THE EVOLUTION OF HAYLEY BUSH

Dynamic. Selfless. Reliable.

By PURDUE ATHLETICS

September 23^rd, 2021

"She knows how to win." -Associate Head Coach John Shondell

The setter.

The heart of the team, commanding the floor and generating plays. To be a good setter you need to understand the game, be poised and get to the ball, wherever it might be. To be a great setter, you also need to be able to make a clean pass, keep the ball alive defensively and have the respect of your teammates.

Hayley Bush is a great setter.

As an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and a First Team All-Big Ten honoree last season, Bush gets it. She understands what it takes to make an impact at the highest level possible in college volleyball.

And despite terms thrown around like “undersized” at five foot 10 inches, Bush is one of the best in the business. Few setters in the nation are able to get to as many balls as she has – both offensively and defensively. In fact, when looking at all of Division I volleyball, the senior ranks fifth in the nation, averaging 10.80 assists per set over her career. Of those five, only one other Big Ten setter can rival that – two-time First Team All-American and two-time Big Ten Setter of the Year Sydney Hilley of Wisconsin.

If that isn’t enough, and you were still hung up on her height being a factor, then let’s break it down further:

In the Power Five, there are a total of 27 starting setters under six foot. Among those, only three average more than 11.0 assists per set this season. Bush is one of them.

If you wanted to take it one step further, this year Bush has led Purdue to the fourth-most efficient attack margin in all of the NCAA—an accomplishment that has not been reached by any other setters in her height bracket. Heck, that’s something that most setters have not accomplished, regardless of height. Still want to say she is limited because of height?

And we haven’t even touched what she’s been able to do defensively.

The talent and athleticism was always there for the Union, Kentucky native, but there was still work to be done. After being given a list of quotes from her father when leaving for college, one of the messages stood out all these years later: give 100% to everything you do. If you don’t fully invest, you won’t be able to accomplish what you want.

Bush took that advice seriously and committed to doing what it took to make both the team and herself better.

In fact, Bush had to work hard at the position she was recruited for. Since she was both a setter and hitter in high school, she didn’t have quite the same level of experience as others in her same position. “Since Hayley wasn’t solely a setter all the time, those first couple years we knew she would need to get tons and tons of setting reps to be a consistent setter in the Big Ten,” said associate head coach John Shondell.

The hard work payed off. Four years later, Bush entered her final Big Ten season with 30 double-doubles and 800 career digs, welcoming elite company in Hilley and Nicklin Hames of Nebraska as the only peers to boast as many.

“She’s just unique,” said Shondell. “Some of the crazy plays she makes –there are balls that 99% of setters in the Big Ten would just hit the ground on, but Hayley can find a way to keep the ball alive. She does that better than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

Regardless of where her stats land come December, Bush wants to make sure she’s doing right by her teammates.

In August, she set the goal to be an even better teammate on the court. “It can be very mental, the game, and I feel like if I am able to stay calm and talk to them, then everything will be better,” Bush says, turning her attention to her teammates, a typical move of any great setter.

That mindset has helped set Purdue up for success this season.

“She’s just such a good competitor,” said Shondell. “Every team that she’s played on wins. She makes the people around her better and that’s because of her leadership and her competitiveness. It doesn’t matter who’s with her. She knows how to win.”

Footnotes

Written by Rachel Coe | Photography by Charles Jischke

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FootNotes

Written by Rachel Coe | Photography by Charles Jischke