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NCAA VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
DECEMBER 2, 2022
Kentucky Sweeps WKU, Advances to Sweet 16
Kentucky will advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament
WKU NEWS CONFERENCE | KENTUCKY NEWS CONFERENCE
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky volleyball team is headed to the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA Volleyball Tournament after an impressive 3-0 sweep of sixth-seeded Western Kentucky on Friday in the second round of the event at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Wildcats won all three sets impressively, grabbing the first 25-17 and the second 25-16. UK used a come-from-behind effort in the third set, winning 18 of the final 28 points of the set to grab a 25-21 victory and seal the sweep.
Senior middle blocker Azhani Tealer led the Wildcats, hitting .455 with 13 kills and two blocks. Senior outside hitter Adanna Rollins had nine kills with seven digs and a block, while sophomore outside hitter Erin Lamb had eight kills and two blocks. Sophomore libero Eleanor Beavin had 13 digs in the match, displaying exceptional defense, while 2022 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Emma Grome had 40 assists and a block. Juniors Reagan Rutherford and Bella Bell each had seven kills and three blocks.
For WKU, senior outside hitter Paige Briggs had a team-high 10 kills with three blocks, while fifth-year senior Lauren Matthews had nine blocks. Fellow fifth-year senior Katie Isenbarger had five kills with four blocks.
Kentucky’s ticket to the Sweet 16 will most likely take the Wildcats to Palo Alto, California, where top-seeded Stanford started its first-round matches tonight. If the Cardinal advance to the Sweet 16, they will host the regional semifinal and final. UK would be scheduled to play second-seeded San Diego in the Sweet 16 if it advances past seventh-seed Washington State tonight in the second round. That game is scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Set 1:
Both teams started off strong with scores being close at the beginning of the set. With the first point of the match for the Cats coming from Rollins. A 6-1 run including two kills from Tealer forced Western Kentucky into a timeout at 11-6. Throughout the game, Beavin had multiple saves that extended the rally, eventually resulting in points for her team. Rollins also showed her great serving effort with two aces for the Wildcats, making WKU use up their final timeout with UK up 19-21. Tealer hammered one down from the right-side to end the set 25-17, leaving WKU with a hitting average of .154 by the end.
Set 2:
Into the second set, Kentucky kept up the stamina from the first game with the score being quite even throughout the beginning. Kentucky started to pull away with serval serves from Rollins, giving UK a 19-10 lead. Lamb, breaking through in this set with a handful of some great kills had back-to-back kills to give UK a 22-12 advantage. A service error by WKU ended the set as UK had eight aces in the set to WKU’s zero.
Set 3:
WKU started off strong with a 4-0 lead in the second set. A kill from Tealer put UK on the board, but a successful WKU challenge extended the lead to 5-1. A monster block from Bell and Rutherford gave UK some momentum forward. Other notable blocks throughout the game from Lamb, Tealer, Grome and Bell helped UK erase an early deficit and take charge of the set. The Wildcats won 18 of the last 28 points in the set clinch the set and 3-0 sweep for the match.
Kentucky Head Coach Craig Skinner
Opening Statement…
“Well, I’m obviously proud of our players for coming ready to play tonight. Back-to-back with two different opponents is tough. The game-planning, being physical and mentally ready to go. Always hats off to Western [Kentucky] and their coaching staff for the job that they do year in and year out to have their year play at an elite level, and like Travis [Hudson] said about all the things we’ve gone through – they’ve gone through a lot today. Another injury going into this match … but that’s a tough group. Really proud of the way our kids played, hitting .360 and giving ourselves a great chance to score points with our serve.”
On how pleased he is with the energy and enthusiasm from this match…
“We had a really good focus. We were a little squirrelly in practice today, so I was a little concerned about how we’d come out tonight, but I tip the leadership and the upperclassmen … got us locked in and ready to go. You just mentioned [Eleanor] Beavin but, you know – Eleanor [Beavin] and Audrey [Whitworth] and Riah [Walker] held the back row today. It’s really important against a team like Western, because they are going to make you earn points. They’re not just going to let balls hit, and so our players did the same on our side. I think that keeps your intensity going – seeing people make plays like that and receiving serves the way they did tonight.”
On how pleased he is with scouting WKU in a limited time frame…
“Very pleased and I didn’t even bring that up to our players in the locker room. But it is a challenge, and only having literally an hour - hour and a half to get that information to your players. We all know it because we see it all the time, but to get it through and the points … and not [have] too much information but enough information for them to be dangerous. But they did a really good job of absorbing what we're trying to tell them.
On having players that can step up at any given time…
“That's your dream as a coach. If you're one dimensional, two dimensional. We love to play teams that are like that because it's easier to game plan. I would hope that when people play us, it's a little bit more challenging game plan. So when an Erin [Lamb] is having eight kills – I think she had one error on the weekend and had eight kills today, hitting .350. Pretty cool for a setter to have those options.”
