Western Kentucky’s volleyball team will have a different look this fall compared to years past.

Alyssa Cavanaugh, the 2017-18 Conference USA Female Athlete of the Year, has graduated. So have Jessica Lucas, the three-time reigning C-USA Setter of the Year, and All-C-USA performer Sydney Engle.

Some familiar names like Rachel Anderson, Sophia Cerino, Emma Kowalkowski and Mary Martin return. But coach Travis Hudson’s 24th Lady Topper squad will include plenty of newcomers expected to step up and play key roles.

The season begins at 2:30 p.m. CDT Friday against Alabama in the College of Charleston Tournament.

“It’s an incredibly young team, but it’s an incredibly talented team,” Hudson told the Daily News on Thursday after an exhibition against Kentucky. “It’s a team full of really good kids. So every day will be a better day.”

Anderson, a middle hitter, was named this month as Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year. She and the setter Martin became the only two seniors on the roster after outside hitter Taylor Dellinger left WKU’s program for personal reasons.

The defensive specialist Kowalkowski and outside hitter/right side Cerino are back as juniors. They’re joined in a three-woman junior class by outside hitter Katie Shunk, who transferred into the program recently from Xavier.

Beyond those five players, every other team member in 2018 is a freshman or sophomore.

“I will say it’s different, but it’s not a bad different,” the Lake Orion, Mich., native Kowalkowski said. “Different people are improving every day and that’s cool to see.

“You have people like (freshman) Katie Isenbarger who’s versatile and we can throw around everywhere. ‘Hey, let’s work on this today. Once you get that down, let’s try this.’ It’s cool to see the dynamic of the team.”

Stats weren’t publicized from WKU’s 3-0 exhibition loss Thursday to the Wildcats, who are ranked No. 5 in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.

Fans at E.A. Diddle Arena got a look that night at all 13 members of the Lady Toppers’ 2018 roster, including the newcomers. Hudson said he was impressed with the play of those younger players.

“That was probably one of the most surprising things tonight is I thought (freshmen) Payton Frederick and Katie Isenbarger and some of those kids were probably the kids that performed the best in the match,” Hudson said.

“(Redshirt freshman) Taylor Bebout is another young kid that played well in the match. So they’re doing fine. This probably helps them tremendously to get one of these out of the way.”

The Lady Toppers have a talented freshman class.

Isenbarger, a middle hitter, was a three-sport athlete at Zionsville (Ind.) High School who also starred in basketball and track and field.

Frederick, a defensive specialist, was a two-time Kentucky state champ at Assumption HS.

Lauren Matthews, a middle hitter, was a two-time first-team all-state selection for Lawrence North HS of Indianapolis.

That trio combines with Bebout and Hood as WKU players with four years of eligibility to play.

“These couple of weeks, we’ve been pounding them with information,” the Brentwood, Tenn., native Cerino said. “They’re probably overloaded right now.

“It’s all information that, if they’re going to play, they need to be knowing and they need to be working on. But they’ve all been doing really well so far.”

Hudson will also look for sophomores Kayland Jackson, Darby Music and Hallie Shelton to take the next steps in their games.

Those three players were freshmen in 2017 as the Lady Toppers swept Conference USA regular-season and tournament titles for the fourth straight year. Now they’ll all play bigger roles this season as WKU goes for a fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth.

“We know we’ve got work to do on the front end,” Hudson said. “We’ve been saying that over the last few weeks. But I like our group a lot and I’m looking forward to continuing to journey with them.”