Rush to continue the setting standard for WKU Volleyball
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – As a new season nears for Western Kentucky volleyball, the team is preparing to fill a valuable role, one that’s been left open by two-time defending Conference USA Setter of the Year Callie Bauer.
“ Kate Rush at the setter position is truly one of the top three, four setters in the country when it comes to athletic ability, and you’ll see it very quickly,” WKU head coach Travis Hudson said.
Rush entered her Hilltopper career off the heels of being named Ms. Kentucky Volleyball, leaving as the all-time leader in assists, blocks, aces, and hitting percentage at Great Crossing High School.
She’s since morphed into the setter position, a position she didn’t prominently play growing up.
Recently, she shared her mindset on becoming the leader at the spot in her sophomore season.
“(I’m) definitely just trusting my teammates and my belief coming from the people around me every single day. My coaches are there for me, my teammates are there for me, and they just instill confidence,” Rush said. “Also, Callie is one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around, so to learn from her and just to watch her do it every single day was super important for me and just gives me confidence going forward.”
Not only did year one at Western give Rush self-assurance, but it advanced her skillset, along with the trust the team has in her.
“I have, like, so much belief in Kate running our system and everything, and so I’m really excited to see her out there,” sophomore outside hitter Sonja Laaksonen said.
“I don’t say this lightly because I’ve coached a lot of great players, but in 32 years of coaching, I’ve never coached a more dedicated, more driven, harder working kid than Kate Rush,” Hudson said.
“She is the first person in the gym every day. She is sitting at my front office door wanting to watch film with me. She is absolutely the most driven, determined kid, and so she will continue to get better and better and better.”
Those qualities ring the praises of a more than qualified head coach, such as Hudson, who’s now developed 12 All-American volleyball players, Bauer being the most recent in 2025.
“She’s ready, it’s just gonna look (different). Callie was the vet, savvy, calm, happy, all that. Kate’s gonna look a little more frantic for a while, but she’s so physical and can make such incredible sets that nobody else can make,” Hudson said.
“I think if I do my job with Kate Rush over the next few years, she’ll be one of the elite setters in college volleyball.”
Rush and the Hilltoppers begin a new season in the SEMO Invitational, facing off with the host Redhawks in match one of the year on August 28 at noon local time.
