BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- WKU Volleyball is excited to welcome a familiar face back to The Hill as Kyle Cohan was announced as the new assistant coach on Thursday.Â
Cohan spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons as the graduate manager at WKU and the 2025 season as an assistant coach at St. Louis University.Â
During his time on The Hill, Cohan helped the Hilltoppers to a 58-12 record, a perfect 34-0 in CUSA play, and back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. At SLU, Cohan was responsible for serve receive and defensive training, while also leading the charge on recruiting and culture-building.Â
"First of all, we wish the best of luck to Jena Otec and appreciate her for all that she did for WKU Volleyball," said WKU Volleyball head coach Travis Hudson. "However, when her position opened up, the choice was very clear in terms of who I wanted to fill her role. Kyle Cohan did an incredible job in his time at WKU as a grad assistant and is one of the most talented young coaches in the game. As a former All-American libero himself, his ability to train floor defense is tremendous. However, his ability to build relationships is what impresses me the most. Our players absolutely loved him in his time here and are very excited to bring him back into our program.  It's that same personality that will allow him to thrive as our recruiting coordinator as well.  He is a home run hire!"Â
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Cohan was a member of Carthage College's men's volleyball team in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As the starting libero for most of his time, Cohan led the Firebirds to two Division III national championships in 2021 and 2022 and also helped them to an undefeated season in 2021. Across 79 matches played, Cohan recorded 626 total digs and over 100 assists and led Carthage in single-season digs for three straight years.Â
"I am incredibly grateful and honored to be joining the staff at Western Kentucky," said Cohan. "I'm lucky enough to have felt firsthand how special this place is and know that what happens here is because of the foundation laid by the players from more than 30 years ago. The work that Travis, Craig, and Kristi do daily is about more than volleyball, and I'm incredibly humbled by the opportunity to be a part of it. Furthermore, the development and training behind WKU Volleyball are second to none and is proven, sustained success. Special thanks to Travis for believing in me and trusting me to continue the progress of his program. I also want to thank Todd [Stewart], Gina [Stoll], and the administration for all their work to continue to advance and invest in WKU Athletics. I'm excited to put in the work for this team to continue to reach their goals and enjoy the process of doing so. What an extremely talented group they are! I cannot wait to see their growth and compete for championships with them. Go Tops!"Â
Individually, Cohan was named CCIW Defensive Player of the Year in 2022 and finished his career ranked fifth all-time in career digs. He also earned CCIW Libero of the Week three times, was named CCIW First Team All-Conference once, was a two-time AVCA All-West Region member, and finished his senior season as an AVCA First Team All-American in 2022. Â
A graduate of St. Louis University High School in 2018, Cohan was a four-year letterwinner and helped the program to three state championships and one runner-up finish. He was a three-time First Team All-MCC and All-State Tournament member and was named the Missouri State Tournament MVP as a senior. Cohan's club career was spent with High Performance STL.Â
Cohan earned his bachelor's in marketing and management from Carthage and completed his master's in sports administration here on The Hill.Â
