RUSTON — Louisiana Tech takes a trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to take on Western Kentucky in two matches on October 18-19 at E.A. Diddle Arena. Friday's match is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN+, and Saturday's first serve will be at noon, but it will not be streamed.
 
DATE/TIME: Friday-Saturday, October 18-19, 6 p.m. CT | Noon CT
LOCATION: Bowling Green, Ky. (E.A. Diddle Arena)
STATS: LATechSports.com/Stats
SERIES RECORD: WKU, 17-7
LAST MEETING: L, 0-3 (10/28/23, Ruston)
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (6-15, 0-8)
The Bulldogs are looking to get their first Conference USA win of the season after falling to UTEP on Saturday and Sunday.
 
LA Tech remains one of the top teams in the league in terms of defense. The Bulldogs rank second in digs per set (15.22, 97th nationally) and fourth in total digs (1,096, 45th nationally). Riley Steubing has been a big part of that with 4.12 per set, which ranks fifth in CUSA.
 
At the net, Charlize Williams continues to make her name known around the league in the middle. Her 1.14 blocks per set and 79 total blocks are fifth in the league and rank inside the top 100 in the country. She also adds 1.42 kills per set for fifth on the team.
 
Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by Giulia Bonifacio and Jailen Hurley. The two right-side hitters average over 2.0 kills per set. Bonifacio leads with 2.20 and Hurley is at 2.09.  
 
ABOUT WKU (15-6, 8-0)
WKU comes into the contest on an 11-match winning streak and hasn't lost a CUSA match in almost three years. The Hilltoppers are one of the top teams in the country in several categories.
 
Kenadee Coyle, Izzy Van De Wiele, Kaylee Cox, and Callie Bauer are leading players for WKU. Coyle, Cox, and Bauer were preseason All-CUSA selections and have lived up to that billing.
Coyle is second in the conference in hitting percentage at 0.347 and is seventh in blocks per set (1.01) and total blocks (78). Van De Wiele leads CUSA in total blocks with 114, second in blocks per set (1.48), and third in hitting percentage (0.326).
 
Cox, the preseason player of the year, is second in points (326.0, 20th nationally), points per set (4.23), service aces (31, 29th nationally), third in aces per set (0.40), fourth in kills per set (3.45), and total kills (266, 47th nationally). Bauer is one of the top setters, averages 10.22 assists per set, and has 787 total sets, both are tops in the league. Her total assists are second in the country.
 
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Amber McCray
 
"This is another fun weekend where we get to go play against a very well-coached team with a rich tradition in a great environment. WKU is another balanced team offensively, though led predominantly by their pins. It's going to be imperative we serve aggressively to limit their options and aid our blockers and floor defense. We also must pass well from the start to get our offense flowing efficiently early. Riley Steubing is coming off an elite weekend where she averaged nearly 6.5 digs per set, so we are excited to keep building on that as we will need another big defensive weekend from her to compete against WKU's attackers. As shown last Sunday against UTEP, we genuinely believe we can compete with anyone when we follow the game plan, fight hard for every single point, and stay aggressive both serving and attacking. This is another opportunity to show we can do that against a really talented team."
 
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs are 7-17 all-time against WKU and 3-7 at E.A. Diddle Arena.
 
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