Kentucky Volleyball Depth on Display Saturday
The eighth-ranked Kentucky volleyball team appears to be ready for the NCAA Tournament next week. The Cats finished off their fifth SEC regular season championship on Saturday by beating Florida for the second consecutive day. The win gave UK a 17-1 mark in conference play in the regular season and a 24-4 record overall.
Everyone knows that the Cats will be dangerous in the postseason because of the team’s stars. All-Americans Alli Stumler, Azhani Tealer and Madi Skinner give UK plenty of firepower up front. Setter Emma Grome and libero Eleanor Beavin have grown into their roles very nicely as the season has progressed.
But what might make the Cats even more dangerous and hard to prepare for is the team’s depth. That particular element was on full display on Saturday inside Memorial Coliseum.
Want offense? The Cats had plenty of that. Five players had at least eight kills in the match. Stumler had 11, Reagan Rutherford had 10, Bella Bell and Tealer each had nine and Skinner had eight.
Defense? UK has that, too. Five players had at least five digs apiece. Beavin led the way with 15 scoops, Riah Walker had nine, Grome had eight, while Stumler and Tharp each had five.
How about blocking? Rutherford had five block assists, Bella had three and Grome had two.
UK head coach Craig Skinner knows that teams with depth tend to go further in the NCAA Tournament than those who don’t. When asked what opponents will be looking at when they scout the Cats, Skinner knows it will be tough.
“I hope they look at us and know that it’s going to be challenging because we do have a lot of balance,” Skinner said. “That goes with good ball control, good setting, good choices. It’s a complete team effort. The balance is very important in a tournament situation.”
As for his team winning its fifth straight SEC regular season title, Skinner knows that it’s the people within the program who make that happen.
“I’m ecstatic for our program, players to have the outright championship,” Skinner said. “To see a mix of players from freshman to seniors contributing, making a huge impact for us, shows the quality of people we have to encourage, support and challenge each other to be our best each and every day.”
Kentucky will almost certainly play in Memorial Coliseum for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, which will begin on Friday. Whether the Cats get to host a regional or not remains to be seen. The NCAA Volleyball Selection Show is Sunday night at 8:30 ET on ESPNU.
Stumler knows that wins like those the Cats got this weekend are beneficial moving forward.
“Being able to sweep Florida on back-to-back days is really tough. I think it just builds confidence. It shows that, whenever we get into the tournament, we’re going to have to play back-to-back days and the teams will get better each game that we play. Just that confidence is really awesome, to know that this team can do that.”
As Kentucky prepares to defend its NCAA Tournament championship beginning next week, the team’s depth will make the Cats a tough out, no matter who the opposition is.