On the crowd turnout…
“If it keeps growing, you know – my dreams are bigger, and then want that thing sold out … one time here in the NCAA Tournament, but it's growing and I love hearing from new people all the time, getting emails, text messages, people wanting tickets. There's a lot more people into it now than there was even three, four or five years ago. So it's cool to see and I’m going to keep dreaming that thing’s packed [to] the rafters.”
Kentucky’s Azhani Tealer, MB
On getting ready for a match with this much on the line …
“It's not really hard to find motivation for a match like that, especially this time of year. So we're all really excited to play and everyone knows, addressing it now, we had an early exit last year, and so really excited to get back in front of BBN. And it's really easy when the crowds like that really into it. So hats off to the crowd as well.”
On the team’s serving …
“Our serving in practice in the way we start to train serving a little bit later in the season has been really good for us. Obviously, serving been really good in the late part of the season. So are we really aggressive and low air. We hit our serves and Meredith (Jewell) did a great job calling them so it’s good.”
On playing on the road …
“We like going into someone's house and kind of taken over and that's a lot of fun and the routine is always the same there and we've tried to make sure that's the case at home as well. So, testament to our coaching staff and how they keep things the same and it's fun to go in and kind of take someone's house over.”
Kentucky’s Eleanor Beavin, L
On her defense …
“They were kind of a different offense than we usually see, so there were just kind of a lot of crazy balls that we're not used to. So I was just trying to be really scrappy, and pick everything up. And then luckily, the ball just kind of got knocked around to me, so we made some big plays. But defense was definitely a big factor. If we knew we could slow down their best hitters, we would definitely be successful.”
On the team’s confidence going forward …
“I think we're just peaking at the right time. And I think coming back from last year and being so disappointed from the second round and losing on our home court, we weren't going to allow that to happen again. So we were super focused in practice this week. Coming in, WKU is a tough opponent. But we felt like we were competent today, hitting our stride at the right time.”
On getting down in the third set, but bouncing back …
“They've been down a lot this season, so I think we're pretty comfortable in that situation but we're also confident in our abilities to do that. We just had a few rough plays and we went that timeout and everyone was super calm, it didn't really feel like we were down by that much and luckily we were able to come back pretty quickly in a set so it didn't have to come into the 20s when we were down so that's a goal for us to go into 20s being ahead.”
NCAA VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
DECEMBER 2, 2022
Kentucky Sweeps WKU, Advances to Sweet 16
Kentucky will advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament
WKU NEWS CONFERENCE | KENTUCKY NEWS CONFERENCE
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky volleyball team is headed to the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA Volleyball Tournament after an impressive 3-0 sweep of sixth-seeded Western Kentucky on Friday in the second round of the event at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Wildcats won all three sets impressively, grabbing the first 25-17 and the second 25-16. UK used a come-from-behind effort in the third set, winning 18 of the final 28 points of the set to grab a 25-21 victory and seal the sweep.
Senior middle blocker Azhani Tealer led the Wildcats, hitting .455 with 13 kills and two blocks. Senior outside hitter Adanna Rollins had nine kills with seven digs and a block, while sophomore outside hitter Erin Lamb had eight kills and two blocks. Sophomore libero Eleanor Beavin had 13 digs in the match, displaying exceptional defense, while 2022 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year Emma Grome had 40 assists and a block. Juniors Reagan Rutherford and Bella Bell each had seven kills and three blocks.
For WKU, senior outside hitter Paige Briggs had a team-high 10 kills with three blocks, while fifth-year senior Lauren Matthews had nine blocks. Fellow fifth-year senior Katie Isenbarger had five kills with four blocks.
Kentucky’s ticket to the Sweet 16 will most likely take the Wildcats to Palo Alto, California, where top-seeded Stanford started its first-round matches tonight. If the Cardinal advance to the Sweet 16, they will host the regional semifinal and final. UK would be scheduled to play second-seeded San Diego in the Sweet 16 if it advances past seventh-seed Washington State tonight in the second round. That game is scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. ET.
Set 1:
Both teams started off strong with scores being close at the beginning of the set. With the first point of the match for the Cats coming from Rollins. A 6-1 run including two kills from Tealer forced Western Kentucky into a timeout at 11-6. Throughout the game, Beavin had multiple saves that extended the rally, eventually resulting in points for her team. Rollins also showed her great serving effort with two aces for the Wildcats, making WKU use up their final timeout with UK up 19-21. Tealer hammered one down from the right-side to end the set 25-17, leaving WKU with a hitting average of .154 by the end.
