Freshman O'Brien Has Volleyball Cats One Step from Title
The Kentucky volleyball program has had success with freshman setters in the past. Madison Lilley started as a freshman and was the setter for four years, leading Kentucky to the 2020 NCAA Volleyball title. Lilley was the national player of the year her senior season.
After Lilley graduated, Emma Grome stepped into the role as a freshman and led the Cats to four consecutive Southeastern Conference titles. Grome was the 2022 SEC Player of the Year and took the Cats to the NCAA Tournament four times, including an Elite Eight berth her senior season.
This season, UK head coach Craig Skinner again turned to a freshman setter. And Texas native Kassie O’Brien excelled in the role. In fact, O’Brien was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Freshman of the Year earlier this week.
On Thursday night, O’Brien was huge as Kentucky outlasted Wisconsin in five sets in the NCAA national semifinals. Now, O’Brien and the Cats will attempt to win Kentucky’s second national championship, facing Texas A&M on Sunday.
Skinner knows that it takes talent to succeed on this level, but it also helps when a young player feels the belief from her coaches.
“I always say that great players make you a better coach. They’re pretty damn good players to start with,” Skinner said. “I felt like as a coach when I was a kid growing up playing sports, I just remember the coaches that believed in me. I think if they know you believe in them, then why can’t they do special things. Instill some sort of belief.”
Skinner also likes how he and the UK coaching staff developing players.
“I think our staff does a really good job of, I don’t care what age you are, I don’t care how old you are, why can’t you be successful at this? So, if they put the effort into it and the work in it that creates the confidence,” Skinner said. “I can’t give them confidence, they have to earn their own confidence, but just show them the path. If they walk down the path themselves, then we’re going to believe in them. We definitely have believed in all those setters.
O’Brien joined the UK program in January, which gave her time to build a rapport with her almost exclusively upperclassmen hitters. She did her best to form those bonds quickly.
“Obviously, it was super cool just being able to come in January and building on that from the beginning of the year until now,” O’Brien said. “Our whole team was (in Lexington) in January. I think we got kind of it early, we got to, like, connect early on the court. As a freshman setter, it is hard having a lot of other experienced hitters come in (to that situation). They believed in me from the beginning. I just wanted them to know I’d be able to get them the ball that they wanted. I think it’s super cool just being in the situation we are now in. It just shows how special this team is.”
O’Brien and fellow freshman Trinity Ward have earned the trust of their teammates with their play on the floor.
“Everyone here trusts in us,” O’Brien said. “I think that’s a big part of going into these big matches, just knowing we have so many people behind us that are willing to go out there and tell us that we can do it and believe in us. I think that’s super huge.”
O’Brien is the latest in a line of freshman setters for Kentucky. She hopes to top all of them by helping the Cats win a national championship on Sunday.
