Ohio State’s three-year starting setter Taylor Hughes is retiring from her volleyball career. Hughes would have been a senior come the 2018 season, but missed the end of 2017 with an injury that may have led to this decision.
Hughes, a 6’1″ setter, came to Ohio State from Carroll, Ohio. She immediately made a splash by starting in 27 of 30 matches and leading the NCAA Tournament’s opening weekend in aces per set. She was also named to the 2015 Big Ten All-Freshman Team.
In 2016 as a sophomore, Hughes saw new bests as a collegiate athlete. She played in all of the team’s sets and dished out 1,263 assists (9.57 per set) to go with 1.83 digs per set and 0.61 blocks per set. Those efforts made her an honorable mention choice for both the All-Big Ten and AVCA All-America teams.
This past season, Hughes started in 25 matches and recorded career-highs in assists per set (10.25), digs per set (2.32) and blocks per set (0.65). That came before her season was cut short with an undisclosed injury.
Beyond her role as a setter in facilitating the offense, Hughes was known for being an aggressive attacker out of the position. For her three years, she notched 1.36 kills per set while hitting .305, including career marks of 1.72 kills per set (.328) as a sophomore.
Ohio State will sorely miss Hughes, as the Buckeyes went 14-13 this season with her and just 1-3 without her. She was also a key factor in leading Ohio State to back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2015 and 2016. They’ll now look to slide Kentucky transfer Olivia Dailey into the role in 2018.
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