Kentucky Volleyball Announces Spring Schedule
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After one of the most successful seasons in program history that saw the Wildcats win a Southeastern Conference Championship and make a run to the Elite Eight, the Kentucky volleyball team is looking forward to the start of spring action. Head coach Craig Skinner and the UK staff have once again created a challenging slate for the spring.
“This is a great schedule for us this spring,” Skinner said. “It gives us an opportunity to see the progress of our training in competitive situations against very good teams.”
The schedule will feature four weekends of play, and will begin with a home match. UK will start the spring season on March 25, as the Wildcats will play host to Louisville at 4 p.m., and fans are encouraged to attend the home match. Admission is free and doors will open one hour prior to first serve.
Kentucky will travel to Avon, Indiana, to take on Illinois at 7 p.m. on March 30. UK will compete in the annual KIVA Tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 7. To wrap up spring play, UK will head to Purdue April 11th at 7 p.m. at Providence High School in Clarksville, Indiana.
Recently, Kentucky also hosted its annual season-ending banquet to celebrate the successes of the senior class and the historic 2017 season. Emily Franklin won the Breakout Athlete award and Ashley Dusek won the Players’ Award for the second-straight season. Both awards were voted on by either staff members or teammates.
Dusek, who was named the SEC’s Libero of the Year for the third-consecutive season, averaged 4.35 digs per set, which was seventh in the conference, but coaches game planned around her. At the end of the regular season, she led the league in multiple categories, including a passing average of 2.45 (three-point scale) and good-pass percentage at 65.2 percent.
The East Bernard, Texas, native had double-digit digs in every match she started after returning from injury, and recorded five matches with 20 or more. Dusek has 80 matches with 10 or more digs in her career and won two weekly SEC honors this season. She’s the fifth player under Skinner to log more than 1,000 career digs and finished her career second in the 25-point rally scoring era for total digs with 1,574.
Franklin earned her first All-Region honor in 2017 to match her first All-SEC honor. She was second on the team in hitting percentage at .407 and hit .500 or above 11 times. She had an 11-match streak where she hit over .400 . Franklin’s clip was the third best in the SEC and 13th in the nation. She averaged 2.02 kills per set and has contributed 16 service aces.
As a team, Kentucky finished the year 29-4 and won a share of the SEC Championship for the first time in Skinner’s tenure and also advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in the modern era. The Wildcats earned their highest ranking under Skinner, No. 6, and beat the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time in school history.
Follow along with the Cats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
