WKU Volleyball’s Alyssa Cavanuagh to be Inducted into the Conference USA Hall of Fame

DALLAS, Texas – WKU Volleyball’s Alyssa Cavanaugh will be inducted to the Conference USA Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2023, Commissioner Judy McLeod announced Monday afternoon. Cavanaugh becomes the first WKU student-athlete to be inducted into CUSA’s Hall of Fame, and just the third volleyball student-athlete in this the fifth class of Hall of Famers.

Cavanaugh wore the Red and White from 2014-17, earning four AVCA All-America honors, including the first team nomination for the Tops. She was also the 2017 AVCA South Region Player of the Year, the only non-Power Five student-athlete to receive the Region Award.”So grateful that Conference USA has chosen Alyssa to be the newest Hall of Fame inductee”, said head coach Travis Hudson. “She was a young woman who left an indelible mark on Conference USA, Western Kentucky University, and all of Division I Volleyball.”

Cavanaugh’s extensive list of accolades includes Conference USA’s Michael L. Slive Female Athlete of the Year (2017-18), four-time CUSA first team All-Conference, two-time CUSA Player of the Year (2016 & 2017), first WKU player to earn three All-America honors in a single season (2016: AVCA, VolleyballMag.com, PrepVolleyball.com), and CUSA Freshman of the Year (2014). She ranks third in WKU Volleyball history with 1,816 career kills and fourth all-time with 3.78 kills per set across her career. In total, she played in 139 matches as a Hilltopper and appeared in 481 sets.

She racked up 123 wins against just 17 losses – playing in every match but one across four years – and was a part of the program’s first class to appear in the NCAA Tournament every year of their career. Cavanaugh, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter from Louisville, Ky., graduated from WKU in May 2018 with a degree in recreation administration. She was a regular on the WKU Dean’s List and CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll for her work in the classroom.

Following her graduation from WKU, Cavanaugh traveled overseas and competed in a professional tryout before being diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on Sept. 5, 2018. She received a successful bone marrow transplant from her father, Eric, on Feb. 19, 2019. After complications from treatment, Alyssa passed away on Dec. 25, 2020.

In 2021, CUSA announced the renaming of volleyball’s conference player of year award – to the Alyssa Cavanaugh Player of the Year.

“She was a larger than life competitor, but the thing that I am most proud of is the growth she made as a young woman during her four-year college career. She will not soon be forgotten, and this honor is a symbol of the impact that she had during her collegiate career.”