UK ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
NCAA VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
DEC. 4, 2021
MEMORIAL COLISEUM – LEXINGTON, KY.
Kentucky Head Coach Craig Skinner
Opening statement …
“Well, obviously a lot of credit to Illinois. They were really good tonight, just better than us. We figured it would probably come down to a game of out of system and being able to terminate balls when it’s not perfect, and Illinois was really good at that tonight. I am just really proud of this group. We knew at some point the season was going to end. Obviously, we weren’t thinking it was going to happen tonight, but just the emotional energy we put into this season to be able to compete for a conference championship and get that done, then be seated to get a chance to go back to the National Championship is something I’ll never forget. This team has been an unreal group to weather some of the situations and storms that we’ve had over the last year. I’m incredibly proud of Kentucky Volleyball and the way we performed this year, and hats off to Illinois.”
On the difference in efficiency in the match …
“We knew that it would be somewhat of an out of system game, where the passes weren’t perfect, both on our side of the net and on their side of the net. They were better at hitting at the top of the block and getting kills than we were. When that happens, it’s tough. It’s frustrating because you feel like you get them in a situation where they’re not in a perfect scenario, and you can score, but they hit it off the top of your block out of bounds. They did that a lot tonight and we weren’t able to, and that was the difference in efficiency.”
On if fatigue and other obstacles impacted the team …
“I’d be lying if I said we’ve been fresh all year long, and that goes for every team that played all the way to the end like us. It was tough. You’re being pulled in a hundred different directions afterwards, and doing different stuff, so it was emotionally taxing. But at the same time, that’s why I’m so proud of this group. For us to come back and do what we did, with people like Emma [Grome] and Eleanor [Beavin] and Erin Lamb and Jordyn Williams added to the group, it’s really hard. It’s really hard for teams to gel and to mesh together, and to take their roles and run with it, on such short turn around. We didn’t have a normal summer, and we didn’t really have a normal preseason. We had COVID issues at the beginning. There’s a list of numerous things that every team could talk about, but it’s certainly a challenging year, but at the same time, how rewarding is it for us to get to do what we do and win at the rate that we’ve won in the last 12 months?”
On the future of Kentucky Volleyball …
“There’s a lot of great pieces. When you look at the starting lin up and it’s freshman, sophomore, sophomore, freshman, junior in your starting group, it speaks highly of their future. Now it’s: Can we duplicate what senior leadership does? Can we duplicate what they’ve provided to this program? What a great group to learn from going forward in that area. There’s a great group returning, one coming in so far, and possibly others, to help us go to the next level.”
Kentucky Student-Athletes
#4, Emma Grome, Freshman, Setter
On what she learned over the course of the season …
“I think I learned a lot. I really can’t say that I’ve played with a better group of people than this. The upperclassmen were incredible the entire year. They really took us under their wing and showed us the ropes of UK Volleyball. I think I’ve grown a lot this season, and I know there’s still so much more that I can do better. It was a lot of fun. It didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but there was a lot of improvement throughout the year.”
#17, Alli Stumler, Senior, Outside Hitter
On what Kentucky Volleyball has meant to her over the last four years …
“I don’t know if there are words. We were just talking in the locker room and it’s like, man, take you back to, I guess it was 2016 or 2015, I don’t know. We were in Common Grounds over there, and I pulled up the sweatshirt and we were just having a casual conversation. I think my mom said, ‘Hey, we’re going to come look at the dorms.’ And they were like, ‘So, have you thought anymore about your decision?’ I pulled the sweatshirt up and it was a Kentucky shirt, and that was the day I committed. I had no idea it would end like this and be like this. It was exactly like you said: Competing for national championships, winning SECs four times in my career, and never did I dream of playing with girls like Emma [Grome] and the crew that we have here, and just playing for the staff. It has been an unbelievable ride, and really stinking fun. It makes it a lot better when you have cool people and just people who really care, really care about others, and really care about the sport. Nothing I could have dreamed of. It couldn’t have gone any better, despite what happened tonight. I couldn’t have asked for it to be any better.”
On coming back out to the court with the other seniors to wave goodbye …
“I think our words were, ‘This is stinking horrible.’ It’s phenomenal to have the fan base that we have, and I say it every day – Big Blue Nation is no joke. They come out in big numbers and they’re loud. Craig [Skinner] talks about it all the time, just the IQ of our fans, and the way that they’re starting to catch on and learn about the sport is phenomenal. Our fans are truly the best, and so getting to kind of soak it in one last time with them was awesome. Obviously, it stinks, you hate it to be that way, but they’re just awesome. I’m so happy for this program and the future and the fans dedicating so much time and energy to the sport.”
Illinois Head Coach Chris Tamas
Opening statement …
“We knew it was going to take every bit of everything that we had to beat this team, because they’re a great team. Our serving game and being really good out of system, and you know both teams played well in that regard, but we were able to turn a few more points when it mattered. We got a couple of big runs, which really helps, and put some separation and we know that we’re good enough to sustain those leads, even though Kentucky fought like hell to get back in it. So I’m just really proud. We always talk about how it’s a team effort, and it goes down to everyone else – players, strength staff, athletic trainers. Everyone has a part in this and we relied on everything tonight.”
On winning in Lexington …
“We talk a lot about how we’re prepared for this, maybe more than a lot of teams because we face this every time in the Big Ten. You go back through our season, and we beat Penn State at Penn State in front of a hostile crowd. We beat Purdue at Purdue in front of a hostile crowd. So, for us, it’s almost like a comfort thing where it’s like, alright you want to cheer against us? That kind of feeds us a little bit. That’s a part of sports I think that everyone loves, and so our team always has responded to when that response was needed. But I got a whole bunch of competitors, I know that, and that showed tonight.”
On having runs …
“Kind of like [Diana Brown] mentioned, it’s how we practice every day. We’ve always had that mentality. I think we need it in our game. If any team in this level plays in system and they have a good pass, they get really tough to stop. So it’s just kind of been the mantra of ours from day one. We need to get after it from the service line. We need to take aggressive swings, and we need to play. If we’re not scoring, we need to keep them off the net, and so I think we just did a great job. I don’t think – I know we did a great job tonight, and it did help that we put on those runs. I think Kentucky was a team just looking at their past month and a half, they hadn’t dropped a set in the last month and a half, and so we knew if we can kind of push on them a little bit, that maybe it would maybe kind of get them to think a little bit more, and I think we did that tonight.”
Illinois Student-Athletes
#5, Diana Brown, R-Junior, Setter
On rallying after the second set and putting Kentucky away …
“I don’t really want to take away anything that Kentucky did, because they’re a great team. It’s a battle. It’s a battle every single point. But to overcome it, we really just talked about being us. We can’t be anyone but us, and so we just went back to what we do well, and we train game-like every single day. We just stayed together and went back to being our own players.”
On their performance from the serving line today …
“That’s the staple of our team, so that’s really nothing new. I think that we just had a really aggressive mindset. Like Chris [Tamas] said, we have a bunch of competitors and it’s just fun. Playing in these gyms, I think it gets us more pumped up. To have that comfort level behind the line, we have some of the toughest servers in the nation. So, when we get the serve, it’s kind of like we all know, alright, let’s lock in.”
#12, Raina Terry, Sophomore, Outside Hitter
On dominating in the third set …
“Yeah, it was awesome. We talked a lot about just a sense of urgency, not letting up, and keeping our foot on the gas. I think we did a really good job of that in the third set, for sure.”
On celebrating the win but also preparing for the Sweet 16 …
“We’ll take as long as we can to celebrate, but obviously when we get back in Champaign, it’s back to business, and got to do what you got to do.”
