Junior Reagan Rutherford had 10 or more kills in 15 matches to earn her first All-American honor. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky volleyball might not be in the Final Four but coach Craig Skinner’s team certainly continues to be respected nationwide.
Kentucky shared the Southeastern Conference title with Florida — UK’s sixth straight SEC title — and reached the NCAA Sweet 16 before losing to San Diego (31-1) which takes a 28-match win streak into Thursday’s Final Four matchup with No. 1 Texas before Louisville plays Pitt in the other Final Four match. San Diego’s only loss is to Louisville, a team that also beat UK in the regular season.
Kentucky had four players — Emma Grome, Azhani Tealer, Adanna Rollins and Reagan Rutherford — named to the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association All-America teams. That was tied for the most of any team in the nation with Texas.
Grome, a sophomore and the SEC Player of the Year, was named to the second team. She led all Power-Five setters in assists per set.
Tealer, a senior, was an all-SEC player like Grome and was also named to the All-America second team. She set a UK record with 13 block assists in a single match and had 10 matches with 10 or more kills.
Rollins and Rutherford, a junior, were both named to the third team to earn their first-career All-America honor. Rollins had eight straight matches with 10 or more kills and had 15 matches where she reached double figures in kills. She also had three double-doubles. Rutherford had 10 plus kills in 15 of 18 matches.
About the only postseason award surprise for Kentucky is that sophomore libero Eleanor Beavin was left off all-region and all-SEC teams and was not eligible for all-America honors because of that.
Beavin being left off the postseason honors list was “stunning” to those close to the UK volleyball team who thought she was a lock for all-region and all-conference with her numbers and performance.
Grome, Rutherford and Beavin will be coach Craig Skinner’s building blocks for next year’s team.
