WKU’s Anderson is C-USA preseason Player of the Year; Lady Tops picked No. 1

IRVING, Texas – For the fourth-consecutive season, WKU Volleyball has been picked as
the Conference USA preseason favorites while senior Rachel Anderson was named the
league’s Preseason Player of the Year. Anderson marks the third-straight Lady Topper
to be recognized with the preseason honor following Jessica Lucas (2016) and Alyssa
Cavanaugh (2017).

Head coach Travis Hudson’s squad collected five first place votes as six C-USA
squads earned at least one. For the second-consecutive season, Rice was picked as
the league’s runner up. Florida Atlantic, North Texas and Southern Miss round out
the top five of the preseason poll. Also predicted to make the postseason
tournament field are UTSA, Charlotte and Marshall while FIU, UTEP, Middle Tennessee
and Louisiana Tech closed out the poll.

In addition to her Preseason Player of the Year nod, Anderson also earned a spot on
the league’s Preseason All-Conference team for the second-straight season. The
senior middle hitter is the two-time defending C-USA Tournament MVP and an AVCA
All-American. Anderson’s career .390 hitting percentage leads all returning players
across the nation and is on pace to break the current program record of .382 held by
Megan Argabright.

Hudson’s 2018 squad has the potential to do damage on both sides of the ball between
a lethal offense that as ranked second in the NCAA the past two seasons and a
tenacious defense looking to stifle opposing teams’ game plans. The Red and White
finished the 2017 campaign with a 31-4 record while winning both the C-USA regular
season and tournament championships for the fourth-straight season.

While the Lady Topper squad lost several key contributors to graduation, WKU
reloaded its ranks with a freshman class that earned recognition over the summer
from PrepVolleyball.com as one of the nation’s Highest Honorable Mention units. The
honor put the Lady Topper newcomers in the top 55 incoming classes in the NCAA.
Individually, Lauren Matthews earned the highest possible All-American recognition
during her final AAU Volleyball campaign while Payton Frederick was named a
PrepVolleyball.com Defensive Dandy as a first team selection.

In the AVCA Coaches Preseason Poll released August 8, the Lady Toppers were
receiving votes with 58 points and landed in the top-25 rankings on at least two
ballots. Preseason exhibition opponent Kentucky (1260 points) ranked fifth overall.
Additional 2018 opponents receiving votes included Washington State (47 points) and
Missouri State (4 points).

With the 2018 campaign just around the corner, volleyball season tickets are
available online at
WKUSports.com or
by calling the WKU Ticket Office at 1-800-5-BIGRED.

2018 Conference USA Volleyball Preseason Poll
1. WKU (5)
2. Rice (2)
3. Florida Atlantic (2)
4. North Texas (1)
5. Southern Miss (2)
6. UTSA
7. Charlotte
8. Marshall
9. FIU (1)
10. UTEP
11. UAB
12. Middle Tennessee
13. Louisiana Tech

2018 Conference USA Volleyball Preseason Player of the Year:
Rachel Anderson, WKU

2018 Conference USA Volleyball Preseason Team
Yumi Garcia, Charlotte
Ivone Martinez, Florida Atlantic
Sigourney Kame, Florida Atlantic
Abbi Reid, Florida Atlantic
Karley York, North Texas
Barbara Teakell, North Texas
Grace Morgan, Rice
Nicole Lennon, Rice
Sarah Bell, Southern Miss
Kylie Grandy, Southern Miss
Macey Austin, UTEP
Rachel Anderson, WKU