Western Kentucky University Women's Volleyball

HudsonWKU Follow @WKUVolleyball Year-by-Year Bio| Through the Years: Photo Gallery One name easily comes to mind when thinking of Western Kentucky University volleyball--Travis Hudson. Entering into his 22nd season as head coach in the 2016 season, he is the architect behind turning WKU volleyball into a championship-caliber team and bringing national attention to the Lady Topper program. After taking over the helm in 1995 and finishing that campaign with a 7-26 overall record, a resurgence in WKU volleyball came at an astounding pace. Under Hudson's tutelage, WKU has earned 10 Sun Belt Conference Regular-Season Championships, including seven-straight from 2000-2006, and five Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championships. In the department's first two seasons in Conference USA, Hudson guided the 2014 and 2015 squads to back-to-back regular season titles and consecutive C-USA Championships. Along with that, the Lady Toppers have appeared in nine NCAA Tournaments, as seven came from earning the league's automatic bid and two were as at-large selections. For his career, Hudson holds a 529-196 (.730) mark, as his only head coaching job has been on The Hill. Hudson has been named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year five times in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2012 and 2013 while being an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Coach of the Year finalist three times after earning the South Region Coach of the Year award in 2002, 2005 and 2012. He has 19 winning seasons in his career, as he has 17 seasons with 20 or more wins as well as six years with 30 or more wins. In his first two seasons with Conference USA, Hudson and the Lady Toppers set the standard high, as nine Lady Toppers garnered All-Conference awards while Alyssa Cavanaugh and Rachel Anderson were borth named the league's Freshmen of the Year. Jessica Lucas was also honored as the league's Setter of the Year in 2015. Most recently, Hudson led WKU to perhaps its best season in program history in 2015 as the Lady Toppers finished the season with a 32-4 overall record, including a statement victory at then fifth-ranked Wisconsin to open the season. He would go on to notch his 500th career victory a day later with a sweep of Colgate. After leading WKU to a 15-1 league record, Hudson earned his first Conference USA Coach of the Year honor. Hudson and WKU finished the season on a high note as the Lady Toppers found postseason success after advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history with a sweep of Arizona. Hudson closed out WKU's time in the Sun Belt Conference with a 215-59 record (.785), as the athletic department joined Conference USA as a full-time member in July 2014. His student-athletes earned 59 All-Sun Belt Conference selections, including 35 first-team honorees, as well as five selections for SBC Player of the Year, six for SBC Defensive Player of the Year, one for SBC Setter of the Year and four for SBC Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. The Lady Toppers are also recognized on a national scale, as WKU has ranked as high as No. 16 in the AVCA National Poll in 2013 and finished as No. 21 in the nation in 2012, the first time in program history that a team finished the season ranked. They repeated that feat in 2015 with a No. 22 final ranking. Along with that, Hudson's produced 24 AVCA All-Region selections and 15 AVCA All-Americans during his tenure, including four-time All-American Megan Argabright. But Hudson is not a man to rest on his accomplishments. To the contrary, he continues to ambitiously set new goals for his program and his players, pushing them to reach heights never before seen at WKU. In addition to his on-court successes, Hudson is fiercely proud of the achievements his players have produced in the classroom. He is a firm believer in living up to the term "student-athlete," and one can hardly argue with the results. The Lady Toppers boast a 100 percent graduation rate in Hudson's tenure, with eight of his players earning academic all-district honors. In addition, Natalie Furry became the first WKU (and Sun Belt Conference) volleyball player to earn Verizon Academic-All America recognition, winning a spot on the third team in 2000. Furthermore, WKU garnered an AVCA Team Academic Award nine times, logging the second-best GPA in the nation (3.606) in 2000, and an equally impressive mark (3.56) in 2001. The Lady Toppers have also won or shared the WKU Female Scholar Team Award five times. The team was honored by the NCAA for having a multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) score in the top 10 percent nationally through the 2015-16 academic year, which marks the 11th-straight year the Lady Toppers ranked in the top 10 percent nationally. The APR provides a real-time look at a program's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention