HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The 2020 Conference USA Volleyball Championship began Thursday with Southern Miss hosting the action from its Wellness/Volleyball Facility in Hattiesburg. The league's top four teams from both the East and West divisions are competing in the three-day, single-elimination tournament for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Four quarterfinal matches in a cross-divisional format were played on Thursday. Two semifinal meetings featuring (1E) No. 19 WKU and (2W) UTEP, and (1W) No. 24 Rice and (2E) Charlotte took place Friday. Now, the weekend culminates in the title match featuring East and West Division Champions WKU and Rice on Saturday. All contests will be broadcast on ESPN+ with coverage links, including the bracket, schedule, live stats and video links available on conferenceusa.com and its Championship Central page.

Match #5: (1E) No. 19 WKU 3, (2W) UTEP 0 | Box Score
 
Top-seeded WKU blew past the West Division’s No. 2 seed UTEP in straight sets (25-13, 25-9, 25-11) on Friday to secure its sixth C-USA Championship title match berth. The Hilltoppers will be in search of their sixth C-USA tournament crown, beginning at noon CT Saturday.
 
WKU (20-0) reached the 20-win plateau for the 21st-consecutive season and is one of five programs in NCAA Division I with an active such streak. UTEP’s memorable 2020-21 campaign ended at 10-7, but not before the program advanced in the C-USA tournament for the first time in 13 years.
 
WKU manufactured the league’s top single-match hitting percentage (.488) this season while keeping UTEP to a .075 clip. The Toppers also out-dug the Miners 35-18 and posted six team blocks to UTEP’s three.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Paige Briggs led all players with 11 kills (.579) and turned in five digs. Junior middle Lauren Matthews reached three blocks to pair with 10 kills at a .471 rate. Five-time C-USA Setter of the Week senior Nadia Dieudonne tallied 35 assists with four digs, four kills (.571) and two aces. Senior right side Kayland Jackson hit .533 with nine kills and offered up a solo stuff. 
 
Seven Miners had at least one kill with junior outside hitter Paulina Perez Rosas leading the way with six and junior outside hitter Serena Patterson contributing five. Patterson also added a couple of block assists with another two coming from sophomore outside hitter Alianza Darley. Freshman defensive specialist Alyssa Sianez owned a match-high seven digs.  
 
WKU took the first set comfortably, 25-13. The squad hit .400 with five Toppers recording at least two kills. The East Division Champion dominated the second frame, 25-9 and held UTEP to an .037 hitting percentage in the effort. The Miners responded with a 7-3 lead to open the final frame before WKU went on a 14-0 scoring run to put the match away, 25-11, its 60^th set win in 63 tries this year.

Match #6: (1W) No. 24 Rice 3, (2E) Charlotte 0 | Box Score
 
No. 24 Rice returns to the C-USA Championship match for the third-consecutive season after defeating Charlotte, 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-22) in Friday’s semifinal round. The West Division Champion Owls and East Division Champion WKU will square off in a rematch of the 2019 title game at noon CT Saturday on ESPN+. This will be the fourth championship meeting between the two nationally-ranked powerhouses, each prior resulting in five sets in favor of WKU.
 
Rice improved to 16-4 on the year with its second sweep of the tournament and 11^th on the season. Charlotte (13-5) capped a historic spring campaign in the conference tournament, claiming its first win there since 2002. The program also competed in a C-USA semifinal for the first time after setting a program record for conference wins (9) during the regular season.
 
Three Owls tallied double-digit kills and hit at least .460 as Rice compiled 50 kills and hit an even .400 as a unit. Senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon and freshman outside hitter Sahara Maruska were each responsible for a match-high 13, while junior middle blocker Anota Adekunle slammed 10 on a .562 hitting clip. Three Owls posted double-doubles as Lennon notched 10 digs and Maruska chipped in 11. Junior setter Carly Graham totaled 13 digs with her 43 assists. Rice also piled up 10 blocks with a team-high four coming from Lennon.
 
Charlotte sophomore outside hitter Nalani Lyde led all 49ers with nine kills on the day and freshman libero Sophie Whalen amassed 12 of the team’s 36 digs. Senior outside hitter Sydney Rowan added seven kills and six digs, while freshman Emani’ Foster contributed seven kills, six digs and an ace. Sophomore middle Amani McArthur picked up a couple of blocks and four kills through the three sets.
 
Rice was able to claim the first set, 25-17 with a scorching offense that hit .533 and powered 19 kills. With Charlotte leading 7-6 in the second stanza, Rice utilized a 13-1 run that included three kills from both Adekunle and Maruska to take a 19-8 lead en route to a 25-13 set win.
 
A closer third set became knotted at 10 and Rice later pushed a 17-13 advantage with back-to-back Maruska slams. A late push from Charlotte saw the Niners hang five-straight points, three on Foster kills. Rice forced two timeouts during that stretch, but finished the job, 25-22 on account of a Lennon solo block and final attack error.