Western Kentucky volleyball head coach Travis Hudson has announced the addition of former Lady Topper standout Jessica Lucas to his staff with movements by assistants Craig Bere and Kristi Griffin as well. Lucas joins the WKU staff as an assistant coach while Griffin moves into the program’s director of operations role. Bere has been elevated to the first assistant position.

“We are incredibly excited to bring Jessica back into the WKU volleyball family as a coach,” Hudson said in a news release. “It’s always nice to bring someone back home, but this is way bigger than that. Jess is a very, very talented young coach that I believe will help us keep moving in a positive direction and continue to make noise on the national level.”

Lucas returns to WKU after two years on the Purdue staff under head coach Dave Shondell. She held a graduate manager position with the Boilermakers for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Over those seasons, Purdue posted records of 24-9 and 24-8, respectively, while registering a 3-2 record in the NCAA Tournament.

A 2018 graduate of WKU, Lucas returns where her decorated playing career took place. The Seymour, Ind., native is one of three WKU volleyball players to earn AVCA All-American status all four seasons of her career (2014-17). Lucas was the first three-time Setter of the Year in Conference USA (2015-17) while also earning First Team All-American status as a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award. Across her career, Lucas earned eight collective All-Americans honors and was a four-time C-USA First Team All-Conference selection.

Across her career, Lucas and the Lady Toppers posted an overall record of 123-17 which included a 57-3 record in the program’s first four seasons as a Conference USA member. “I could not be happier to be back home,” Lucas said. “This is an incredible opportunity on so many levels. I have countless unforgettable memories in Diddle Arena from my playing years and I can’t wait to add more as a WKU coach. I am incredibly grateful to both Travis Hudson and Todd Stewart for this opportunity and I am so excited to be a Lady Topper again.”

In her return to WKU, Lucas will work primarily with the squad’s setters while also assisting with all other aspects of the game in addition to recruiting as she fills the role previously held by Griffin.

Moving into an administrative role to spend more time with her young family, Griffin will handle team logistics in addition to scheduling, camps and academics. Her move comes after 11 seasons as an assistant on Hudson’s staff at WKU.

As Griffin shifts into the director of operations position and Lucas joins the staff, Bere will be promoted to the Tops’ first assistant. The 2019 campaign marked Bere’s fifth year on Hudson’s staff and in that span, the Lady Toppers have posted an overall record of 145-23 and a 67-5 mark in C-USA play. With Bere on staff, WKU has won eight combined conference championships while making four NCAA Tournament appearances.