Kentucky volleyball is back in the Sweet 16. These three moments were key along the way.
A lengthy NCAA Tournament run for the Kentucky volleyball program has become an expectation in Lexington.
This year’s Wildcats have reached the Sweet 16 stage of the national postseason for the ninth time under head coach Craig Skinner (hired in December 2004) and will face Arkansas at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in Lincoln, Nebraska, for a spot in the Elite Eight.
Skinner’s tenure speaks for itself: He has guided the Wildcats to a remarkable seven consecutive SEC championships and was at the helm for Kentucky’s national championship win in April 2021.
Those accolades speak for themselves. And while getting this group of Cats to the second week of the NCAA Tournament has continued UK’s rich tradition of volleyball success, it also should go down as one of the best coaching jobs of Skinner’s career.
UK began the 2023 season with 2-6 record before conference play began. Kentucky lost its first match of the season at Colorado State and dropped a series of marquee matches against Pittsburgh (twice), Purdue, Louisville and Nebraska (a team Kentucky could play in this weekend’s Elite Eight).
Furthermore, Kentucky split its opening weekend of SEC play at home, defeating LSU before losing to Tennessee to sit with a 3-7 overall record and a 1-1 mark in conference matches on Sept. 24.
“It was hard. It was hard on our players, hard on our staff, hard on me,” Skinner said, reflecting on that rocky start. “… It required an immense amount of patience and resiliency from our players and staff.”
The Wildcats haven’t lost since, rattling off 18 straight wins. Kentucky has defeated its Sweet 16 opponent, Arkansas, twice as part of this winning streak.
How was Kentucky able to shake off those early losses to get back on track and back to the Sweet 16?
Over the past week, Skinner identified specific moments during the 2023 season that helped lead UK back to this familiar spot.
He called these three moments “probably the most profound three matches of the year.”
Things start to click for Kentucky in loss at Nebraska
Kentucky’s four-set loss at Nebraska on Sept. 17 was part of the early-season malaise the Wildcats found themselves in.
The challenge of beating the country’s best team in their own gym was always going to be difficult. Nebraska went 30-1 this season and is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
But even in that defeat, Skinner saw things that would eventually bode well for the Wildcats.
“We really started to do some really positive things against the No. 1 team in the country,” Skinner said, reflecting on that match. “I think there was some belief, layers of belief, that happened then.”
Among those positive moments?
As a team, UK hit .313 or better in two of the four sets against the Cornhuskers. Seniors Reagan Rutherford and Elise Goetzinger totaled 19 and 14 kills, respectively. Kentucky’s kills leader for the season, SEC Freshman of the Year Brooklyn DeLeye, only had seven kills in that match.
Defensively, UK was led by another freshman, Molly Tuozzo, who had 16 digs.
There’s a chance UK will get another shot at Nebraska in just a few days’ time, as well.
Prior to Thursday’s match between UK and Arkansas, regional host Nebraska will play Georgia Tech. The winners of those two matches will play at 6 p.m. Saturday in Lincoln in the Elite Eight.
Kentucky guts out five-set win at Georgia
Despite the positives that were evident in that Nebraska match, the Wildcats found themselves playing without Rutherford, who had an eye injury, for several weeks.
This slowed the process of clicking on the court, but it also allowed for the Cats to come up with wins in difficult matches without one of their best players.
A clear example of this was a five-set win at Georgia on Sept. 29. Playing without Rutherford, the Wildcats trailed 7-3 in a decisive fifth set (first to 15 points wins), before surging ahead to win the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
Skinner called this moment “a big step” and highlighted the resiliency and toughness it bred within his team.
This was also a marquee moment for DeLeye, Kentucky’s star freshman, who recorded 25 kills in the road win.
“I think knowing in the fifth set it was so close and it was going to come down to every point, not really looking at the score, but just kind of figuring it out like, ‘Who is going to be able to put the ball down?’” DeLeye said Tuesday about that victory. “And obviously trusting everyone on the court. Just kind of doing my part in that as well.”
UK gets payback over Tennessee by winning in Knoxville
Kentucky has only had one chance this season (so far) to avenge a previous loss.
UK’s 3-0 home defeat to Tennessee on the opening weekend of SEC play was part of the team’s disappointing 3-7 start and was another loss that came without Rutherford in the lineup.
After missing six matches, Rutherford returned for Kentucky’s away match at Tennessee on Oct. 15, and her impact was instantly felt.
Rutherford, sporting a pair of athletic glasses, went for eight kills and had three block assists as the Wildcats won in straight sets against their rivals.
The match not only played a key part in Kentucky securing an outright SEC championship, but according to Skinner it cemented the confidence and belief that had been building within his team.
“It’s a constant strive for purpose, a constant strive for improvement and finding that next moment,” Skinner said.
UK’s next chance for a memorable moment will come Thursday afternoon against an Arkansas team that Kentucky has won six out of eight sets against this season.
Kentucky will have the added bonus of entering Thursday’s match having played inside the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln this season during that aforementioned four-set loss to Nebraska.
More than 8,500 people packed into the arena for that match, and DeLeye said going through that experience of playing in front of such a large crowd should benefit UK come Thursday.
“I think just knowing the environment like that is really helpful and just getting a feel for the court going into this tournament,” DeLeye said. “Because it’s so stressful as is, just already having a familiar environment will really help.”
Next match
No. 8 Kentucky vs. No. 9 Arkansas
What: NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
When: 4:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: ESPNU
Records: Kentucky 21-7, Arkansas 27-5
This season: UK won 3-2 in Lexington on Oct. 22; UK won 3-0 in Fayetteville on Nov. 22
This story was originally published December 5, 2023 at 12:58 PM.
