Volleyball the real winner as Cards beat UK in five sets

No. 3 Louisville needed five sets for the second straight season to beat Kentucky. (Vicky Graff Photo)

It was not the outcome Kentucky coach Craig Skinner wanted but he still understood the significance of what happened in Memorial Coliseum Wednesday night.

No. 13 Kentucky lost 3-2 (20-25, 25-15, 26-24, 24-26, 15-11) to No. 3 Louisville in front of 3,756 fans, the seventh-largest crowd in Kentucky volleyball history and its largest since 2017 at Memorial Coliseum.

The match was shown to a national audience on ESPN, something that had happened for a collegiate volleyball match only three other times since 1997.

“I think it brings respect to the sport,” said Skinner.  “New viewers who have not watched before with the reach of ESPN. Touched some who have not seen a heavyweight match before.”

“Both teams rose to the occasion. A lot of fight on both teams. For people to see that in the stands and see on TV is impressive. There was a lot of athleticism on both sides.”

Now Kentucky (5-3) will host No. 2 Nebraska at 3 p.m. Sunday and that game has been elevated from ESPNU to ESPN2. It will be UK’s third straight game against a Final Four team from last season and fifth against a nationally ranked team this season.

“We are not there. It is still a long way off and I hope by December we are there,” Skinner said. “As many new pieces as we have, we certainly are making strides and we were better than last Friday (against Wisconsin).”

Kentucky got 19 kills from senior Adanna Rollins, who hit .233 and also had 10 digs for her third double-double.  Junior Reagan Rutherford also had her third double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs. She has double-digit kills in seven-straight matches. Sophomore Emma Grome had 50 assists and 15 digs while sophomore Eleanor Beavin had 16 digs. Another sophomore, Erin Lamb, had 14 kills.

Kentucky had 13 service errors and only six blocks while Louisville had eight service errors and 11 blocks.

Clari Chaussee had 16 kills and six digs for the Cardinals while Anna Debar had 15 kills, 13 digs and four blocks.

Like it did in its three-set loss to defending national champion Wisconsin Friday, Kentucky had trouble holding leads. Kentucky controlled most of the first set before Louisville was in charge of the second set. UK let a lead slip away and lost set three but called late in set four to come from behind and win. Again in set five, UK had a lead before Louisville pulled away.

Skinner felt his team didn’t play with urgency on every point against Wisconsin. He saw definite improvement against Louisville.

“I didn’t see any demeanor changes. We did not look stressed or anxious, just ready to compete for the next point,” the UK coach said. “We didn’t execute at the end but we were prepared for it.”

Rollins, a transfer from Penn State, said it was “believing you could win the next point” and continuing to encourage younger teammates in any way she could. She also said he tried to give the ball to any teammate that had a “hot hand” all she could.

It was her first time to be part of the Kentucky-Louisville rivalry and the raucous atmosphere in Memorial Coliseum.

“It was awesome. I liked it, really enjoyed it,” she said. “It was fun to play. We had a lot of fight and just ended up short.”

Now Skinner wants to find a way to keep Kentucky from coming up short against Nebraska, the team many feel will win this year’s national championship.

“The most important math is the next one. The next one is Nebraska,” Skinner said. “We got better this week. We need to get better and perform. We are not at our ceiling. Maybe a B, C-plus. We’ve got to get to an A by December (for postseason play).”