Native Texans Lift UK Volleyball Past Aggies

The Kentucky volleyball team made quick work of SEC rival Texas A&M on Wednesday night. And it was a pair of native Texans that led the way for the Wildcats.

No. 8 Kentucky swept A&M 25-7, 25-13, 25-21, to move to 15-2 and 6-0 in the SEC, taking just an hour and 17 minutes to finish off the Aggies. 

The Wildcats’ victory included an impressive 12-0 stretch to start the match. Kentucky’s server for all 12 of those points was East Bernard, Texas native Ashley Dusek. 

Dusek admitted that it had been a long time since she had such a serving streak.

“Never in college,” Dusek admitted. “It was awesome, we were just going on a run. We had such great blocks and I’ve got to give it to the people defending.”

She also confessed that there was extra motivation in facing a team from her home state that included some players she knew well.

“Yes, of course, (it’s) always motivation,” Dusek said. “But we have to play it like every game. I know quite a few (of the A&M) girls.”

Also during that 12-0 run, Avery Skinner, a native of Katy, Texas, had four kills and one error on seven swings (.429) as the Wildcats took control of the match very early.

Skinner credited Dusek’s serving for the team’s early success.

“It was all (Dusek), getting them out of (their) system gave us easier balls to be able to execute,” Skinner said. “She definitely did a great job serving and we were able to capitalize.”

The impressive play from the native Texans continued through the first set, as Dusek finished the frame with two digs, one assist and one service ace, while Skinner had five kills and hit .444.

Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner was impressed with his team’s focus against A&M.

“Very impressed with our team tonight,” Skinner said. “It started in practice yesterday, we had really good focus in practice. To be able to execute the game plan like that right out of the gates (tonight) was pretty impressive by our team. You’ve got to attribute a lot of that to our leadership and keeping us focused. I thought we did a really good job of keeping focused for those three sets.”

From there, the Wildcats continued their impressive performance, closing the second set on a 16-4 run to win the frame 25-13. In the third set, it was late before Kentucky was able to put A&M away, but the Wildcats did so to ensure the sweep.

Skinner finished the match with a 12-3-20 (.450) line, with two block assists and one dig. Dusek had a match-high 11 digs, while adding four assists and a service ace. 

With the win, Kentucky can turn its attention to Sunday’s match against top-ranked Florida. And that was made easier after a stellar performance from a pair of native Texans on Wednesday night against A&M.