The collegiate volleyball season is starting to take shape, with teams playing in exhibition matches. Kentucky volleyball found their way back into the competition realm by hosting Western Kentucky for an exhibition match.
The two teams played five-sets, as to utilize the most of the meeting and nab more touches on the ball prior to the season beginning in just a few short days. Kentucky was named as the #14 ranked team in the NCAA to start the 2017 season while Western Kentucky did not make the top-25 but came just shy with 98 points.
Kentucky is returning over 90% of their kill output for the 2017 season in Leah Edmond, Kaz Brown, Darian Mack, Emily Franklin and Brooke Morgan. In addition, Kentucky was ranked as the #5 recruiting class this season, bringing in four top-100 recruits – #4 Madison Lilley, #32 Avery Skinner, #46 Gabby Curry and #81 Kendyl Paris.
Skinner produced 15 kills on a .520 hitting clip while Curry picked up a match-best 23 digs. Olivia Dailey and Lilley split time at the setter spot, combining for 49 assists, 12 digs, five aces and two blocks. Serving was a strong suit for the Wildcats as they posted 15 aces, with Lilley producing a match-best four aces.
Western Kentuck returns a number of top players to their court, as well. Alyssa Cavanaugh, who was deemed the Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year, led the WKU with 11 kills on a .435 hitting percentage, teammate Taylor Dellinger also posted double-digits kills with 10. The squad’s setter, Jessica Lucas, was just short of a triple-double in the match, recording 25 assists, 11 digs and nine kills.
Press Release
Courtesy of Kentucky Athletics
The 2017 edition of the Kentucky Wildcats officially made its debut on Wednesday in the program’s first-ever exhibition match. The Hilltoppers and Wildcats participated in a friendly two-hour match in Memorial Coliseum emulating real-time situations in the lone tune-up prior to the season beginning on Aug. 25 for both teams.
“It was such a great opportunity to play a lot of people in different lineups and experience match type scenarios,” head coach Craig Skinner said. “I was pleased with our focus and serving throughout. Everyone contributed in one way or another and that’s really what we wanted to get out of tonight and we certainly accomplished that.”
WKU is the preseason favorite to win the Conference-USA, while Alyssa Cavanaugh was the Preseason Player of the Year in the league. The Hilltoppers won the C-USA with a 30-3 overall record and went a perfect 14-0 in league play to win their sixth straight conference championship. The Lady Toppers advanced to the NCAA Tournament where they lost to Boise State in the first round.
The Wildcats will begin the regular season with the annual Bluegrass Battle, beginning Aug. 25. UK will open the season with Arkansas State at 11 a.m. and will face No. 23 Utah at 9 p.m., both in Memorial Coliseum. The next day, UK will face Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. to wrap up the tournament.
“I feel like there’s been so much build up and it was great to finally play with everyone,” freshman Avery Skinner said. “The exhibition was really good for us, we could kind of feel things out and get ready for our matches coming up.”
Kentucky is slated to return 91.9 percent of its leading kill production, including its top-five terminators in Leah Edmond, Kaz Brown, Darian Mack, Emily Franklin and Brooke Morgan. Defensively, UK returns 97.8 percent of its blocking numbers and 84.5 percent of its dig production. Brown, who already holds numerous 25-point rally scoring era records, is UK’s leading returning blocker with 151 rejections a season ago. Ashley Dusek has posted more than 200 digs in all three seasons with the Cats.
Wednesday’s exhibition saw the program’s highest rated recruiting class make its collective debut. The No. 5 class in the nation includes No. 4 Madison Lilley, No. 32 Avery Skinner, No. 46 Gabby Curry and No. 81 Kendyl Paris.
“It felt good to finally get on the court and have a different opponent other than ourselves,” freshman Madison Lilley said. “We have this upcoming week to iron out the wrinkles and we have some pretty big matches coming. We’re looking forward to it.”
Noteworthy:
- Freshman Avery Skinner boasted a match-high 15 kills on a blistering .520 hitting percentage.
- Olivia Dailey and Madison Lilley split time at setter and combined for 49 assists, 12 digs, five aces and two blocks.
- Gabby Curry corralled a match-high 23 digs. Eleven players had at least one dig.
- Eleven different players registered at least one kill, while six players hit .417 or better with at least five attempts.
- Kentucky’s serving was a highlight as the Wildcats posted 15 aces. Lilley had a match-high four to lead the team, while the 2016 leader, McKenzie Watson, added three.
- Kaz Brown and Kendyl Paris led the way defensively at the net with four rejections apiece.
Follow along with the Cats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
Press Release
Courtesy of Western Kentucky Athletics
With just over a week until the 2017 campaign kicks off, WKU Volleyball headed over to Memorial Coliseum to take on No. 14 Kentucky in a preseason exhibition. Both Bluegrass State powerhouses cleared the benches to take full advantage of the live match setting.
“I think Kentucky is poised for a tremendous season, they have all the pieces necessary to deserve their top 15 ranking,” head coach Travis Hudson shared. “We certainly would have liked to play better today, but that is the absolute reason for an exhibition, to identify areas that we can improve. We came off back-to-back two-a-day sessions and lacked the physicality and mentality necessary to perform at the highest level.”
“These exhibitions are very beneficial for both teams and we look forward to have Kentucky make the return trip to Bowling Green in 2018,” Hudson continued.
After five full sets of action the Lady Toppers filled the stat sheet. In three sets of play, Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year, Alyssa Cavanaugh, led the Red and White with 11 kills and a .435 hitting clip. Taylor Dellinger also notched double-digit kills with 10.
Jessica Lucas came one kill shy of a triple double, facilitating the offense for four sets. The senior tallied 25 assists, 11 digs, nine kills and a block assist. Additionally, freshman setter Taylor Bebout racked up 11 assists during her two sets of play.
Emma Kowalkowski registered eight digs to go along with five assists and a service ace, playing the first three sets as libero. Taking over as libero for the final two sets, Darby Music collected nine digs. Sydney Engle record seven digs, two blocks and two assists.
Rachel Anderson led the Lady Toppers with three blocks as the team recorded seven as a whole.
There will one more chance to catch the WKU Volleyball unit in action for free prior to the Aug. 29 home opener. This Saturday, the squad will put on its inaugural Volleyball 101 and scrimmage. Action will open at 2 p.m. from the main court of Diddle Arena with an hour long scrimmage before splitting into the kids clinic and Volleyball 101 informational session at 3 p.m. Parking in PS2 is free as well.
“We are looking forward to the opportunity Saturday to be back in front of our fans and give them the chance to learn more about the game in our first ever Volleyball 101 session,” stated Hudson. “It should be a fun and productive time to engage our fan base and help it continue to grow.”
With the 2017 campaign just around the corner, volleyball season tickets are available online at WKUSports.com or by calling the WKU ticket office at 1-800-5-BIGRED. Season ticket holders will receive 12 general admission tickets with the Flexible Ticket Package that can be used to attend the home games of his or her choice. This plan allows the flexibility to choose which volleyball games the buyer wants to attend and the number of tickets used for each game. Season ticket holders also gain exclusive access to pre-game chalk talks with Hudson, who enters his 23rd season at the helm of WKU volleyball.
Stats Leaders
Kills: Cavanaugh (11), Dellinger (10), Lucas (9), Shelton (5), Jackson (5)
Assists: Lucas (25), Bebout (11)
Aces: Shelton (1), Jackson (1), Kowalkowski (1)
Digs: Lucas (11), Music (9), Kowalkowski (8), Engle (7)
Blocks: Anderson (3), Engle (2)
Leave a Reply