For everything Western Kentucky has accomplished in recent years, its NCAA Volleyball Tournament record is something the Lady Toppers want to improve.

WKU has been to 10 NCAA Tournaments since 2002 during the tenure of coach Travis Hudson. The Lady Toppers are 2-10 in those NCAA matches.

WKU (30-3) will get a chance to improve on that mark in Lexington at its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance. The four-time defending Conference USA champion Lady Toppers will meet Notre Dame (22-9) at 4 p.m. CST Friday at Memorial Coliseum in a match streamed on ESPN3.

“I think we’ve been working more toward this as we start achieving new goals and beating new records,” outside hitter Sydney Engle said Tuesday. “I think we need to start getting different goals set in front of us and this is one of them, to start advancing further and further into the NCAAs.”

WKU’s two NCAA Tournament wins came in first-round victories in 2012 (3-0 over Loyola Marymount in Stanford, Calif.) and 2015 (3-0 over Arizona in Provo, Utah).

The Lady Toppers have never advanced past the second round and have been swept in seven of their 10 NCAA Tournament losses.

Hudson described this week a conversation he had with WKU women’s basketball coaching legend Paul Sanderford, who took his Lady Toppers to three Final Fours and the 1992 national championship game.

“I used to bellyache about that stuff all the time and one day I was having lunch with coach Sanderford and asking him what he thinks we need to do different,” Hudson said. “He said, ‘How many times have you played?’ I told him, and he said, ‘Well, how many times have you been favored?’

“It’s not very often we’ve gone into those matchups and been the higher seed or the more favored team. So it’s a challenge every time you get to the NCAA Tournament.”

WKU’s most recent NCAA Tournament match was a 28-26, 25-22, 27-25 defeat last year against Boise State in a match played at Stanford.

It was a frustrating loss for the Lady Toppers, who recorded a higher hitting percentage (.287-.280) and more digs (57-50).

“Last year was kind of a disappointing end for us,” middle hitter Rachel Anderson said. “This is something where our whole team, whole staff, everyone is looking forward to winning the first match and then advancing from there to play the second match and hopefully go to the Sweet 16.”

WKU has the pieces in place for an NCAA Tournament run.

This will be the last tournament for Engle and two senior All-Americans, setter Jessica Lucas and outside hitter Alyssa Cavanaugh. Those two players were named this month as the 2017 C-USA Setter and Player of the Year, respectively.

Anderson has been a star this season and was at her best in the C-USA Tournament from Nov. 17-19 at E.A. Diddle Arena, where she was named the event’s MVP after WKU’s championship. It was the junior’s second straight C-USA Tournament MVP accolade.

“This is a team that belongs in this moment,” Hudson said. “This is a team that’s built for it in every way, shape and form. They’re experienced, they’re talented, they’re confident, they work hard, they work together.

“All of the things are in place for this to be a team that will perform well on Friday. What that means in that moment, we’ll find out.”{&end}