Through hard work and dedication, Kentucky volleyball makes a ‘crazy’ dream come true
It’s one thing to have a dream, but quite another to see that dream come true.
It’s one thing to have 67 people show up for Craig Skinner’s first match as head coach of women’s volleyball team at the University of Kentucky, and it’s quite another for 16 years later there to be twice that many (or more) standing outside of Memorial Coliseum on a Sunday afternoon waiting for the doors to open to a celebration.
A national championship celebration.
“We freaking did it,” UK senior star Madison Lilley told a “welcome home” crowd of about 500.
Yes, they freaking did, these Kentucky Wildcats, defeating perennial power Texas 3-1 in the finals of the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament at the CHI Health Arena on Saturday night in Omaha, Neb.
The No. 2 seed in the 48-team tournament, Kentucky won its first national title in the sport. In doing so, UK became just the 11th school overall, and the first from the SEC, to win the tournament since women’s volleyball was sanctioned as an NCAA Division I sport back in 1981.
“You can’t even put it into words,” Lilley said Sunday. “I can’t even think of how long I’ve been wanting this type of moment. The extra hours, the blood, sweat and tears, the sacrifices this year especially. All of it is so worth it, standing here right now.”
After winning their fourth consecutive SEC title, and with the tournament being played inside of an Omaha bubble because of COVID-19 protocols, the Cats ripped through their first three matches in straight sets to gain the program’s first trip to the Final Four.
There, UK defeated No. 6 seed Washington 3-1 last Thursday night before dropping the first set on Saturday to the Longhorns, a two-time national champion making its fourth title match appearance since 2012.
After that, however, Kentucky seized control, led by the offense of Alli Stumler, Azhani Teadler, Elise Goetzinger, sisters Avery and Madi Skinner, plus the setting skills of Lilley, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, and the defense of libero Gabby Curry, Lauren Tharp and Riah Walker.
“Their better was better than ours tonight,” said Texas head coach Jeritt Elliott, who referred to Lilly as possibly the best setter he had ever seen in women’s college volleyball. “They were just that good.”
Good enough to win the “natty” as Stumler called it, and realize the “crazy” dream Skinner brought with him from Nebraska, where he was an assistant coach on the Cornhuskers’ unbeaten 2000 national championship team. Last week, as his Cats progressed through the draw, Skinner remembered the 67 people who attended his first match against Wright State in 2005 and how he dreamed of building a program that would attract fans and win championships.
This one did both and then some. Each of Skinner’s 16 UK teams had earned NCAA Tournament berths, but this one boasted a rare mix of skill, chemistry, confidence and dedication. It went 24-1 in a challenging pandemic season that began Aug. 4 and lasted all the way through Sunday night.
Along the way, and especially these past two weeks, the Big Blue Nation became not just UK volleyball fans, but fans of the sport, appreciating its excitement, athleticism, enthusiasm and personality.
“Welcome to the bandwagon,” exclaimed Lilley on Saturday night when informed that UK students were celebrating the way students do on State Street. “It’s exciting to see other people on it.”
Kentucky: A volleyball school.
Skinner was asked what the exposure and level of play in this tournament could do for a sport that continues to grow in both participation and interest?
“I hope it blows the roof off,” the UK coach said. “This game is an unbelievable game. There are more girls playing high school volleyball than any other team sport in the country. There’s more interest. (It’s) such a marketable sport, a market to take it a whole ‘nother level.”
Just as this Kentucky women’s volleyball team took it to a whole ‘nother level, winning a national championship and, even better, proving that dreams can come true.
