Again SEC Champs, Cats Enjoying the Ride Entering NCAAs
Craig Skinner and the Kentucky Wildcats are now three-time Southeastern Conference champions.
Every title is special, but Skinner sees the latest as notable.
“I’d say this is probably the hardest one, with the expectations from the beginning that we were expected to win the league and some injuries, some adversity off the court,” Skinner said. “Those are things they don’t put in the coaching manual.”
Indeed, being the two-time defending league champs was new territory for UK. That past success landed the Cats at No. 7 in preseason polls and earned them 11 of 13 first-place votes in the SEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. With a massive target on its collective back, UK faltered four times in the nonconference and twice more through the first 10 matches of SEC play. That left the Cats a game behind Florida in league standings and very much on the bubble when it came to hosting in the NCAA Tournament.
All they did in response was win eight in a row – including a comeback from down 2-1 at Florida on Nov. 17 – to claim that third consecutive SEC title. Overcoming various other speedbumps along the way, the Cats landed to the No. 9 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and the right to host first- and second-round matches this weekend.
“Our setter was out for a match with a concussion,” Skinner said. “Leah (Edmond) was out early and came back. Other things that happened—winning on the road at Florida being down and LSU giving us all we could handle down there, being in those situations can only help as you go into the tournament.”
In other words, UK is well accustomed to being the hunted, which will certainly be the case in hosting Southeast Missouri State Friday at 7:30 p.m.
“They’re a very good defensive team,” Skinner said. “They serve the crap out of the ball. They won their league and won three straight in the conference tournament, so they’ve proven to be able to play well under pressure. We have to be aggressive. We have to attack. We have to trust what we do and play physical.”
Since learning his team’s NCAA Tournament path Sunday, Skinner has done a lot of work scouting with his staff. He’s been impressed by what he’s seen of Southeast Missouri State, as well as Michigan and NKU, which will face off in Friday’s other first-round match.
“As we prepare for these three opponents in here this weekend, they’re all really good and three of them (including Kentucky) have won their conference championships,” Skinner said. “Michigan played in the Big Ten. SeMo’s playing the best volleyball of their season.”
As good as those teams are, it’s also not lost on Skinner that those other three teams are thinking about the enormity of taking on the Wildcats.
“I’m kind of thinking and as a staff we’re talking in our meeting, like, ‘How would you like to prepare for Leah Edmond?‘ ” Skinner said. “You gotta game plan against that? It’s not easy. And then if you only think about her, what do you do about the other side of the net? What do you do about our other players.”
UK, after all, has won three straight SEC championships – and Edmond two straight SEC Player of the Year awards – for a reason. And with that success comes a loose approach to postseason play.
“They’re having a good time,” Skinner said. “We want to enjoy the ride. They enjoy the drills. They’re enjoying each other. I think when you have enthusiasm for something, you have a tendency to play harder.”
