Seniors Lead Volleyball Cats to Sunday Win, SEC Title

Sunday was Senior Day for the Kentucky volleyball team. Before the match against Arkansas, the Cats honored six seniors who have made a significant impact on the program.

Then, those seniors led the Cats to a sweep over the Hogs and, in the process, helped UK clich an eighth consecutive Southeastern Conference championship.

Senior Megan Wilson continued her late-season surge on Sunday with 12 kills and just one error on 22 swings (.500). Wilson added four block assists and two digs for the Cats.

Fellow senior Erin Lamb had seven kills and a pair of service aces for the Cats in her second match back from injury.

Senior setter Emma Grome directed the offense with great efficiency on Sunday. The Loveland, Ohio, native had 28 assists, 10 digs, two block assists and a service ace.

Louisville native Eleanor Beavin had seven digs and four service aces in the match for Kentucky.

UK head coach Craig Skinner was pleased with how his senior group performed on Sunday.

“They did great,” Skinner said. “Emma had a great run in the second set, Beavin there the last point of the second set, then she continued in the third set. Erin, coming in and doing a great job. And Megan had a great match today, too. What a match for her.”

Skinner knows how special this class has been and he is proud of their accomplishments.

“These seniors have had a lot of great wins and been in a lot of challenging situations and they have always responded,” Skinner said. “This is no exception. This is one step along our journey this year. That senior group has put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this journey.”

In set one, Lamb was serving as the Cats ran off six consecutive points. In the third set, it was Beavin at the service line as UK scored nine points in a row. Skinner likes how Beavin has been serving recently.

“Beavin has been serving really, really well the last few weeks,” Skinner said. “Another example of her ability to put pace on the ball but also find the seams and the passing patterns. Another great day for her.”

Lamb knows that the Cats had a lot riding on Sunday’s match, and she was happy with the Cats’ performance.

“These seniors understand, and we had it in the back of our minds with what happened last year in the Sweet 16 with that team,” Lamb said. “We had that, we had what’s at stake tonight, we had all of the emotions from Senior Night so I think all of that built up and the adrenaline rush we had carried us through.”

Kentucky was picked to finish third in the SEC in the preseason, but the Cats again brought home the title. Skinner credits his coaching staff with putting the team in position to claim another title.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to our staff,” Skinner said. “Ben (Josephson), Merideth (Jewell) and Madison (Lilley) did a hell of a job coaching this team and getting them prepared to play against great competition.”

That preparation, along with a special group of seniors, led the Cats to a win on Senior Day and to an eighth consecutive SEC title.