Skinner, Cats Excited to Participate in AVCA First Serve Showcase
Under head coach Craig Skinner, the Kentucky volleyball program has become one of the nation’s best. UK has won seven consecutive Southeastern Conference titles and claimed the 2020 NCAA Championship, the first (and only) title ever won by an SEC program.
Being on the national stage with great regularity has created opportunities for the Cats to be showcased on national television and on the sport’s biggest stages. That trend will continue as Kentucky participates in the 2024 AVCA First Serve Showcase, a marquee event that will kick off the 2024 Division I college volleyball season. The event is being revived after not being played since 2014 and on Thursday at a press conference promoting the showcase, UK head coach Craig Skinner said he’s excited to be part of the 2024 version.
“Thank you to Jamie Gordon and the AVCA for putting on this event,” Skinner said. “To give it rebirth from the time it had happened before because it was such an amazing deal for our sport, but also the teams who got the opportunity to play in the first matches of the season.”
Kentucky will face five-time national champion and defending national runner-up Nebraska in the showcase, while Louisville will face 2021 national champion Wisconsin. Both matches will be at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville. Skinner knows that volleyball is experiencing rapid growth nationally, and that is especially true in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
“So many athletes are playing this game,” Skinner said. “We were just on the road recruiting in Las Vegas and it’s amazing how many elite players are playing this game in every state in the country but also in the state of Kentucky and we can’t be more excited to be part of this event. Showcasing volleyball in the state of Kentucky is a huge deal for both (Louisville head coach) Dani (Busboom Kelly) and I. And for us to have the opportunity to play the first match of the season against two great teams and to kick off the season is incredible.”
Skinner believes that events like the AVCA First Serve Showcase will continue to help the growth of the game at every level.
“The more opportunities that our players have in front of the media, the more opportunities we have to talk about them and for them to showcase themselves with a national audience on ESPN will give us a better chance,” Skinner said. “I think we, as a sport and coaches, we need to do a better job but I think opportunities like this will make a difference.”
Skinner has never been one to shy away from playing against the best teams in the country in the nonconference portion of the schedule. Opening against Nebraska will certainly fill that bill.
“We always want to play good teams at the end of the season,” Skinner said. “When we got invited to play in this, it was a no-brainer because there’s no better measuring stick for you to make a run in December than trying to play against the best teams now. We play against the best teams now, we know what we need to do, we know how we need to improve, we know what we need to continue to work on. We always have an expectation to compete for SEC championships and give ourselves a chance to compete for a national championship in December.”
Playing in the AVCA First Serve Showcase shows that Kentucky is among the nation’s elite volleyball programs and also provides an early challenge for Skinner’s Cats.
