NORFOLK, Virginia – East No. 1 seed and 18th-ranked WKU captured its third-straight Conference USA tournament championship as the Hilltoppers (27-1) defeated West No. 1 seed Rice 3-1 (16-25, 25-14, 25-22, 25-20) in the title match of the C-USA Volleyball Championship at the ODU Volleyball Center.
 
The victory by the Hilltoppers earns WKU the C-USA automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship. It is the seventh C-USA tournament title in the last eight seasons for WKU.
 
WKU’s Lauren Matthews, the league’s Alyssa Cavanaugh Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, was selected as the MVP of the tournament for a record third consecutive season. The senior middle hitter paced WKU with 21 kills on a .458 hitting percentage and posted 24.5 points. Paige Briggs and Nadia Dieudonne were both named to the C-USA All-Tournament Team for the third consecutive season. Briggs posted nine kills, nine digs and 12 points, while Dieudonne tallied 55 assists to go with 12 points. Kayland Jackson was also selected to All-Tournament honors after she had 13 kills, hit .458 and posted 14 points. Logan Kael led WKU with 10 digs.
 
Rice’s Nicole Lennon was selected to the All-Tournament Team for the fourth consecutive time, and C-USA Setter of the Year Carly Graham earned All-Tournament honors for the third time in her career. Lennon led the Owls with 17 kills, 15 digs and 17.5 points, and Graham had 48 assists, nine digs, two kills and two blocks. Ellie Bichelmeyer was also named to the All-Tournament Team after a 10-kill, four-dig and three-block effort in the title match.
 
(RV) Rice (19-6) took the first set 25-16, only the ninth set WKU dropped this season. The Hilltoppers led the entire way in the second set to tie the match at one set each after a 25-14 victory. In a tight third set, WKU earned the last two points for a 25-22 set victory and a 2-1 lead. In the fourth set, Rice got out to an 8-4 lead, but WKU battled back with four straight points to tie the set at 8-8. The set was tied three more times, the last at 15-15, and WKU held an 19-18 advantage. From that point, the Hilltoppers won six of the next eight points, the last on an attack error, to lift the C-USA championship trophy with a 25-20 set victory.
 
The Hilltoppers – and C-USA teams on the hunt for an at-large bid – now await the 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship Selection Show on Sunday, November 28 at 8:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU, where they will learn who they will face in the first round as part of the 64-team field. The first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament will be played December 2-3 at campus sites.

2021 C-USA All-Tournament Team
Lauren Matthews, WKU - MVP
Ellie Bichelmeyer, Rice
Carly Graham, Rice
Nicole Lennon, Rice
Paige Briggs, WKU
Nadia Deudonne, WKU
Kayland Jackson, WKU
 
2021 C-USA Volleyball Championship
November 19-21, 2021 – Norfolk, VA (hosted by Old Dominion)
 
Friday, November 19 - Quarterfinals
Match 1: (1W) Rice 3, (4E) Charlotte 1
Match 2: (2E) Middle Tennessee 3, (3W) North Texas 0
Match 3: (1E) WKU 3, (4W) UAB 0
Match 4: (2W) UTEP 3, (3E) FIU 2
 
Saturday, November 20 - Semifinals
Match 5: (1W) Rice 3, (2E) Middle Tennessee 0
Match 6: (1E) WKU 3, (2W) UTEP 0
 
Sunday, November 21 - Championship Match
Match 7: (1E) WKU 3, (1W) Rice 1