT Sunday on ESPNU.

Championship Central
Box Score
 
WKU (21-0) will embark on its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance by way of an 11th automatic bid. The trip is the program's sixth in seven years, and first while carrying an undefeated record into the postseason. Rice (16-5) advanced to its third-straight championship match and fifth in the last seven seasons. The Owls earlier this year completed their first-ever undefeated conference slate (12-0) including 36 of 41 sets won in C-USA play.
 
WKU mustered a .309 hitting percentage on 58 kills with three players contributing double figures on the day. Both teams finished with 53 digs in the match as the Hilltoppers edged the Owls in blocks, 8-7. Rice led with 62 kills swung on an evenly-matched rate (.300) and committed five more attack errors (20-15) and three more service errors (10-7).
 
Lauren Matthews was named C-USA Tournament MVP for the second-consecutive year. The junior middle hitter paced WKU with 20 kills on a .500 hitting percentage and three blocks on Saturday. For the tournament, Matthews averaged 4.70 kills, 5.25 points and 0.90 blocks per set, while hitting .512 through the team's 10 frames.
 
WKU sophomore Paige Briggs and senior Nadia Dieudonne also garnered All-Tournament recognition for the second time. Briggs posted her weekend's second double-double on a match-high 15 digs and 11 kills. Dieudonne tallied 52 assists in the title match and registered 13.30 helpers per set overall. 

Rice had three All-Tournament picks in senior Nicole Lennon for the third-straight season and junior Carly Graham for a second year. Lennon, the C-USA Player of the Year, put up a match-high 22 kills with eight digs and three blocks, while averaging 4.80 kills and 5.45 points in the three matches. Setter of the Year Graham managed 46 assists, eight digs and seven kills on a .583 hitting clip in the championship. The junior turned in 12.30 helpers per set and 2.60 digs overall. 

Two freshmen All-Tournament selections were rostered in Rice's Sahara Maruska and Freshman of the Year Emani' Foster of Charlotte. Maruska landed double-digit kills (12) and digs (11) on Saturday, hitting .353 overall with 3.40 kills and 3.20 digs per set in her first conference tournament appearance. Foster inked 3.38 kills per set including 20 in the quarterfinal round with 3.81 points and 0.38 aces per frame. 
 
2020 C-USA All-Tournament Team
Lauren Matthews, WKU (MVP)
Nadia Dieudonne, WKU
Paige Briggs, WKU
Nicole Lennon, Rice
Carly Graham, Rice
Sahara Maruska, Rice
Emani’ Foster, Charlotte