and graduation and provides a measure of each team's academic performance. In 2014, Heather Boyan and Rachel Engle became WKU's first C-USA All-Academic Team selections, voted to the 11-person list by the league's sports information directors. Engel repeated as a C-USA All-Academic honoree in 2015. Hudson's student-athletes are also highly involved in the Bowling Green area, giving countless hours to community service efforts. In 2013, WKU volleyball had its first-ever Senior CLASS Award national finalist in Ashley Potts. The Louisville native was chosen as one of 10 volleyball players for the recognition based on criteria in classroom, competition, community service and character. Two organizations the team shows great interest in is Hope for Harlie and the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation (FOJ), a charitable, non-profit organization that strives to enhance and strengthen the support system built around children with pediatric brain tumors. FOJ would forever change the lives of people involved with WKU volleyball, as the group connected the team with Harlie Bryant in 2012. Originally from Beaver Dam, Ky., Bryant was diagnosed with a brain tumor behind her eyes at a young age. Once FOJ connected Bryant with the volleyball team, Bryant was adopted as an official member of the squad, donning the No. 6 jersey ever since. The Lady Toppers now look to give back in any way possible to FOJ and Hope for Harlie. WKU's success on and off the court has been a labor of love for Hudson, dating back to his days as a student at WKU. Prior to assuming the head coaching duties for the Lady Toppers in 1995, he served as an assistant coach for two years with Mark Hardaway, who left The Hill to take the head coaching position at Evansville, and one campaign under Jeff Hulsmeyer, former head coach at Purdue. Hudson also served as WKU's interim head coach on two occasions, once after Hulsmeyer left for Arkansas State in 1991 and again in the spring of 1995 following the departure of Hardaway. Later that year, Hudson was named the head coach at WKU, making him (at the time) the youngest head coach in the nation at age 24. A featured clinician, Hudson has developed a reputation as one of the best coaches in the game. He has directed and staffed various volleyball camps both at the collegiate and high school levels throughout the region, including the WKU Volleyball Camp that he founded in the summer of 2000. He has also spent time as a member of the polling committee for AVCA Top 25 rankings. Hudson is the cousin of former Hilltopper basketball great Bob Daniels, who lettered for WKU from 1954-57. A graduate of nearby Edmonson County High School in Brownsville, Ky., Hudson captained both the varsity football and basketball teams, earning All-State honors in football. A 1994 graduate of WKU, Hudson holds a bachelor's degree in business management with a marketing emphasis. In 1996, he married the former Cindy Wiseman, a graduate of the University of Louisville's School of Allied Health with a degree in physical therapy. The couple has two sons, Tyler and Andrew. The Travis Hudson File

Bere brings his extensive volleyball knowledge to The Hill, as Bere is set for his second season on the sidelines for WKU volleyball in 2016. Bere's coaching resume includes assistant coaching stints at Louisville, LSU, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech and most recently Notre Dame while he was a head coach at Southern Indiana from 2002-03. The Kentucky native has been a part of five NCAA Tournament teams, including four in Division I, while coaching numerous All-Conference selections and All-Americans. After spending the 2014 season in South Bend, Ind., Bere helped the Irish through its second year of Atlantic Coast Conference action. Notre Dame faced a tough league schedule, as the Irish collected wins against Louisville, Syracuse and Boston College. Bere helped Notre Dame newcomer Sam Fry to a spot on the All-ACC Freshman Team after the Ohio native led the team in each blocking category while second in aces and hitting percentage. Prior to Notre Dame, Bere spent time at Georgia Tech (2008-13), where he instantly made an impact with the Yellow Jackets in 2009 by helping them qualify for their first NCAA Tournament in five years. Working primarily with the setters, Bere helped coach standout Mary Ashley Tippins as she was named First-Team All-ACC and AVCA Honorable Mention All-American in 2009 and 2010. In addition to in-match duties, Bere assisted with scheduling, recruiting, academics and program special projects as well as other duties. He helped recruit the No. 25 signing class in the country according to PrepVolleyball.com in 2011 and challenged his student-athletes in the classroom as the program maintained a cumulative GPA that exceeded 3.0 each of his last four years. Bere served two seasons on the Louisville (2007-08) staff before heading down to Atlanta. In