Western Kentucky’s volleyball team required a bit of extra cargo space for the flight home from El Paso, Texas.

The Hilltoppers had to tote a Conference USA Tournament championship trophy back to E.A. Diddle Arena on Sunday, hours after securing the program’s sixth straight CUSA tournament victory and 10th in 11 seasons.

If that was a problem, it was a good one to have.

“I hope people never fail to realize how incredibly difficult this is,” WKU coach Travis Hudson said. “We’ve been so blessed to win so many of these lately, but I’m telling you it is a difficult task to win a regular-season championship, to win a tournament championship. So I hope people never fail to appreciate the difficulty of it because it a very difficult task. And secondly, I am just so incredibly proud of this group. Everybody faces adversity – we have done nothing but face adversity throughout the season. This became a player-led team and in tough moments they lean into each other. I’m just incredibly proud.

“This never gets old. It truly never gets old. It is my most rewarding moment of my year when that last ball falls and I get to just sit back and watch those kids celebrate because I know what they’re about, I know how they’re built and I know how much time and effort they’ve put into it. So it’s always so gratifying to see them get that reward.”

WKU (28-6) swept through the CUSA regular season with a perfect 18-0 record to earn the top seed in the league tournament. The Hilltoppers had a battle from the start, losing the first set to No. 8 seed Florida International before rallying back for a 3-1 win. The last set was an epic 32-20 victory for the Tops on Friday.

The Hilltoppers rolled past No. 4 seed Kennesaw State in three sets to reach the championship Sunday against No. 3 seed New Mexico State. Again, WKU dropped the opening set, but pulled together to claim a 3-1 (21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-21) victory that secured an automatic to the NCAA Tournament.

“I’m just so proud of this team and this weekend was so fun,” said WKU senior outside hitter Kaylee Cox, who earned CUSA Tournament Most Valuable Player honors. “We’re going in knowing that we could win it all and just to take it day by day was super important. Starting off with a clean slate every single day was important and I’m just thankful to be at a program where the culture is such an important thing because that is what truly wins championships is our culture that we have here. Just so thankful to be here and so proud of how we pulled it out this weekend.”

The Hilltoppers, who started the season 4-6 with a front-loaded slate against NCAA Tournament-caliber competition, have won 24 straight matches.

Cox, who tallied 23 kills and 12 digs in the championship against New Mexico State, was named the Alyssa Cavanaugh Conference USA Player of the Year shortly before the tournament to become the third straight WKU player (joining Lauren Matthews in 2022 and Paige Briggs in 2023) to win the annual award since it was renamed after the late Hilltopper volleyball great.

“Coming into the season I was picked as the preseason player of the year and that’s something I never expected,” Cox said. “There’s so many great athletes in this league and to get such a big honor is so amazing. It’s honestly all this team that has helped me get to that point and this coaching staff has helped me get to that point.”

With their latest NCAA Tournament bid, the Hilltoppers are just waiting for their next destination and opponent. A watch party for the NCAA Tournament selection show on ESPN is set for 5 p.m. Sunday, with the location not yet announced.