Complete Release
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- The WKU volleyball program captured three individual Conference USA accolades as announced by the league Wednesday morning. Setter Jessica Lucas was honored with her first Setter of the Year award while freshman Rachel Anderson was selected as the Freshman of the Year. Head coach Travis Hudson was named the league's Coach of the Year.
Two-time All-Conference USA First Team honoree Jessica Lucas was awarded with her first Setter of the Year honor as the sophomore helped guide WKU to a league-leading .315 team hitting percentage in conference matches. A three-time C-USA Setter of the Week honoree, Lucas finished second in the conference in both assists per set (11.06) and total assists (1,195).
"She's just a really complete volleyball player," said head coach Travis Hudson. "I think it speaks volumes of her setting ability that we are in the top ten in the country in hitting but she is much more than a setter, she's a great defender as well and is really becoming a leader of our team."
An all-around performer for WKU, Lucas leads the Lady Toppers with 13 double-doubles, including seven in conference play. On the year, Lucas had a pair of 50+ assist outings as the sophomore finished with 53 assists and 13 digs in WKU's 3-1 victory over UTSA and totaled a career-high 56 assists and 11 digs in the Lady Toppers five-set victory over North Texas. Defensively, Lucas ranked second on the team with a 2.45 dig per set average in conference matches.
For the second consecutive year a WKU player took home Conference USA Freshman of the Year honors as Lady Topper rookie sensation Rachel Anderson took home the award following an excellent freshman campaign on The Hill. A starter in all 56 sets in conference play, Anderson ranked fifth on the team with 111 kills (1.98/set) and second with 43 total blocks (0.77/set). The middle hitter was awarded as the league's Freshman of the Week on September 28 after finishing with 11 kills on .375 hitting against Marshall and tallying a .615 hitting percentage against LA Tech.
"I'm really excited because I think there were a lot of great freshmen in the league this year so for her to win speaks volumes," Hudson said. "When I was recruiting Rachel I remember saying she has a chance to be one of the real great ones here and she certainly put up a great freshman year for us."
Anderson follows in the footsteps of current sophomore Alyssa Cavanaugh who took home the award in 2014
On the heels of guiding WKU to the program's sixth consecutive 27+ win season and fifth-straight regular season conference championship, WKU head coach Travis Hudson captured his sixth conference coach of the year award of his career. The honor is Hudson's first since WKU joined Conference USA in 2014 as he previously took home the award five times when the Lady Toppers were a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
Overall, the 2015 C-USA Championship is Hudson's 12th regular season title since 2000. The program's all-time winningest coach, Hudson earned his 500th career victory in WKU sweep of Colgate earlier this year. Now in his 21st year at WKU, Hudson holds an impressive .729 winning percentage with an overall record of 525-195.
North Texas' Carnae Dillard was named the league's Player of the Year for the second consecutive season while Mary Pursell from Southern Miss was named Libero of the Year.
No. 21 WKU (28-3) enters this weekend's Conference USA tournament in San Antonio as the top seed and is scheduled to begin action Friday with a 5 p.m. CT match with No. 8 Marshall in the UTSA Convocation Center.
