Parking Shouldn’t be an Issue for NCAA Volleyball on Thursday

Kentucky fans should find parking around Memorial Coliseum much easier Thursday since UK students will not have classes. (Vicky Gaff Photo)

Kentucky coach Craig Skinner has found a way to solve almost every problem No. 2 UK volleyball faced this season.

The Cats won 24 straight games, went 15-0 in regular-season Southeastern Conference play and won the SEC Tournament. They opened NCAA Tournament play with wins over Wofford and UCLA in Memorial Coliseum.

Now Kentucky hosts Cal Poly in the Lexington Region semifinals on Thursday but the game is slated to start about 3:30 p.m. after Arizona State and Creighton play at 1. However, parking around Memorial Coliseum is never easy and is particularly different during the day when UK students and staff are on campus.

Parking, though, should not be a huge problem on Thursday because the university has its first two-day “Reading Period” on Thursday and Friday.

“Students will not have classes on these days and instead use them to prepare for the last two weeks of the semester.  We do realize that while parking on a weekday afternoon is tricky most of the time, there will be no students on campus so this should alleviate a lot of people‘s concerns (about parking),” said Chris Shoals, UK assistant director of athletic communications and public relations for volleyball.

Thursday’s winners will play Saturday afternoon for a berth in the Final Four in Kansas City. The Lexington Regional final on Saturday will be aired  on the ESPN family of networks at a time to be announced Thursday evening by ESPN.

Skinner knows how important the Big Blue fans can be to his team as it tries to get back to the Final Four for the first time since its 2020 national championship season.

“I did hear them quite a bit. ‘Go Big Blue’ chants were very prevalent tonight at key moments and it was very hard to hear at times,” Skinner said after the four-set win over UCLA.  “It was awesome to hear them get behind us when we needed the lift and even at the beginning of the fourth set, they were into it.

“I’m sure some of them were like “Oh I’m going to get home, put my feet up and watch TV”, and that’s the beauty of volleyball, you never know until it’s over, but they got behind us, and it gives you goosebumps when you hear those chants going on.”

SEC Player of the Year Eva Hudson believes UK has developed a unique ability to handle pressure in close matches.

“Pressure makes diamonds. You just unlock a different mentality and you can see it in every player’s eyes,” Hudson said. “What’s so special about this team is that they don’t get small in big moments. It’s like we almost shine brighter. So, it really just gives us more confidence.

“We’ve been in so many fifth sets and have been down so many points. Even like the Texas game (in the SEC Tournament final), we just knew we’ve been in these situations before so we can be successful.”

Skinner understands experience helps Kentucky but that NCAA pressure is different.

“There’s match pressure, there’s first and second round pressure, there’s regional pressure, and if you’ve never been in it before, you don’t really know what it feels like,” Skinner said. “So, when you do get to 25-25, 26-26, there’s really nothing else you can do but be prepared for the next whistle.

“You can’t get caught up in how we did three previous points or what might happen if we win this set and those guys do a really good job and I think that you see our team play with a lot of enthusiasm and joy in those moments and you credit them for embracing the opportunity to play in a pressure match like that.”