Caty Llamas, WKUAssistant Director Athletic Communications
WKU Volleyball is excited to announce the addition of transfer Aubrey Sears to the program.
A 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Russellville, Sears joins the Hilltoppers after spending her freshman season at the University of Houston.
While at Houston, Sears played in 20 matches and started seven as a serving specialist. Over her 20 matches, she tallied a total of aces along with 12 digs and four kills. She posted a season-high three service aces against Omaha on Sept. 5 and recorded her first collegiate kill against McNeese on Sept. 20.
“Really excited about having Aubrey join our program," said head coach Travis Hudson. "She is a very versatile player who can impact winning in many different ways. She is a great kid and her local ties will make wearing WKU across her chest even more special. I am so excited to get started with her in our gym this spring."
Prior to arriving at Houston, Sears played just 33 minutes away from E.A. Diddle Arena at Logan County High School. She registered a total of 2,027 kills and averaged 4.40 kills per set with a .462 hitting percentage. The Kentucky product also recorded 151 service aces. 135 digs, and 581 digs over her four years with the Cougars.
During her four seasons on the Lady Cougar varsity, Aubrey played in 131 matches. The teams went 100-51 during that time. Coach Caleb Sheffield’s teams won four district championships, reached at least the regional semifinals all four years, and won a regional championship, leading to a state quarterfinals berth her junior year. As a sophomore, she led LCHS to the Class 2A state championship in mid-season..
"I'm so excited to continue my career at WKU," said Sears. "WKU is known for their amazing culture and tradition of excellence. I can’t wait to grow as a student and an athlete and I am really grateful I was given this opportunity."
Sears also helped Logan County to the KSHAA State Quarterfinals during her junior year as well as the KSHAA Region 4 Semifinals in 2022.
Playing for a legend
One name easily comes to mind when thinking of Western Kentucky University volleyball --Travis Hudson. Entering his 31st season as head coach in the 2025-26 school year, he is the architect behind turning WKU Volleyball into a championship-caliber team and bringing national attention to the Hilltopper program.
After taking over the helm in 1995 and finishing that campaign with a 7-26 overall record, a resurgence in WKU Volleyball came at an astounding pace. Under Hudson’s tutelage, WKU has earned 10 Sun Belt Conference Regular-Season Championships, including seven-straight from 2000-2006, and five Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championships. In the department’s first four seasons in Conference USA, Hudson guided the 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 squads to four-straight regular season titles and sequential CUSA Championships before adding five more sets from 2019 through the 2023 campaign and again this year. Along with that, the Tops have appeared in 16 NCAA Tournaments, as 13 came from earning the league’s automatic bid.
The WKU Volleyball team finished the 2025 season with a strong 27-6 overall record and a dominant 15-1 record in Conference USA, securing their 10th CUSA regular season title and 11th tournament championship
For his career, Hudson has over 800 wins (over 75 percent of matches played) as his only head coaching job has been on The Hill. Hudson has been named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year five times (2000, 2002, 2005, 2012 and 2013) and Conference USA Coach of the Year four times (2015, 2016, 2019 and 2021) while being an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Coach of the Year finalist seven times after earning the South Region Coach of the Year award in 2002, 2005, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020-21. He has 25 winning seasons in his career, as he has 23 seasons with 20 or more wins as well as nine campaigns with 30 or more wins.
A 1994 WKU graduate, Coach Hudson was introduced as a member of the 29th induction class to Western Kentucky University’s Hall of Distinguished Alumni on Friday, October 9, 2020.
Last Nov. 10, the legendary head coach was immortalized on the Hill, with a statue of him being erected at the entrance to Gate 2 of E.A. Diddle Arena.
“?Travis joins the legendary WKU icon Ed Diddle as only the second person in WKU athletics history to have a statue in his honor,” WKU Director of Athletics Todd Stewart said. “Travis Hudson now has a distinction, the equivalent of being on the Mount Rushmore of WKU athletics, and deservedly so.”
Over 800 wins later, there are 14 conference tournament titles and 17 NCAA appearances that speak to the successes seen on the court for the teams that have played under Coach Hudson, but to be memorialized in a statue, that’s something that speaks much louder than statistics could ever do.
“He epitomizes leadership, he defines humility and he embodies the WKU spirit. He not only drives his team to do better, he drives all of us to do better,” WKU President Timothy Caboni said.