WKU volleyball has established itself as a mid-major powerhouse in college volleyball.
They have played in the NCAA tournament 11 times, won the conference tournament 10 times, and have won 376 games since 2011, the most wins in the nation. WKU volleyball has built a strong 2023 season with an overall record of 30-5.
Junior right-side hitter Kennadie Coyle grew up in a basketball family and wanted to find a sport she was passionate about. Coyle started playing volleyball in high school.
Coyle was drawn to WKU by head coach Travis Hudson.
“He was one of the few coaches that treated me like a human being during the recruiting process and understood how stressful the recruiting process can be for a 16-year-old,” Coyle said. “He was very relaxed at first, which made it easy to develop a dynamic relationship with him, so I felt like coming here would be a great experience for me.”
Freshman middle hitter Gabby Weihe started playing volleyball at age 11. She, too, was drawn to WKU because of Hudson.
“Coach is the ultimate messenger of the program. The way he communicates with us, and even the coaching staff communicates with us,” Weihe said.
The team has been in the spring season since February. Coyle and Weihe agreed the season could be tough. The team practices, trains, takes time to condition, and takes responsibility for every little detail to improve their game.
“The spring season is when we go into 'get better mode,'” Coyle said. “The important thing is to grow yourself physically, grow yourself mentally and develop parts of your game that you don't have.”
Weihe says he learned more than he ever did before.
“It just slows everything down [spring season] It's a common practice, and sometimes it can be deadly,” Weihe said. “That's exactly what every player needs.”
Coyle is in her final season of WKU volleyball. In the 2023 season, she had 264.5 points, 227 kills on offense, and only 61 errors on her offense.
While playing against UTEP last season, Coyle scored 19 points, had 18 kills in one game, and set a career high with a batting average of .621. Coyle was named Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week.
“I don't want to retire from volleyball without doing anything I regret or wish I had done,” Coyle said. “Every day is going to be the best day ever, and I'm going to get better until time runs out.”
In preparation for next season, Coyle and Weihe said Coach Hudson is relying heavily on the girls gaining self-responsibility.
“It's like we're not only holding each other accountable, but we're also holding ourselves accountable,” Weihe said. “It's definitely an individual approach… There are a lot of things we have to work on as a team, but what we need now is to be super position-based and improve ourselves before putting the team together.”
Coyle and Weihe both shared the message that the team loves the support from the WKU and Bowling Green communities.
“There’s nothing that makes game day more special than seeing the faces in the crowd and communicating with everyone…seeing how much people really enjoy it, even if we lose “Obviously, it's the really tough days that make it especially worth the fight,” Coyle said.
The schedule for the 2024 season has not been released.