Azhani Tealer said no matter what schemes Western Kentucky tried, Kentucky had answers. (NCAA Photo)
Sophomore Azhani Tealer could tell that Western Kentucky was trying to scheme different things against Kentucky, but nothing worked. Kentucky swept Western Kentucky 25-20, 25-16, 25-10 Sunday night in Omaha to advance to tonight’s Elite Eight matchup with Purdue.
“I think the whole season we have felt like we were really hard to beat when we are firing on all cylinders,” said Tealer, who had eight kills. “We couldn’t do wrong.”
Kentucky held Western, which was unbeaten coming into the match, to a .093 hitting percentage while hitting .450.
“We came in with a good game plan. Kudos to the coaching staff,” Tealer said.
Junior Alli Stumler had 17 kills and four digs to lead UK’s balanced attack that overwhelmed Western. Kentucky dominated sets two and three but Stumler said UK always has another level it can get to.
“Sets two and three we put our foot on the pedal and pushed through and that’s huge and key to be successful,” Stumler said. “You can’t expect to come in hot and expect everything to always work out.”
Coach Craig Skinner was proud of how his team handled an 11:45 p.m. start. The match was slated to start at 10 p.m. but was pushed back because other matches ran long.
“This team continues to impress me with how they respond to challenges,” Skinner said. “I don’t know if it is on the record but this has got to be the latest NCAA matchup in history.
“We tried to stay back at the hotel as long as possible. We get there and do our routine and then are just sitting 45 minutes waiting (to play). Our upperclassmen continue to be professional and set a great example for other players.”
Skinner said having senior All-American Madison Lilley serve an ace to open the match sent a message his team needed. Lilley finished with 38 assists, nine digs and two kills.
Freshman Madi Skinner had 11 kills while her sister, senior Avery Skinner, added seven. Gabby Curry had seven digs and Lauren Tharp five while Elise Goetzinger had six blocks.
“We emphasized at the beginning to start focused and impose our will not once but over and over,” the UK coach said. “I don’t want our team overconfident because we beat a team like that in the Sweet 16. When we get in a rhythm, it can wear on people. Teams can get frustrated.
“I did not have to call timeout. I did not want to confuse or complicate the issue with something that was not needed.”
