Volleyball will have to wait at least another year for air conditioning in Memorial Coliseum

With John Calipari’s plea for a new basketball practice facility to replace one that is not 15 years old and his dispute with football coach Mark Stoops as football is on the verge of a new/renovated indoors practice facility, UK volleyball coach Craig Skinner probably had to wonder where his team fell in the pecking order to get air conditioning in Memorial Coliseum.

Kentucky won the national championship two seasons ago but when it plays home matches Friday night and Sunday afternoon it will be hot — and I mean very hot — in Memorial Coliseum.

I can still remember libero Gabby Curry telling me she had to put on a new jersey after every set because she got so hot competing at Memorial Coliseum.

Kentucky has three of last year’s Final Four teams — champion Wisconsin, runner-up Nebraska and Louisville — coming to Memorial in a 10-day period in September. Odds are it will be really hot for all three matches.

Reagan Rutherford said teams might not know what it is like to play in Memorial.

“It’s gritty. It’s hot,” she said.

She admitted she had “heard some rumblings” that air conditioning might be coming.

“Hopefully we have a cooler season next year. Let’s just say that,” Rutherford said.

Volleyball deserves that for a lot of reasons. The sport continues to grow annually.

“There are so many people playing, we need more good quality coaches coaching high school, coaching the clubs, and all that type of stuff. And it’s happening, but that’s a slow process,” Skinner said.

Kentucky won the national title in the COVID year when the 2020 national title game was actually played in the spring of 2021 and got  more national exposure than ever before. The title game was even on ESPN2 because there was no college football — or NFL games — to compete with for TV time.

“We have the great sport of football that’s during our season. We have to find ways to get recognized. Being more on television. More high-level matches like we’re playing against Nebraska, Wisconsin. Maybe the SEC considers having an SEC (tournament) championship to garner interest at the end of the season,” Skinner said.

A SEC volleyball tourney would be terrific but then again it would go head to head with football, so that’s not going to happen.

Skinner doesn’t complain. He accepts volleyball’s spot on campus and works each year to have the best team he can. Kentucky has won five straight SEC championships and is favored to do so again.

“We have everything we could ask for in terms of how we travel, how we dress, how we perform,” Skinner said. “As we’ve witnessed, every coach is going to fight like crazy for themselves and for their players. That’s the nature of competitors. Do I say it’s a perfect world? No, it’s not.”

“But I say we’re given a lot, and we’re going to take care of everything we have and strive for more at the same time. Looking forward to the future of Memorial Coliseum. Looking forward to the future of SEC Volleyball with more great coaches coming in. With that, I think you’ll see the growth continue.”