ALIVIA SKIDMORE | FLORENCE, KY | ST. HENRY DISTRICT H.S. | OUTSIDE HITTER
Alivia Skidmore a native of Florence, Ky, played her prep ball at St. Henry District High School and was former teammates with current Hilltopper defensive specialist, Abby Schaefer. She led the Crusaders to their first state championship in 40 years in 2021 and picked up a district championship in 2022. The 5'10" pin earned four varsity letters while picking up 1,168 kills in high school volleyball.
Capping off a stellar 2021 season, she was a member of the 9th region all-tournament team, All-A state all-tournament team, the 34th district MVP, and a member of All-A 9th region all-tournament team. The accolades continued in her junior and senior campaigns, along with region all-tournament and district MVP awards, she was a KVCA first team all-state member and was no. 2 ranked player in the state of Kentucky by the Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association.
Skidmore played club for NKYVC (Northern Kentucky Volleyball Club) and trained with Team USA at their National Team Development Program back in May. She is listed as Prep Volleyball's top 150 players in the country, an AVCA All-Region player in Region Five, and just recently was awarded as an AVCA High School All-American Honorable Mention.
The daughter of Thomas Lee and Natalie Skidmore, she is an only child with seven younger cousins, and her major is undecided at the moment on The Hill.
WORDS FROM SKIDMORE: "I chose WKU because it felt like a tight-knit community, a coaching staff that truly valued me, and is built upon a culture of trust, passion, and dedication."
HUDSON ON SKIDMORE: "Alivia is one of the most highly decorated recruits in the history of our program. She has tremendous athleticism and is only scratching the surface of her ability as a volleyball player. She is a fantastic young person and will not only be a great player on the court, but will fit our culture off the court as well."
FAITH YOUNG | HARRISON, OHIO | HARRISON H.S. | OUTSIDE HITTER
Faith Young is a native of Harrison, Ohio – northwest of Cincinnati – and played her prep ball at Harrison High School. Strong in the front row, she played both middle and outside hitter for the Harrison Wildcats and led her team to the Ohio state sectionals her senior season and undefeated conference records in all four years.
The 6'1" signee completed her final year of high school volleyball, totaling up 436 kills and a .328 hitting clip and had earned first and second team All-District and second-team All-Ohio. In the Southwest Ohio Conference, she was named first team all-conference all four years of her career, and was the SWOC Player of the Year three times in high school. She ended her high school career with over 1,000 kills.
Playing club volleyball for Tri-State Elite, the No. 17 US club in the country, and she received the AAU All-American Award as her team competed in the AAU Championship.
The daughter of Shawn and Jill Young, her older sister, Grace, plays volleyball at Mount St. Joseph University. As an honor society and All-Academic Team member, she plans on majoring in biology at WKU.
WORDS FROM YOUNG: "Since I stepped foot on campus, I got this feeling in my gut and heart that this was the place. Travis told my parents, 'I promise you that when she's here, I will look out and take care of her', ever since that moment, I knew Western Kentucky was my home."
HUDSON ON YOUNG: "I think Faith is one of the most underrated players in the entire class of 2024. She has the ability to play multiple positions and has great natural feel as a player. The thing that attracts me to her more than anything else is she is a flat-out winner. She is going to impact winning in many different ways as part of our program."
How to Follow WKU Volleyball: For complete information on WKU Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUVolleyball and head coach Travis Hudson at @TravisHudsonWKU. The team is also on Instagram and Facebook.
