By Cadee Pierce
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Senior Reagan Rutherford had 14 kills and freshman Brooklyn DeLeye added 13 kills and 10 digs as Kentucky defeated Baylor 25-18, 25-22, 25-17 on Friday night in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky (21-7) hit a red-hot .500 as a team in the match compared to just .258 for Baylor. Junior Emma Grome contributed 45 assists to Kentucky’s offense while junior Eleanor Beavin led the Wildcats defense with 13 digs, part of the team’s 36 total digs.
The Wildcats came out on fire, winning the opening set 25-18 and hitting an impressive .583. In the first set, UK had 16 kills and only two errors on 24 total swing attempts. In the second set, the Wildcats hit .467 with 19 kills alongside 11 digs defeating the Bears 25-22. Kentucky dominated in the third set with 16 kills clutching the sweep, 25-17.
Baylor (17-12) had 34 kills in the match, led by Elise McGhee with 15 and Allie Sczech with eight. Setter Averi Carlson helping lead the Bears offense adding 28 assists.
Kentucky advances to the regional next week at a location that has yet to be determined.
KENTUCKY VOLLEYBALL POSTGAME QUOTES
KENTUCKY VS. BAYLOR
RUPP ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY.
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Kentucky Head Coach Craig Skinner
Opening Statement…
“First of all, how about this senior group? Tonight, they were certainly prepared to play a good match and executed the highest level. To make runs and make tournaments you need seniors and upperclassman that are ready to go, and their preparation allowed them that chance. Baylor is a great team, credit to them because we were certainly on high alert to play them tonight and wanted make sure we took advantages to score, and, you know, offensively credit to Ben and Madison for the offensive game plan. 51 kills in 3 sets has got to be close to a record, so heck of a day and super proud of our upperclassman and seniors for getting it done.”
On being successful at terminating the ball…
“Certainly, the talent helps, so offensively we have all five attackers that can score at any given moment. Emma’s really good at distributing the ball to the right people at the right time. Handling serve is important but you know also having some things prepared that Ben(Josephson) and Madison(Lilley) worked on for last night, that didn’t show tonight, that we didn’t do last night but did some tonight. Just having some things in your back pocket to be able to try and expose a big, physical team like Baylor. But it’s a whole team effort– so there’s the preparation piece but then there’s the execution piece under pressure but having a lot of arms is helpful”.
On if he feels like he’s putting the expectations too high when he mentions the championship…
“The team helps with that because they are competitively mature, and they understand that the expectations on a program like Kentucky are to compete for championships, so we’re not going to overlook our next opponent, but the goal when you’re in the NCAA tournament is to win the championship, so that’s what we’re trying to do and we have to do that in six steps. We just completed step number two and step number three is coming up and our preparation shouldn’t be any different than it was for the first match of the season, but we have a lot more experience now to build on and so if we’re afraid of the word ‘championship’ then we probably shouldn’t be in this tournament.”
On what it’s like coaching a goofy team and if it’s the goofiest team he’s had…
“It’s up there close to the top, I mean the personalities on this team are – you also recruit characters. You want people you look forward to being around and humor is a huge part of happiness. You strive for fulfillment and the execution of playing the game at the highest level and teaching and getting better, but if you don’t have some humor involved then it gets tough for them because they work their asses off all the time and for us because of the hours that we put in to try and be better. So, humor is a huge piece–I’m so glad we’ve got some characters on this team.”
On what it means for it to be the last game at home with this group…
“You know we’re all going to miss the seniors whenever they exit this program, and this group of seniors are special in their own way. Happy for them and what they’ve accomplished and they’ve been through some tough times– they went through a tough pre-conference, they went through some challenging times of losing in the second round and tough losses but they never lost that ability and desire to strive for perfection and striving to be better today than I was yesterday, so just so happy that they are going to be able to take some things from this program that may be able to help them down the road in their life, but one of the coolest things is when people leave this program, seeing their success. It’s mixed emotions for sure. You want to coach people as long as possible, but you can’t wait to see what success they have in the future.”
UK Student-Athletes
#15, Azhani Tealer, OPP
On preparing for emotions tonight knowing it could be the last game and playing the way she did …
“I think emotions were really high all day and just preparing for a game like this knowing it could be your last, but us three seniors, including Riley who is not here, we all locked in and made sure we had the team ready to go, and I think it showed in the way we played today and yeah we were ready for anything they threw at us and I think we played really well. ”
On the team enjoying themselves and how it reflects on themselves and Coach Skinner…
“I have never been a part of a goofier team and sometimes we are preparing, and I feel like we are not focused, but that’s just how this team is. We focus but [we’re] sometimes really loose, and it sometimes works to our advantage. It’s good.”
On the seniors’ lasting legacy at UK…
“I think we just worked really hard, and we care about the University of Kentucky, and we are really good people. Craig recruits good people and this class is a testament to that, the way that I’ve grown being around these people the last four years. I didn’t think it was going be four, I thought it was going be three, but it’s a blessing that it has been four years to be around them and they’ve made me better and everyone around them better. It’s been awesome.”
#10, Reagan Rutherford, OPP
On the team enjoying themselves and how it reflects themselves and Coach Skinner…
“I mean I just think we are all really goofy people and just really love being by each other in this environment, but Craig definitely recruits great people that love to play the sport so we are all just embracing each other and we have amazing athletes that want to celebrate every point so just to do that together is so fun.”
