Kentucky volleyball still has point to prove as defending national champions
As the Kentucky volleyball program’s all-time leader in wins, head coach Craig Skinner has witnessed change in Lexington.
Reflecting on when he was named UK head coach in December 2004, Skinner spreads his arms wide when describing the large pool of athletes he could recruit.
Before his arrival, Kentucky hadn’t made an NCAA Tournament since 1993, something that changed in Skinner’s first season in 2005.
“You only have one direction to go,” Skinner said about the state of the UK program when he took over.
But despite the overwhelming success that followed in the nearly 17 years since his hiring — including 16 straight NCAA Tournaments, four straight Southeastern Conference titles and the program’s first NCAA championship in April — Skinner says recruiting remains just as competitive as before.
“When you win the national championship and win SEC championships there’s a lot of really good players around the country that want to talk to Kentucky. So yes, it’s probably opened some doors maybe that we didn’t knock on before,” Skinner said. “When you’re here the pool of athletes you’re trying to go after is smaller, but then also all the top universities in the country (are) going after them as well.”
For all the success Skinner has had with the Wildcats, he’s never entered a season as a defending national champion, as last season Kentucky also became the first SEC school to win a volleyball national championship.
“It seems like it’s been a whirlwind the last three months,” Skinner said.
Kentucky volleyball’s 2021 season begins Friday in Dayton, Ohio, as part of a three-match weekend tournament. The Wildcats were ranked No. 3 in the country in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll.
The Wildcats went 24-1 last season, playing only against SEC teams in a regular season that spanned from October to March. Kentucky lost just once, to Florida in five sets on the road in mid-March, before ending the season by winning six of its final eight matches in straight sets, a run that included the NCAA Tournament.
“Every season is a new blank canvas of a team. Whether you bring in one person, six people, four, the complexity of a team is always different,” Skinner said. “Those groups of seniors that were with us the last four years laid an unbelievable foundation for us. The group of seniors we have now understand and know all that and are ready to do the same thing.”
Skinner said the non-conference matches Kentucky scheduled for last season were moved to this season.
Eight of Kentucky’s 10 scheduled non-conference opponents are either ranked or received votes in the preseason AVCA Top 25 poll. The non-conference slate is highlighted by a Sept. 10 match at No. 2 Wisconsin, a team that made the Final Four last season.
The Kentucky lineup facing those opponents will be drastically different this season compared to the one that would have been used last season.
Three of the six starters from last season’s national-title winning team — libero Gabby Curry, setter Madison Lilley and outside hitter Avery Skinner — are gone, meaning Kentucky has to replace half of its starting lineup.
One of Kentucky’ returning players is senior outside hitter Alli Stumler, who averaged 4.28 kills per set last season.
Stumler has already noticed some of the outside perception about Kentucky ahead of the new season.
“A lot of people are going to overlook us. We lost three critical pieces to our team,” Stumler said. “I’m ready to kind of show the world what UK volleyball is made out of. A lot of people are probably focusing on what we lost in 2020, but we’re just focused on who we have here in 2021, ready to make more history.”
Other returnees expected to contribute significantly for the Wildcats include junior opposite hitter Azhani Tealer and sophomore outside hitter Madi Skinner.
Lilley in particular was one of Kentucky’s standout performers last season, becoming the first SEC player to be given AVCA National Player of the Year honors.
Replacing her at setter will either be last season’s backup, senior Cameron Scheitzach, or freshman Emma Grome, who impressed during Kentucky’s intrasquad scrimmage held earlier this month at Memorial Coliseum, which also served as a homecoming for the national champions after last season’s NCAA Tournament was played entirely in Omaha, Nebraska.
Grome is one of four incoming freshmen on this year’s Kentucky team along with libero Eleanor Beavin, middle blocker Jordyn Williams and outside hitter Erin Lamb.
Williams said all four freshmen live together and for her, the learning process as a young player on the team has centered around being a good teammate and playing her role.
“I’m still learning from (the) older girls so maybe the leadership role isn’t where I am right now. But just doing my job, we talk about that all the time,” Williams said. “Maybe sometimes my job isn’t to get the big kill, or it’s not to get the big block, but maybe it’s just to get a touch, or maybe to pull the block.”
In addition to the intrasquad scrimmage, which was held in front of about 250 Wildcats fans, Kentucky also recently played a four-set exhibition match at Western Kentucky, ranked No. 16 in the AVCA preseason poll.
Skinner said his biggest concern entering the new season was the limited preparation time Kentucky had, given the team’s significant offseason departures.
“Our preseason literally is 12 to 14 days of practices. We have a tough schedule, so trying to get obviously personnel and decisions and starting lineup, but then also working on fine-tuning defense and offense. Do we have enough time to get everything that we need to?” Skinner said. “Probably not, but I’m glad we have some upperclassmen that know the game really well and know what we’re up against.”
Stumler — who received the loudest cheers from Wildcats fans at Memorial Coliseum for the intrasquad scrimmage — said she and her teammates took a little more than a month off before the summer to rest and rejuvenate following the irregular timeline of last season.
But regardless of an offseason notable for both the attention it placed on the Kentucky program and its quick turnaround, the Wildcats will have to be ready right from the start.
“I think there’s no better time than to play them (good teams) early on and kind of realize and find out things that we’ve got to work on,” Stumler said. “You know, that’s what this preseason’s for, is pushing ourselves to our limits. We’re going to make errors, we’re going to maybe lose matches, whatever it is. But that is a great time to learn before we start SEC play, get into postseason stuff.”
This weekend
Kentucky at Dayton (Ohio) Tournament
Friday:
10:30 a.m.: UK vs. Texas State (No TV)
7 p.m.: UK vs. Dayton (ESPN Plus)
Saturday:
Noon: UK vs. Cincinnati (No TV)
2021 UK volleyball schedule
(Home matches in all capital letters. All times Eastern.)
Aug. 27: Texas State, 10:30 a.m.-x
Aug. 27: Dayton, 7 p.m.-x (ESPN Plus)
Aug. 28: Cincinnati, Noon-x
Sept. 3: NORTHERN IOWA, 7:30 p.m.-y (SEC Network Plus)
Sept. 4: CREIGHTON, 10:30 a.m.-y (SEC Network Plus)
Sept. 4: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, 7:30 p.m.-y (SEC Network Plus)
Sept. 10: At Wisconsin, 9 p.m. (Big Ten Network)
Sept. 11: At Marquette, 7 p.m. (FloSports)
Sept. 15: At Louisville, 7 p.m.
Sept. 19: STANFORD, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
Sept. 24: MISSOURI, 8 p.m. (SEC Network)
Sept. 29: At Mississippi, 7 p.m.
Oct. 6: MISSISSIPPI ST., 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Oct. 9: At Alabama, 2 p.m.
Oct. 14: At LSU, 8 p.m.
Oct. 15: At LSU, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)
Oct. 22: ARKANSAS, 9 p.m. (SEC Network)
Oct. 23: ARKANSAS, 7 p.m.
Oct. 27: At Tennessee, 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Nov. 4: At South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Nov. 5: At South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Nov. 10: GEORGIA, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
Nov. 13: TEXAS A&M, 4 p.m.
Nov. 14: TEXAS A&M, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
Nov. 20: At Auburn, 5:30 p.m.
Nov. 21: At Auburn, 2 p.m.
Nov. 26: FLORIDA, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)
Nov. 27: FLORIDA, 1 p.m.
x-Dayton Tournament at Dayton, Ohio; y-Bluegrass Battle in Memorial Coliseum.
This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 6:30 AM.
