UK Volleyball's Jewell Maintains Team-First Mentality

Merideth Jewell spent her first two seasons of college volleyball playing for Morehead State. And her career at the Ohio Valley Conference school was going very well, to say the least. Jewell amassed 902 kills in two seasons at MSU, and was named OVC Freshman of the Year in 2015.

However, Jewell wanted something more. She wanted a change of scenery. But in order to make that happen, she had to make some sacrifices.

“I was a big fish in a little pond, but now I’m a big fish in an ocean,” Jewell said of her transfer to Kentucky in 2016. “I think that transition is really hard and not a lot of people can do it. I came in at the bottom of the totem pole and I knew I had to work my way up. I had a lot of belief in myself that I could do that because that’s my work ethic and type of personality that I have.”

The opportunity to play in, and advance in, the NCAA Tournament made Kentucky a very attractive option for Jewell, a 5-11 senior from Louisville.

“Since I was in high school, I’ve always wanted to go the the (NCAA) Tournament,” Jewell said. “Being at a school like Morehead, I wanted to make it to the first round, maybe the second round. When I first got here, we were in the team room and Kaz Brown was talking about how we wanted to go to the Final Four. It took me a couple of minutes to realize, wow, I’m on a team that can make it that far and can compete at the highest level.”

The transition from MSU to UK also came with a position change for Jewell, which was easier than she had anticipated.

“The big transition from playing six rotations to just playing three was a lot less stressful than I thought it would be,” Jewell said. “It actually took the pressure off me and I could embrace the role of being a (defensive specialist). I knew how to pass, I knew the basics of passing, so it was really just fine-tuning things with serve receive and playing defense.”

Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner knows that making a transition, such as the one Jewell made, is not always smooth.

“Not an easy transition, when you’re called upon to be the main point scorer for every team that she was on prior to Kentucky, then to be fighting to play in the back row, she really is a team-first person,” Skinner said. “Never has a day gone by that I have worried that Merideth is not all-in. That’s just a quality she brings. She said she never knew she could play at this level, and she’s taking advantage of it, because she is.”

Jewell admits that she had doubts about whether she could play in the SEC.

“When I came here, I didn’t expect anything, this is a big-time school,” Jewell said. “When I got an offer, that was what I wanted. I wanted to step up. When I first got here, I was at the bottom and I knew that. After spring season, I started to get more comfortable. As I started playing more, I became more comfortable and more confident and I was like, wow, I can compete in the SEC, I can compete with the people next to me.”

Skinner also knows that Jewell has been, and will continue to be, a positive influence on her teammates.

“Merideth is a winner, always has been, always will be,” Skinner said. “Her infectious mentality rubs off on the people around her. From the first day she walked in the gym, she has impacted the way we play the game, just because of her mentality. She will fight her way on the court somehow, some way.”

And when the selfless Jewell gets on the court, good things happen for the Wildcats. She makes sure that is the case.

“I put myself in situations where I was ready to play when my name was called,” Jewell said. “Going into a game and changing it was a really cool experience.”

An experience that the team-first Jewell hopes to enjoy often during her senior season.