By MICHEAL COMPTON / micheal.compton@bgdailynews.com

The finish line is in sight for the Western Kentucky volleyball team, which heads to Sam Houston State for the final road trip of the regular season this weekend.

WKU will play two games at Sam Houston, the opener at 6 p.m. on Friday with the second match scheduled for noon on Saturday.

After wins against UTEP and New Mexico State in the previous two weekends, WKU (21-6 overall, 14-0 Conference USA) enters the weekend with a regular season conference title in its grasp. WKU clinches at least a share of the regular-season title – and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament – with two wins this weekend.

“I believe my whole career that the most difficult thing to do is to win a regular-season championship,” WKU Travis Hudson said. “It is the thing I am most proud of. It doesn’t get you where you ultimately want to be. You want to get to the NCAA Tournament and that conference tournament is what assures you get there, but as a coach going through the grind of a season – all the ups and downs … to be able to navigate that all and be in a position to win a conference championship is significant.”

Winners of 17 straight, WKU’s run in the last four games – including a pair of 3-0 home wins against New Mexico State – has been even more impressive with Hudson and associate head coach Craig Bere both unavailable recovering from injuries. Both coaches were injured the day before leaving for UTEP and both are now recovering from surgery last week – Hudson from a Lisfranc injury and Bere from a torn Achilles. In their absence, assistant coaches Jena Otec and Kristi Griffin and graduate assistant Kyle Cohan have handled the coaching duties.

“This has been a challenge like no other that we have dealt with in my time here,” Hudson said. “I’m really grateful to Jenna and Chrissy and Kyle for the work they have put in for us to continue on without missing a beat. Hopefully as every day goes by now, we can work back to something a little more normal.”

Hudson and Bere have remained at home the last four games, communicating with the rest of the coaching staff in preparation leading into game day. Hudson considered being on the sidelines last weekend for the New Mexico State games, but opted to keep everything the same as the previous weekend.

He said knowing he would be unable to make the trip this weekend made the decision easier.

“There is a fine line between being helpful and being a distraction,” Hudson said. “Knowing we weren’t going to make the Sam Houston trip, it felt like just letting them get a little continuity and getting used to getting coached in the manner they have the last two weeks was probably the best answer.”

Hudson and Bere were available at practice this week, with Hudson adding he is hopeful to be back on the sideline next week for the final two home matches against Liberty. He is also hopeful to make the trip to the conference tournament later this month in El Paso, Texas.

He added the adversity has been easier watching a team that has been locked in and continues to have success in the midst of the chaos.

“I think it speaks to the culture of our program,” Hudson said. “I think it speaks to the fact that we have never been a program that makes excuses. We talk about it from day one of preseason, that things are going to go wrong. You can never predict how things are going to play out and certainly no one would have ever predicted the way this one played out, but I think it also speaks to the talent of our coaching staff.”