Summer Session: WKU Volleyball
We’ve hit the dead period of the college sports calendar, so we’ve decided to run a series of pieces exploring what each program on the…
We’ve hit the dead period of the college sports calendar, so we’ve decided to run a series of pieces exploring what each program on the Hill can improve upon heading into the 2019–20 college sports calendar.
Most of Matt’s Stats are lengthy, wordy articles with tons of research. I’m always researching, trying to explain what the heck is going up on The Hill with facts.
However, this shortened summer version is just going to be some quick hits on what each sport immediately can do to get better. I’m going to go in order of which sports start throughout the year. Today’s piece is about the Volleyball Toppers.
Western Volleyball has been magnificent in recent memory (6 NCAA bids in 7 seasons from 2011 to 2017). Well, until last season. Last year, they were solid, still winning 20 games and being one of the favorites to win the Conference USA Championship.
However, for some reason, the Lady Toppers not only came back to Earth, but actually landed on the surface. When you’re used to threatening an NCAA Tournament run, bowing out early in the conference tournament was a massive letdown (their worst season since 1999). That may be acceptable for one season, but panic will set in if Coach Travis Hudson does not immediately go back to dominating Conference USA.
It was quite a drop in quality, but why? Sure, some all-time greats have moved on recently, but what do the Tops need to do get back to their previous heights and reach new ones?
First of all, what did the Tops lose from 2017–2018?
Just three great four year players (Jessica Lucas, Alyssa Cavanaugh & Sydney Engle) from a class that made the Round of 32 twice. No big deal, right?
That was certainly part of it. In 2017, WKU dominated its opponents in all of the explosive, athletic categories. Statistics like digs, block assists, and kills were all decidedly in Western’s favor. Assists were also a huge factor, but losing Jessica Lucas providing 11 of 13 assists per set is impossible to replace.
No one should ever be expected to replace that type of production, so to be realistic, Travis Hudson and company need to look elsewhere for improvements.
In addition to their obvious regression, opponents were a little more effective, mainly because WKU was on the other side of the net not being quite as athletic.
During the 2018 season, Western was only slightly better than its opponents in most categories.
So what does WKU need to get back to its winning ways?
More skill and athleticism shown through digs, blocks, and kills.
A few alarming stat lines to observe here. Improving any of these will help the Tops, and honestly, they should be in a position to do so after only losing one major star (Rachel Anderson):
2017: +2.6 digs per set; 2018: +1.5
2017: 2.3 blocks per set; 2018: 2.03
2017: 1.76 blocks allowed per set; 2018: 2.38
2017: +3 kills per set; 2018: +1
These differences took WKU from a team that is virtually impossible to get a ball through to a team that struggles to put teams away point-to-point. WKU was extremely young last season. Losing Sydney Engle, Rachel Cavanaugh, and Jessica Lucas was devastating. However, WKU loses only Rachel Anderson and Darby Music in 2019. Anderson is far and away the bigger loss, she is still getting sniffs at the national team, she’s darn near impossible to replace. However, everyone else of starting caliber returns.
In terms of depth, WKU actually has some great young, experienced players returning, while also adding some top-flight talent. WKU has landed some national level recruits of late, mainly utilizing Hudson’s Midwest pipelines in Indiana and Illinois. WKU will only have two seniors heading into this season, setter Emma Kowalowski & outside hitter Sophia Cerino so they should be able to build an experienced core moving forward.
Travis Hudson and company should be just fine this season, but if they are to get out on the right foot this season in an exhibition against Kentucky on August 21, the Tops must be more explosive at the net and on the ground.
Stay tuned for more in the summer session series. Next up Football, who is looking to turn things around under rookie head coach Tyson Helton