In the five years leading up to May’s arrival, the first five years of Hudson’s coaching career, the Lady Toppers went a combined 78-89 (.467 winning percentage). WKU managed just one 20-win season in that span (26 wins in 1998), while finishing with under 10 wins in both 1995 and ’97.
As the Lady Toppers struggled to establish themselves in the Sun Belt, May was making her mark on the local and national scenes. Aside from winning four Kentucky state titles as a Rocket, while losing just four matches in her entire prep career, May helped lead the Kentuckiana Junior Volleyball Association (now the Kentucky Indiana Volleyball Academy) to three AAU national championships.
May’s winning pedigree paid immediate dividends for the Lady Toppers, as Hudson’s program quickly ascended to the top of the SBC. In the three years since May’s arrival, WKU is a combined 91-21 (.813 winning percentage), with three-straight seasons of 24 or more wins and three-consecutive Sun Belt East Division titles. May’s influence on the team culminated last season when the Lady Toppers posted a school-record 33-5 mark while capturing WKU’s first-ever Sun Belt Tournament championship and trip to the NCAA Tournament.
“Her winning attitude has changed the way our whole team thinks,” said Hudson. “We had never won a conference title in my tenure before she got here. If we win this year, it will make four titles in four years.”
But, May’s contributions to the Lady Toppers’ success goes far beyond simply providing a “winning attitude.” In 2002, she was named the SBC’s Defensive Player of the Year after averaging a conference-best 4.28 digs per game and establishing a new school record for digs in a season with 599.
At a position which demands the dirty work and rarely produces newspaper headlines, WKU’s libero became the first defensive player to grab a spot on an all-SBC team (second team) and an American Volleyball Coaches’ Association all-Region team (South Region honorable mention).
“I took a lot of pride in those awards. The libero position helped grab some extra attention,” said May. “I knew all year that I was good at what I did, even though other people might not. It was nice to finally get recognized for what you do, because you hardly get any throughout the year.”
Winning Pedigree
If one were to look back and try and find the last losing team May played on, their search would stretch back to her grade school playing days — on the basketball court. Since she began playing competitive volleyball in the fifth grade, no squad May has ever suited up for has endured a losing season. Her only experiences with losing came as a player on the St. Lawrence Braves basketball team in grade school.
“We were bad,” said May. “I really don’t even want to talk about it, that’s how bad we were.”
May picked up the game from her older sister, Kelly, who went on to play at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky., when she was a first grader. She began playing competitively in the fifth grade and starting playing with the KJVA, a travelling club team, once she reached seventh grade. Following her eighth grade year, May had already captured her first of three AAU national titles. Her team also earned two third-place finishes at the Junior Olympics. Add in her four state titles at Assumption and May’s list of accomplishments only grows longer and more distinguished.
“I guess I’ve been spoiled with volleyball. I expect to win every match. Since I’ve never really lost a lot, when I do lose I tend to freak out and Travis has to sit me down,” said May. “In high school we were a powerhouse, so I expected to win every time out. It’s a little different in college. Since every team is good in college I know we’ll lose a few matches, but I would never be happy on a losing team.”
As a senior, May helped the Rockets to a No. 2 national ranking, while earning spots on the all-state team and the all-state tournament team. Despite a desire to move “far away from home,” May passed on walk-on invitations from Big Ten schools — Michigan State, Indiana and Purdue, to accept a scholarship from Hudson’s fledgling program.
“I knew they weren’t great, but I knew Travis was getting good players and I thought we could build something,” said May. “I looked at it as a challenge.”
“The main thing I saw in Tracy was her competitiveness,” said Hudson. “She was a winner and I hoped that she would have a positive effect on our team.”
The results were evident immediately as May appeared in 33 matches and 117 of a possible 118 games as a freshman to help the Lady Toppers to their first SBC East Division title under Hudson’s guidance.
A Competitor Through and Through
As Western’s libero, a position which designates players to full-time defensive duties, May does all the no glory dirty work to set up the team’s offensive stars. Her name rarely gets mentioned in game stories and most of the fans have no real understanding of how she impacts the team’s success.
“Even though my position doesn’t get a lot of attention, if I don’t pass well then we can’t run our offense correctly,” said May. “We might not get any glory, but what we (defensive players) do is important to our team’s success. Teams can’t win if they can’t pass.“
“Tracy's ball control is the gas in our offensive engine,” said Hudson. “It goes unnoticed most times, but we would go nowhere at the net if she didn't handle the ball so well.”
With so little recognition for defensive players, May says you have to find motivation and gratification “inside yourself.”
“If we lose I blame myself a lot, because it means I must not have done my job well,” said May. “If we win, then I’m happy. Awards are nice, but if we win matches and I know I’m the best at what I do, then that’s enough.”
“At times, the lack of recognition has been hard on Tracy,” said Hudson. “She doesn’t always see her impact on the match the way I do.”
With digs as practically the only statistic for a libero to record, it stands as the measuring tape to a player’s influence on the game.
“It’s kind of unfair, because you really can’t control whether a team hits the ball to you or not,” said May. “But because that’s how we’re measured, I do always check the box score to find out how many digs I had. I compete against the other team’s defensive players and I want to be the defensive player of the year again.”
Her competitive nature makes it hard for her to handle losing, especially after Western started the year at 0-2. But since then, the Lady Toppers have rattled off nine consecutive wins and won their last two regular-season tournaments (the Kent State Invitational and WKU’s own tournament). May even claimed a SBC Defensive Player of the Week award on Sept. 8. But it is more than just competitiveness that drives May and makes her the player she is.
“She reacts so well and excels at reading where a hitter is going to hit the ball,” said WKU assistant coach and former teammate, Natalie Furry. “Her aggressiveness is what makes her stand out. She is definitely the best defensive player I’ve ever played with.”
“I think she has a tremendous understanding of the game,” said Hudson. “I’ve said many times that I think she is the most knowledgeable volleyball player I’ve ever coached.”
May downplays her own abilities and passes off most of the credit for her success to the repeated drills, practice time and instruction from Hudson and Assumption head coach Ron Kordes. It was Kordes, she said, who gave her insight into the game, while Hudson helped refine her game by improving her footwork and increasing her playing span.
While the Lady Toppers normally reap the benefits of May’s vast knowledge of the game, at times, it becomes detrimental to her play.
“Tracy has a tendency to over analyze things,” said Hudson. “She’s at her best when she just goes out and plays.”
As is the case on most nights, though, her competitiveness shines through and more often than not, as evidenced by an .813 winning percentage during her time on the Hill, equals success for the Lady Toppers. Never was her competitive nature more apparent to Hudson than last season as the two walked off the court on the road with the crowd booing the Lady Toppers, who had just knocked off one of their biggest rivals.
“They hate us right now,” said May, as she broke into a huge smile.
