Matthews, Dieudonne take weekly honors, Bishop recognized for defense against MTSU

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Credit: Chris Kohley/WKU Athletics

WKU’s Nadia Dieudonne (2) and Lauren Matthews (5) celebrate during a set at Diddle Arena.

Jake Moore, Sports Editor

No. 17 WKU Volleyball wrapped up its regular season slate on Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Charlotte, securing its third perfect C-USA record in a row.

Monday marked the fifth time this season that fifth-year setter Nadia Dieudonne and senior middle hitter Lauren Matthews have both received Conference USA weekly awards, with Matthews earning her fourth offensive player of the week nod and Dieudonne taking home her seventh setter of the week honor of the fall.

WKU Volleyball’s roster has now compiled 14 weekly awards from four players this season.

Matthews put up stellar numbers across the weekend series’ eight sets, only committing nine total errors. She hit 45 kills while operating at .493 hitting percentage and served an important role on defense by averaging 1.25 blocks per set.

Matthews only got better as the weekend went on. She hit .472 on Friday and put together a stellar .514 outing in Sunday’s regular-season finale.

Dieudonne recorded 106 assists throughout the series and boosted her team’s offense to a .328 hitting percentage. 48% of Dieudonne’s sets resulted in WKU kills across both matches. She recorded a season-high of 55 assists in the first match of the weekend and had another 50+ assist day on Sunday with 51. Dieudonne hit the hardwood for 15 digs across the weekend.

The Hilltoppers sit at No. 25 in RPI, one spot below C-USA rival Rice. WKU earned the N0. 1 seed in the east division for the 2021 Conference USA Championship and will face the No. 4 seed in the west, the UAB Blazers, on Friday, Nov. 19 at 5:30 p.m. CT.

Hilltopper football was recognized with weekly accolades as well. Redshirt sophomore defensive back Beanie Bishop earned defensive player of the week honors following his outstanding performance against MTSU on Saturday. The Louisville native caught two interceptions and ran one back for a score during WKU’s 48-21 stomping of the Blue Raiders.

His pair of picks helped break WKU’s single-game FBS record for interceptions as the Hilltopper defense finished the day with six grabs. Bishop was also named to the Paul Hornung Award Weekly Honor Roll, a collection of the most versatile players in college football. Bishop currently leads all qualified C-USA kickoff returners with an average of 26.1 yards per return this fall.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include Beanie Bishop’s C-USA Defensive Player of the Week Award.

Sports Editor Jake Moore can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Charles_JMoore.