his final season at Louisville, the Cardinals received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by capturing the 2008 BIG EAST tournament title a year after finishing as runner-up. An assistant coach at LSU for three seasons (2004-06), Bere was responsible for game strategy, recruiting and practice planning. He helped guide the Tigers back to the NCAA Tournament in 2005 following a 13-year hiatus as LSU captured a share of its first Southeastern Conference Western Division title in school history. The following year, LSU repeated as SEC Western Division champions and made a return trip to the NCAA Tournament. Under his tutelage, setters Daniela Romero and Heather Fierce both ranked in the top 10 in the league in assists per game, while LSU posted the fourth-best hitting percentage in the SEC in 2005. Bere returned to Division I volleyball at LSU following a successful stint as the head coach at Southern Indiana, where he posted a 47-17 record in two seasons. He guided the Screaming Eagles to their first bid in the NCAA Division II Tournament after capturing the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament crown in 2002, and came within three points of a repeat GLVC title and tournament berth the following season. His .734 winning percentage at Southern Indiana still ranks as one of the best winning percentages in school history. During his two years, Southern Indiana setter Kim Boehmer became the first Screaming Eagle to receive All-America honors when she was named to the honorable mention squad in 2002. She also received first-team All-GLVC honors in 2002 and 2003, while Kristi Kavanaugh (Griffin) earned First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. While earning a Bachelor of Arts in health education with a minor in coaching (1990-95) and a Master of Arts in physical education (1995-97) from Morehead State, Bere began his coaching career by serving as a student assistant in 1993 before being promoted to full-time assistant coach for the 1994 season. While on staff with the Eagles, Morehead State captured the 1993 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title and finished as the regular season runner-up in 1994. The Eagles also returned to the title match of the 1995 OVC Tournament, taking runner-up honors. Following graduation, Bere accepted his first job out of college as an assistant coach with Mississippi State (1997-2001). There he was responsible for coordinating the Bulldog defense and working closely with the outside hitters. Bere also headed up the team's recruiting efforts while performing additional administrative duties off the court. A native of Louisville, Ky., Bere was a three-year letterwinner on the Morehead State football team and a six-year member of the men's volleyball club squad, serving as head coach while earning his Master's degree. Bere is married to the former Shannon Krebs, and the couple has one son, Blake.

Griffin returns for her eighth season on the WKU volleyball staff as an assistant coach in 2016. Griffin has also coached at Jacksonville State and the University of Southern Indiana. Since Griffin's arrival in 2009, the Lady Toppers have notched four NCAA Tournament appearances along with a share of the Conference USA Regular-Season Championship, Conference USA Tournament Championship, three Sun Belt Conference Regular-Season Championships and two SBC Tournament titles. With Griffin on staff, WKU has a record of 205-42 overall and 104-10 against conference opponents. Griffin has guided ten All-Conference USA honorees and 21 All-Sun Belt Conference selections, including three-time All-American Melanie Stutsman, two-time All-Americans Jordyn Skinner, Alyssa Cavanaugh and Jessica Lucas. Griffin helped WKU to perhaps its best season in program history in 2015 as the Lady Toppers finished with a 32-4 record and repeated as C-USA regular season and tournament champions. A season highlight came when WKU opened the year by defeating No. 5 Wisconsin in Madison. The win marks the fifth time in the last four seasons that WKU knocked out a top-25 opponent. The Lady Toppers ended the season in style as WKU advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in program history and finished the year nationally ranked for the second time with a final ranking of No. 22 in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Five Lady Toppers earned All-Conference honors as voted by the C-USA Coaches, including Alyssa Cavanaugh, Noelle Langenkamp, Jessica Lucas, Haley Bodway and Sydney Engle. Rachel Anderson became the second straight Lady Topper to be named Freshman of the Year and Lucas earned Setter of the Year honors. Lucas and Cavanaugh repeated as AVCA All-America selections.  