Set 2:
Into the second set, Kentucky kept up the stamina from the first game with the score being quite even throughout the beginning. Kentucky started to pull away with serval serves from Rollins, giving UK a 19-10 lead. Lamb, breaking through in this set with a handful of some great kills had back-to-back kills to give UK a 22-12 advantage. A service error by WKU ended the set as UK had eight aces in the set to WKU’s zero.
Set 3:
WKU started off strong with a 4-0 lead in the second set. A kill from Tealer put UK on the board, but a successful WKU challenge extended the lead to 5-1. A monster block from Bell and Rutherford gave UK some momentum forward. Other notable blocks throughout the game from Lamb, Tealer, Grome and Bell helped UK erase an early deficit and take charge of the set. The Wildcats won 18 of the last 28 points in the set clinch the set and 3-0 sweep for the match.
Kentucky Head Coach Craig Skinner
Opening Statement…
“Well, I’m obviously proud of our players for coming ready to play tonight. Back-to-back with two different opponents is tough. The game-planning, being physical and mentally ready to go. Always hats off to Western [Kentucky] and their coaching staff for the job that they do year in and year out to have their year play at an elite level, and like Travis [Hudson] said about all the things we’ve gone through – they’ve gone through a lot today. Another injury going into this match … but that’s a tough group. Really proud of the way our kids played, hitting .360 and giving ourselves a great chance to score points with our serve.”
On how pleased he is with the energy and enthusiasm from this match…
“We had a really good focus. We were a little squirrelly in practice today, so I was a little concerned about how we’d come out tonight, but I tip the leadership and the upperclassmen … got us locked in and ready to go. You just mentioned [Eleanor] Beavin but, you know – Eleanor [Beavin] and Audrey [Whitworth] and Riah [Walker] held the back row today. It’s really important against a team like Western, because they are going to make you earn points. They’re not just going to let balls hit, and so our players did the same on our side. I think that keeps your intensity going – seeing people make plays like that and receiving serves the way they did tonight.”
On how pleased he is with scouting WKU in a limited time frame…
“Very pleased and I didn’t even bring that up to our players in the locker room. But it is a challenge, and only having literally an hour - hour and a half to get that information to your players. We all know it because we see it all the time, but to get it through and the points … and not [have] too much information but enough information for them to be dangerous. But they did a really good job of absorbing what we're trying to tell them.
On having players that can step up at any given time…
“That's your dream as a coach. If you're one dimensional, two dimensional. We love to play teams that are like that because it's easier to game plan. I would hope that when people play us, it's a little bit more challenging game plan. So when an Erin [Lamb] is having eight kills – I think she had one error on the weekend and had eight kills today, hitting .350. Pretty cool for a setter to have those options.”
On the crowd turnout…
“If it keeps growing, you know – my dreams are bigger, and then want that thing sold out … one time here in the NCAA Tournament, but it's growing and I love hearing from new people all the time, getting emails, text messages, people wanting tickets. There's a lot more people into it now than there was even three, four or five years ago. So it's cool to see and I’m going to keep dreaming that thing’s packed [to] the rafters.”
Kentucky’s Azhani Tealer, MB
On getting ready for a match with this much on the line …
“It's not really hard to find motivation for a match like that, especially this time of year. So we're all really excited to play and everyone knows, addressing it now, we had an early exit last year, and so really excited to get back in front of BBN. And it's really easy when the crowds like that really into it. So hats off to the crowd as well.”
On the team’s serving …
“Our serving in practice in the way we start to train serving a little bit later in the season has been really good for us. Obviously, serving been really good in the late part of the season. So are we really aggressive and low air. We hit our serves and Meredith (Jewell) did a great job calling them so it’s good.”
On playing on the road …
“We like going into someone's house and kind of taken over and that's a lot of fun and the routine is always the same there and we've tried to make sure that's the case at home as well. So, testament to our coaching staff and how they keep things the same and it's fun to go in and kind of take someone's house over.”
Kentucky’s Eleanor Beavin, L
On her defense …
“They were kind of a different offense than we usually see, so there were just kind of a lot of crazy balls that we're not used to. So I was just trying to be really scrappy, and pick everything up. And then luckily, the ball just kind of got knocked around to me, so we made some big plays. But defense was definitely a big factor. If we knew we could slow down their best hitters, we would definitely be successful.”
On the team’s confidence going forward …
“I think we're just peaking at the right time. And I think coming back from last year and being so disappointed from the second round and losing on our home court, we weren't going to allow that to happen again. So we were super focused in practice this week. Coming in, WKU is a tough opponent. But we felt like we were competent today, hitting our stride at the right time.”
On getting down in the third set, but bouncing back …
“They've been down a lot this season, so I think we're pretty comfortable in that situation but we're also confident in our abilities to do that. We just had a few rough plays and we went that timeout and everyone was super calm, it didn't really feel like we were down by that much and luckily we were able to come back pretty quickly in a set so it didn't have to come into the 20s when we were down so that's a goal for us to go into 20s being ahead.”
