After securing back-to-back American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) South Region Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career, WKU Volleyball head coach Travis Hudson has earned one of the 10 spots on the National Coach of the Year ballot again in 2017. Coach Hudson and the nine other finalists will be in attendance when the nation’s top coach is announced at the AVCA Convention’s Jostens Coaches Honors Luncheon on Thursday in Kansas City, Mo.
Collecting the fifth AVCA South Region Coach of the Year accolade of his career, Hudson will be joined on the final ballot by each of the AVCA Division I Region Coach of the Year honorees including: Dani Busboom Kelly (Louisville, East Region), Dan Fisher (Pittsburgh, East Coast Region), Melissa Stokes (Missouri State, Midwest Region), Chris Lamb (Wichita State, North Region), Russ Rose (Penn State, Northeast Region), Sam Crosson (Cal Poly, Pacific North Region), Jennifer Petrie (San Diego, Pacific South Region), Tom Mendoza (High Point, Southeast Region) and Andrew Palileo (North Texas, Southwest Region).
In the 2017 season alone, Hudson faced off against three other Region Coach of the Year honorees. The Lady Toppers claimed wins over Dan Fisher’s Pittsburgh squad while splitting decisions against Andrew Palileo’s North Texas unit and dropping an early season four-set tilt at Louisville against Dani Busboom Kelly’s team.
Hudson has also earned Region Coach of the Year recognition following the 2002, ‘05, ‘12 and ‘16 campaigns. In each of the five seasons he’s collected the honor, Hudson has led his program to conference regular season and tournament championships in addition to appearing in seven NCAA Tournament matches during that period. This season marks the first time Hudson did not also earn the conference Coach of the Year laurel in addition to the Region’s honor.
In 2017, Hudson and company are coming off their fourth-straight 30-win season (31-4), putting together a final mark of 123-17 over the last four campaigns. This year’s senior class also became the first group in program history to appear in the NCAA Tournament all four years of their careers after WKU won four-consecutive Conference USA Tournaments. Hudson, a 23-year veteran of WKU, is a five-time AVCA South Region Coach of the Year, earning the honor back-to-back campaigns. The Lady Toppers also saw a program-record four All-Region selections with two-time Conference USA Player of the Year Alyssa Cavanaugh leading the way as WKU’s first Region Player of the Year as well. Additionally, WKU Volleyball posted a Division I-best 23 sweeps on the 2017 season including a streak of 30-straight sets won from Sept. 22 to Oct. 27 – part of a 23-match win streak.
How to Follow the Lady Toppers: For complete information on WKU Volleyball, follow the team on Twitter at @WKUVolleyball and head coach Travis Hudson at @TravisHudsonWKU.
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Jessica Leifheit
Assistant Director
WKU Athletic Communications/Media Relations
Volleyball | Softball | Track & Field | Cross Country