For the team's first season in Conference USA, Griffin and the 2014 squad took home a co-championship for its 15-1 league record while winning the C-USA Championship, finishing the season 30-6 overall after making its eighth NCAA appearance in program history. Highlighting the year was a win at home over No. 8 Purdue, recording a victory over the highest-ranked opponent in program history. For the second-straight year, WKU defeated a nationally-ranked Boilermaker team in five sets.  Four Lady Toppers earned All-Conference honors as voted on by the C-USA coaches, including Heather Boyan, Cavanaugh, Lucas and Noelle Langenkamp. Cavanaugh was named the C-USA Freshman of the Year while the Louisville native along with Lucas went on to earn AVCA All-American and All-Region accolades. In the 2013 season, Griffin helped WKU to a regular-season title in its last season in the SBC with a 27-6 overall record and 17-1 against league opponents. The Lady Toppers opened the season for the first-time ever ranked in the AVCA Top-25 poll at No. 21 before moving up to No. 16 after defeating No. 16 Purdue in West Lafayette in its opening weekend. The ranking was the highest in school history. The team stayed ranked or received votes for 15-consecutive weeks throughout 2013. At season's end, SBC coaches honored the Lady Toppers by placing five on All-Conference teams and honoring three individuals with specialty awards. Stutsman earned the league's inaugural Setter of the Year honor while Potts won Defensive Player of the Year for the third time. Stutsman along with Paige Wessel and Noelle Langenkamp were garnered with first-team accolades while Potts and Heather Boyan were named to the second team. The Lady Toppers were given the Team Academic Award after earning the highest GPA out of the league's 10 schools. In 2012, Griffin aided the Lady Toppers into a consistent ranking in the AVCA Top 25, reaching as high as No. 17 and finishing No. 21 in the final poll, as well as winning their first NCAA Tournament match with a straight-set victory over Loyola Marymount. WKU won its second-consecutive SBC regular-season and tournament championships, dropping only one set to a league opponent. At the season's conclusion, a league-record six Lady Toppers earned All-Conference honors while Potts was named SBC Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight year. Skinner and Stutsman went on to be named All-Region and All-Americans. The 2011 season found WKU back on top of the Sun Belt standings, winning the regular-season and tournament crowns. Skinner and Potts took the league's yearly awards, winning Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. WKU volleyball program also achieved new levels of recognition on the national circuit in 2011. For the first time in program history, WKU entered the AVCA Top 25 Poll, ranked no. 24 in the nation heading into the postseason. The Lady Toppers also reached a program high No. 21 in the NCAA RPI. After a year's absence, WKU returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2010 after notching its second at-large bid in program history to the big dance. Four Lady Toppers were selected to the All-Conference team while Stutsman earned SBC Freshman of the Year. On top of that, Stutsman and Tiffany Elmore were named AVCA All-Region selections with Stutsman going on to be named the region's Freshman of the Year and an All-American. WKU improved its league-win total in Griffin's first year in 2009 after coming off a season prior with a conference tournament championship. Elmore earned league recognition with her name being added to All-Conference and All-Tournament Team selections. Griffin spent four seasons at Jacksonville State University before her stint on The Hill, where she also served as an assistant. At Jacksonville State, she helped guide the Gamecocks to back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles in 2006 and 2007, back-to-back OVC Tournament crowns in 2005 and 2006 and the school's first two trips to the NCAA Tournament. Prior to her coaching career at Jacksonville State, Griffin led the University of Southern Indiana, her alma mater, to a 21-9 record in her only season on the Screaming Eagles' coaching staff. She received a bachelor's degree in elementary education from USI in 2004. Griffin, a native of Montgomery, Ind., and a graduate of Barr-Reeve High School, was a four-year starter for USI from 1999-2002, compiling an 87-35 overall record. She helped USI win its first ever Great Lakes Valley Conference Regular-Season Championship in 2000 and led USI to its first GLVC Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament in 2002. She currently ranks fifth in the school's record books in career digs with 1,153 and third in career service aces with 145. During her senior season at USI, she averaged a career-high 3.56 kills and 3.59 digs per game. A four-time Academic All-GLVC selection and three-time CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, she was named to the Verizon Academic All-American First Team in her senior year. Formerly Kristi Kavanaugh, she is married to Justin Griffin. The couple welcomed their first child, Jaxon, in July 2011.