UK Volleyball Continues to Break Barriers

The 2017 Kentucky volleyball team has set new standards for the program all season long. The Wildcats won their first SEC regular season title since 1988 and reached number one in the NCAA Volleyball RPI rankings last week.

That amazing run of success continued on Sunday night when Kentucky earned the number four national seed in the NCAA Tournament, giving the Wildcats a chance to play at Memorial Coliseum, potentially all the way until the Final Four.

Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner knows that his team has earned the respect it was awarded by the NCAA Volleyball committee on Sunday.

“I’m just proud of the players and how hard they’ve worked since January to give us the best chance to have success this season,” Skinner said. “It’s great respect for the program and what we’ve accomplished.”

Senior Ashley Dusek, who won the SEC Libero of the Year award for the third consecutive time this season, knows that the team’s hard work has paid off.

“It means so much to me, we’ve worked so hard these past four years individually but also as a team,” Dusek said. “The girls I’ve worked with Emily (Franklin), Kaz (Brown), Harper (Hempel) and Darian (Mack), we’ve dreamed for this to happen. We’re just so fortunate and we’re ready to play.”

Senior Kaz Brown, who was named to the All-SEC team, agrees with Dusek.

“It’s still kind of a surreal feeling right now,” Brown said. “I think it says a lot about this team and their dedication to hard work and embracing challenges and reaching new heights.  This is something we had been working toward all season and to see it play out like this is awesome and we’re really excited to embrace this opportunity and this challenge.”

Skinner is hoping that the home court advantage will be beneficial to his team.

“We certainly wanted the opportunity to play in front of our own fans again, and we get that chance this weekend,” the UK head coach said. “Our fans have been phenomenal and (the crowds) continue to get bigger and bigger each match. The chance to play at home is awesome and we can’t wait.”

Dusek is also looking forward to playing at home.

 “I think it’s awesome to have the BBN come support us, to have the home court,” she said. “To be home and not have to travel and having time to focus and being here in our state, that’s awesome.”

Brown is looking forward to playing in front of the home crowd again.

 “I think it’s awesome, our fans have been amazing this year,” Brown said. “I think they’re going to come out and support when it’s tournament time. We broke the attendance record for the Coach Skinner era so I think that says a lot about our fans and them buying into this program and the things we’ve done this season. I’m looking forward to their continued support.”

At 26-3, Kentucky has earned the opportunity to play at home in the NCAA Tournament. And the Wildcats hope to continue to set the bar even higher for the program.