DALLAS – Conference USA announced its Volleyball All-Conference and Superlative Awards Wednesday ahead of the 2024 CUSA Volleyball Championship. Regular season champions, WKU earned three superlatives while MTSU, Sam Houston and UTEP each had one individual award in a vote of the league’s 10 head coaches. WKU’s
Kaylee Cox was crowned the CUSA Alyssa Cavanaugh Player of the Year.
CUSA renamed it’s Player of the Year Award in honor of late WKU star
Alyssa Cavanaugh, a four-time All-American outside hitter for the Hilltoppers, who passed away in December 2020 after a battle with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Cavanaugh was a two-time CUSA Player of the Year, a four-time AVCA All-American and the conference’s 2017-18 Michael L. Slive Female Athlete of the Year during her career at WKU (2014-17).
Cox, a senior outside hitter, ranks 24th in the country in total points with 500.5 and tied for 26th in total service aces with 48. Cox has helped the Hilltoppers to a 25-6 overall record and a staggering 92 conference match win streak. She was a five-time CUSA Offensive Player of the Week and ranked fourth in the league in kills with 408, averaging 3.68 kills per set, while her .315 hitting percentage ranked seventh. Cox also tallied a total of 292 digs and 66 blocks on the season. She posted a season-high 23 kills against UTEP on Oct. 26, a seventh best in the conference across all five set matches. Lastly, the Flower Mound, Texas, native collected 13 double-doubles this season.
Fellow Hilltopper teammate
Callie Bauer was named CUSA Setter of the Year. Bauer ranks fourth nationally in total assists with 1,201 and 15th in assists per set with 10.82. She also assisted the Hilltoppers to a seventh best .303 hitting percentage in the country, while ranking 36th in kills per set at 13.73. A four-time CUSA Setter of the Week, Bauer also posted ten double-doubles and owns the Hilltoppers' only triple-double against Middle Tennessee on Oct. 9 (10 kills, 39 assists, 15 digs). So far this season, she has recorded 89 kills, 270 digs, 31 service aces and 51 blocks. Bauer’s career total of 3,815 assists also currently ranks seventh all-time in Hilltopper history.
UTEP middle blocker
Kaya Weaver was voted as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Weaver was a three-time Conference USA Player of the Week, twice as Defensive Player of the Week and once as Offensive Player of the Week. She ranks second in the conference in blocks per set at 1.40 with a total of 143 (22 solos, 121 assists). Weaver set a career-high with 12 blocks on Sept. 1 against Utah State. The Galt, California, native also leads CUSA and ranks eighth in the NCAA with a .431 hitting percentage. She tallied 10 double-digit kill performances, nine of which came with an attack percentage above .400, including a season-best .765.
Sam Houston senior
Hannah Baker captured the CUSA Libero of the Year honors. Baker leads the league and ranks 42nd in the nation with 4.74 digs per set, the only CUSA libero to rank in the top 50 nationally. Baker tallied 10 double-digit dig performances, including a season-high 28 digs against Liberty on Nov. 2. She also recorded a total of 117 assists, 18 aces and 19.5 points on the season.
MTSU’s
Andi Spies tabbed Freshman of the Year honors. The setter from Fort Atkins, Wisconsin, ranks second in the CUSA in assists per set (9.39) and total service aces (44). The four-time CUSA Freshman of the Week has accumulated 1,071 assists, 132 kills, 260 digs, 72 blocks, and 213 points. Spies recorded the first triple-double in MTSU program history during the 25-point era, posting 38 assists, 11 kills, and 11 digs in a comeback victory against SEMO on Sept. 6.
WKU’s
Travis Hudson was selected as the Conference USA Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his 30-year career (2015, 2016, 2019,2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024). The Hilltoppers, who are receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll have a 25-6 overall record and posted an 18-0 conference record as WKU captured the CUSA Regular Season Title. WKU currently has an impressive 92-match winning streak in Conference USA play dating back to the 2018 season.
Cox, Bauer and Weaver were a part of the First Team All-Conference USA team. Joining them was
Manu Johnsen (Kennesaw State),
Kate Gammer (Liberty),
Adri Rhoda (MTSU),
Mari Sharp (NM State),
Starr Williams (NM State),
Ema Uskokovic (UTEP),
Kenadee Coyle (WKU) and
Izzy Van De Wiele (WKU).
2024 CUSA Volleyball All-Conference Winners
Alyssa Cavanaugh Player of the Year
Kaylee Cox, WKU
Defensive Player of the Year
Kaya Weaver, UTEP
Setter of the Year
Callie Bauer, WKU
Libero of the Year
Hannah Baker, Sam Houston
Freshman of the Year
Andi Spies, MTSU
Coach of the Year
Travis Hudson, WKU
First Team All-Conference:
Manu Johnsen, Kennesaw State
Kate Gammer, Liberty
Adri Rhoda, MTSU
Mari Sharp, NM State
Starr Williams, NM State
Ema Uskokovic, UTEP
Kaya Weaver, UTEP
Callie Bauer, WKU
Kenadee Coyle, WKU
Kaylee Cox, WKU
Izzy Van De Wiele, WKU
Second Team All-Conference:
Kayla Williams, Jax State
Madison Blane, Liberty
Kiera Booth, MTSU
Laure Jansen, MTSU
Andi Spies, MTSU
Darian Markham, NM State
Hannah Baker, Sam Houston
Kalia Kohler, UTEP
Torrance Lovesee, UTEP
Danika Washington, UTEP
Alivia Skidmore, WKU
All-Freshman Team:
Jillian Huckabey, FIU
Rori Gray, LA Tech
Emma Nilson, MTSU
Andi Spies, MTSU
Landry Braziel, UTEP
Lauren Perry, UTEP
Alivia Skidmore, WKU
Faith Young, WKU