WKU’s Bauer named CUSA’s Female Athlete of the Year
Published 12:26 pm Wednesday, June 24, 2026
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Western Kentucky redshirt senior Callie Bauer (14) sets the ball for junior Izzy Van De Wiele (25) to spike in the Hilltoppers’ 3-0 win (25-16, 25-12, 25-12) over the Delaware Blue Hens in their home finale at E. A. Diddle Arena on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS
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Western Kentucky redshirt senior Callie Bauer sets the ball in the Hilltoppers’ 3-2 loss to Drake in the final match of the WKU Invitational at E. A. Diddle Arena on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025.
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Western Kentucky redshirt senior Callie Bauer (14) serves the ball in the Hilltoppers’ 2-3 (25-11, 24-26, 25-18, 22-25, 10-15) loss to the Drake Bulldogs in the final match of the WKU Invitational at E. A. Diddle Arena on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025. WKU finishes the weekend 2-1 after wins over Wright State and Loyola on Friday.
GRACE MCDOWELL / BOWLING GREEN DAILY NEWS (Grace McDowell)
Conference USA announced their 2025-2026 Michael L. Slive CUSA Athletes of the Year on Wednesday, with Western Kentucky volleyball’s Callie Bauer earning the honor for female athletes.
Bauer becomes the third player in program history to earn CUSA Female Athlete of the Year and the first since Lauren Matthews in 2022-23. Both Bauer and Matthews join Alyssa Cavanaugh as the only WKU volleyball athletes to earn the CUSA Female Athlete of the Year award.
The 5-foot-11 setter capped her season at WKU with a slew of postseason awards including AVCA Honorable Mention, AVCA All-South Region First Team, CUSA Alyssa Cavanaugh Player of the Year, CUSA Setter of the Year and CUSA Tournament MVP.
Bauer’s awards come after a season that saw her lead WKU to a 27-5 record, its 11th regular-season title and 10th conference tournament title, as well as its 18th NCAA tournament appearance. She also led WKU to a top five hitting percentage in the country for the second straight season (.312) and helped the Tops to a sixth-best kills per set rate at 13.63.
In addition, Bauer was ranked 22nd in the country in assists per set at 10.46 and 42nd in total assists at 1,109. She also led CUSA in both total assists and assists per set while leading the Tops to the best hitting percentage in the conference. Additionally, Bauer was named CUSA Preseason All-Conference and earned CUSA First Team All-Conference.
A six-rotation player for the Hilltoppers, Bauer racked up 88 kills, 25 service aces, 225 digs and 32 blocks. Her performance also earned her five double-doubles this season, collecting 17 across her career, and also recording two triple-doubles. Her 4,978 career assists rank her fourth all-time in WKU program history, and she also finished her career as NCAA’s active career assists leader. During her five years at WKU, she also finished with 404 total kills, 112 service aces, 908 digs, and 208 total blocks.
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Bauer helped lead the Hilltoppers to their 100-straight regular season conference victory with the 100th coming against Sam Houston at home on Sept. 18.
Jacksonville State football player Cam Cook won the CUSA’s Male Athlete of the Year award.
