Vicky Graff Photo
Senior Erin Lamb doesn’t worry about two-time defending national champion Texas entering the Southeastern Conference this year.
Kentucky has won (2018, 2020, 2021, 2023) four SEC titles and shared three (2017, 2019, 2022) with Florida going into this season and is coming off a 17-1 league finish last season.
“Texas is a great team and we are all in for making the league the strongest it can be. Definitely very excited to add another great team to the league,” said Lamb.
She’s played in 52 career matches in three years and the former Minnesota high school star has 362 career kills. She likes what she has seen from her team going into Friday’s exhibition match with Dayton that is closed to the public.
Lamb, a powerful hitter, likes the fight and desire she’s seen daily in practice and on UK’s summer exhibition trip to Japan.
“Just the passion and love for the team this team has is unique. We are all soaking it up and looking at video all the time. We are all eager to be in the gym and the competitiveness I have seen in the gym is rare and something I have not seen since I have been here,” Lamb said.
Kentucky officially opens the season Tuesday in Louisville against Nebraska in the AVCA First Serve Showcase at the KFC Yum! Center. Nebraska is No. 2 behind Texas in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches’ Association top 25 and received 15 first place votes. Kentucky is ninth in the preseason rankings.
Kentucky will play 11 matches against 10 AVCA ranked teams, including six games against current top 10 teams (Nebraska, Stanford, Louisville, Penn State, Purdue and Texas).
Lamb is just glad UK is part of the season-opening showcase that will feature No. 6 Louisville against No. 3 Wisconsin in the second match Tuesday.
“It is huge for the sport. You have seen the sport grow. I am so thankful Kentucky got to compete against such a high level team,” Lamb said.
The summer trip to Japan put UK in some “tough situations” that Lamb believes will help UK. Extra practice times and games enabled the team to bond earlier than normal.
“We did not have to learn so much in the preseason because we already knew. We could dive into more in the preseason than we have in the past,” Lamb said.
