Any strides of success the Western Kentucky volleyball team experiences, Travis Hudson credits it to the work accomplished in the spring.

Just like every other team not allowed to physically gather due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Lady Toppers are working around restrictions as well.

“It’s really not about what the restrictions are that are in place, it’s given those restrictions, how can we do it better than everybody else? That’s where we’ve tried to keep our mindset,” Hudson said recently on WKU’s “Beyond the Hill” podcast.

WKU is coming off its best season in program history with a 32-2 record and its first time hosting the NCAA Tournament at E.A. Diddle Arena. The Lady Toppers return all but two seniors, Sophia Cerino and Emma Kowalkowski, and planned to use the spring for individual improvements just like every other season.

Cerino was an outside hitter whose service aces at one point ranked atop the nation. Hudson consistently credited the southpaw’s serve development to work that came in the spring.

“Very often it’s spring before you get a chance to really train and get better because during the fall, it’s very team oriented and it’s about what our team needs to do better,” Hudson said. “Individual improvement is what spring is all about.”

Hudson said on the podcast his players have shown unique creativity creating their own drills, often involving ropes on trees and garbage cans and brooms in the driveway. Their ownership and independence, he said, will pay dividends when the team gathers again. The longtime coach said much of the reason WKU has been a top-25 team for eight straight seasons has been the work put in the spring, which keeps the Lady Toppers competitive with teams that recruit higher-caliber players at the Power 5 level.

“We have very good athletes, but I promise you we don’t have the same athletes that most of the Power 5 schools and all of them have,” Hudson said. “Our ability to compete at that level is about kids that maybe aren’t as well-trained or lack experience or whatever and getting in the spring season, it’s really closing the game and teaching them to play the game.

“This is the time of year my teams usually thrive and get better – having that cut short is something that is disappointing and certainly something we’ll have to overcome.”

Rising junior Lauren Matthews and rising sophomore Paige Briggs also have their summer plans in limbo with USA Volleyball. Both were selected to the U.S. Collegiate National Team with training in Anaheim, Calif., set for June 21-27.

“That is still currently a go,” Hudson said. “It’s something we’re monitoring constantly. Incredible opportunity and something that I was fortunate enough to be one of the four coaches last year, so I know exactly what they would be walking into.”

Hudson ended the podcast with a word of encouragement for the future, when students can return to campus and sports can resume. Over a month has passed since the novel coronavirus moved university classes online and spring sports were canceled.

“We’re built for this,” Hudson said. “Our university is built for this, our athletics department is built for this. If you look at the fact we’ve won however many more championships than anyone in Conference USA, we were one of the lowest budgets in the league year in and year out, we’ve always done with less. But when people say more with less, you’re talking about dollars. … We’re not winning with less in terms of character, work ethic and in terms of commitment to each other. This is an athletic department that everybody is locking arms and pulling for each other.

“We’re all being dealt the same hand and it’s about doing it better than everybody else given that hand. I have no doubts that Western Kentucky and the Bowling Green community are going to do just that.”{&end}