On the seniors lasting legacy at UK…
“Yeah I would say like Z said earlier, we are a goofy group and I feel like that is what we are going to be remembered by. Just always having fun and being lighthearted, but just being completely humble and hardworking and just leaving that legacy.”
On playing any better than they played tonight…
“I mean volleyball is a game of errors, so I mean we can never play perfect, but I think that is as close as perfect as it gets. We played amazing. There are some things we can clean up defensively and communication but yeah, it was a really fun night and it was close to perfect in my opinion.”
Baylor Head Coach Ryan McGuyre
Opening statement…
“Yeah, congratulations, Kentucky. Great match on their end. You know, specifically offensively. I hope that they win the rest and go all the way through, I think what they’ve done offensively this year is kind of what we’ve aspired to be trying to do and growing into that. I think offensively what they’re doing is at a championship level and obviously tonight, you know, first two sets are going back and forth, but, you know, they hit .500 and you can’t win games if you’re allowing your opponent hit .500. You know we’re 26, so it should be a competitive match. I think defense for us was something that we knew we were not hitting some of our benchmarks in practices and we’re making some good strides. I see the draw and thought, ‘man we’re hitting a team that’s hitting almost .300’, so we knew we had some work to do. I felt like we needed three blocks per set and we fell under that mark. I thought we were hanging around offensively at times, like we didn’t error selves out with the offense, you know, 10 errors for them and eleven for us, but obviously they’re much more terminal. And, you know, our serves kept us in it, but then their serves kind of pulled it away.”
On Coach Skinner at Kentucky …
“He has done a spectacular, spectacular job. Because, for a start he’s a great man and character. Approachable, and wise, and he’s got a genuine love for his student-athletes as well. And, you know, I know at a convention we ended up on the same panel together and I was writing notes as I’m here on everything that he’s sharing. I think at the end of the day we’re competitive, but you want to treat people the way you want to be treated and just, you know, the uniqueness of Skinner when she transferred to Baylor and how we both handled that to promote each other, help each other, what’s in the best interests of them. There was great respect for him in that way. And you know, I think other programs in the transfer portal how things are happening and other ways. You know, he probably got burned and other ways. So, he does a spectacular job. But yeah, it’s deep, deep admiration. And like I said, since being here everything’s we’ve been treated extremely well which is no surprise.”
#4, Allie Sczech, OPP
On getting over the hump and how it could have been accomplished …
“I think it was tough because I think both sides were making really big plays. I think at the end of the day, it kind of came down to crunch time at the end. And I think kind of like what he said there was a few things we didn’t necessarily dial in and I think, kind of staying in the squirrely rallies, things that were a little crazier than normal. I think just finding a way to be disciplined and be strong throughout those rallies would have helped us, but I’m really proud of the way that it was back and forth and I do you think there was a lot of good big plays made on our side. I just think had they have been sustained, we would have been a little more successful.”
On how Kentucky compares to other teams they faced and what players stand out …
“Yeah, I 1,000 percent agree. I mean, basically, I would say Regan Rutherford just because we haven’t passed yet and she’s awesome. But I would say honestly, overall, the offense was just really effective on their side of the net. I think that just made it tough for us to score and tougher for us to defend, and I think, at the end of the day like I said, it’s just being in the moment and being in this place. It’s going to be important, but I’ll also think if we can find a way to improve upon our defense, I think that we will be one of the top teams in the country and we will be able to defend ourselves.”
On the experience of the week …
“Yeah, I agree as well. I think at the end of the day, it’s hard to be stressed. We talk about this a lot in our program, like it’s hard to be stressed and also be grateful. So I think like at the end of the day, like obviously we’re upset with outcome, but I think we’re just really grateful for the opportunity to be here. You know, like, God gave us another day, another opportunity to wake up and go do the thing that we love, that at some point will come to an end. And then it’s like, how have you been shaped from that? So I think like at the end of the day, obviously it was tough that we lost, but if we change someone’s life and push them closer to Christ, then we’re doing exactly what we need to do here.”
#2, Lauren Briseno, L/DS
On the first set being back and forth …
“Yeah, I agree. I think for sure overall it comes down to executing the game plan. I thought for sure that it would’ve been a separator and I think especially, reiterating what Allie said, a difference maker was just settling down on the crazy plays, just reminding everyone like, ‘hey we get another opportunity, we’re in post season to play the sport that we love, we just need to settle down and really sink in and let the moment sink in. We’re here to play volleyball, so let’s just settle down on those crazy plays for sure.”
On comparing Kentucky to other teams Baylor has faced …
“Yeah, I think Kentucky is a really good team. I think the Big 12 really sets us up for success, you know getting to see a lot of those tough opponents throughout conference, so I don’t think it was any surprise heading into the matchup against Kentucky. We knew that they were going to be playing some clean volleyball but it wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before so we knew what the game plan was, we just needed to execute it.”
On the end of the season …
“Yeah, we’re just so blessed to be here, and just so blessed to be here with this group. You know we’ve made so many memories in this 2023 season, just going back to our training and I just think really letting the moment sink in. Like I was saying, just getting the opportunity to play volleyball with each other, we’ve made a lot of core memories from preseason, conference, postseason and we just give glory to God every single day for being here with such an amazing staff and support staff. We’re just really blessed for sure.”
