Vicky Graff Photo
It was only Kentucky’s second Southeastern Conference match of the season but it was a must-win for the Wildcats.
Coach Craig Skinner’s team had lost four straight matches and blew a 2-0 lead in a loss at Auburn Friday. Kentucky had not lost a match after leading 2-0 since 2011 before doing it twice this season.
The Cats played at Florida Sunday. The Gators were picked second in the SEC coaches preseason poll behind defending national champion Texas and one spot in front of seven-time defending SEC champion UK.
All-American setter Emma Grome had 46 assists and 11 digs Sunday to lead UK to a 3-1 win over No. 15 Florida and won SEC Setter of the Week honors for the 18th time in her career. Think about that — 18 times Grome has won the SEC’s top weekly award for a setter.
She had 50 assists, her 57th time with 40 or more assists in a game, against Auburn. That broke the record set by current UK assistant coach Madison Lilley, the national player of the year during UK’s national championship season four years ago. She has six matches of over 40 assists this season.
Grome averaged 10.67 assists per set on the weekend with a double-double, her third of the season, against Florida.
“Emma is not afraid to dish it. If you pass it to her, you better be ready for it to come back to you,” Kentucky coach Craig Skinner said “She is one of the shorter All-Americans at her position, so she has to be tough.”
Kentucky, which hosts Oklahoma Wednesday in its first SEC match, benefits from Skinner’s patience and constant demeanor no matter how the team is playing.
“I think one of Craig’s super powers is that he never gets too high or never too low,” Lilley said. “If things are not going great or if he is really upset it lasts about 20-30 minutes and then he is back to normal Craig.
“When he is low he spends time with his family and comes back and everything is fine. There is so much value in having a friend or boss that you look up to who is consistent, which is such an undervalued characteristic in a coach.
“You always know what you get with Craig. You always know what Craig will bring to the table. Just come to a game and watch Craig. His demeanor and voice is something I admire.”
That’s why Lilley said having Kentucky picked third behind Texas and Florida in the preseason rankings was no big deal.
“We do not put too many marbles into that (rankings). No one who votes knows what we have. An outside perspective is different and might sound good but it is not necessarily something we look at a lot or let bother us.”
