Craig Skinner was visiting with his assistants earlier this week about Kentucky’s run of practices leading up to the 2014 season.There have been up and downs, to be sure, but the coaching staff could find little to complain about in the effort department.”The coaches kind of said that we really haven’t had a day where the concentration and intent to perform wasn’t there, and that’s fairly unusual because you go so hard for so long and a short period of time that you’re bound to have some days where it’s not really focused and energetic,” Skinner said. “But that hasn’t been the case.”If you ask Skinner or the Wildcats themselves, that has a lot to do with a cultural exchange trip to China the team took in May. For two weeks, UK toured the Far East on a journey that combined high-level volleyball, education about the nation they visited and plenty of team bonding.”It went really well. We played professional teams over there which was even more experience,” senior outside hitter Lauren O’Conner said. “It’s great that we were able to get experience with the team that we had without the seniors (from the 2013 season) to get even more practice with us and to build the chemistry on the court playing together with a new lineup. So I think it helped out a lot both physically and mentally.”That’s especially true on defense.Given the experience and talent of the opponents they faced in China, the Wildcats learned quickly no points would be given to them. That resulted in some losses, including a 3-0 defeat in their final match with each set being decided after a deuce point, but also a new mentality in practice this August.”We’ve talked about how this could be the best defensive team we’ve had here at Kentucky,” Skinner said. “I think part of it is talent, but I think also that it is because all but three of the girls (true freshmen Kaz Brown, Ashley Dusek and Darian Mack) saw firsthand how hard it was to win a rally over there and that you have to work for it.”The Cats won’t go up against any teams as veteran as the ones they saw in China, but UK won’t get much of a reprieve to start the season or really at any point during the 2014 season. In hosting two tournaments in Memorial Coliseum to start the season, the Cats will go up against three teams that reached last year’s NCAA Tournament, including Wichita State in Friday’s 6:30 p.m. ET season opener and Elite Eight participant USC next week.UK will have to do it without Whitney Billings and Alexandra Morgan, two players honored as All-Americans last season who have since graduated. “We’ve had to adapt a little bit, to change our style a little bit and I think our players understand and appreciate that challenge and are certainly embracing it and we’re finding new ways,” Skinner said. “Now it’s just putting all of it to the test when we finally play against outside competition to see if those things have worked.”Even without Billings and Morgan, it’s not as if UK is devoid of experience.The Cats return five of seven starters from last year’s team, which reached the tournament for a record ninth season in a row. Leading the way will be O’Conner, senior libero Jackie Napper and setter Morgan Bergren.”We have a core group of people on the court that are working together,” Napper said. “Morgan’s a junior, but she’s really stepped up to be a leader, as well as other underclassmen and upperclassmen. So together, we all try to figure out what works best with this team, ways to lead others, and ways to bring others on board.”UK’s roster features a mix of veterans and players who will look to contribute for the first time, with seven seniors or juniors and five freshmen. Skinner doesn’t downplay the importance of experience, but he also doesn’t believe it’s the most important thing once the ball is served.”I think in our case, probably the most important thing in all of our athletes is that they’re talented and motivated,” Skinner said. “So whether they’ve been here for four years or just beginning, we feel very good about the group of people that we have and now it’s about getting on the court Friday and seeing what it’s all about for us this year.”