Sophomore Asia Thigpen had eight kills against Wisconsin. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Sophomore Asia Thigpen certainly made the grade for Kentucky volleyball Thursday in Kansas City.
It started before Kentucky’s national semifinal win over Wisconsin when she received the Elite Academic Award given to the sophomore or above on any Final Four team that had the highest grade-point average. She has a near perfect 3.95 grade-point average.
Thigpen gave a “shout-out” to Ricky Lumpkin, a former UK football player who is the volleyball team’s academic advisor, when asked about the award.
“They do a really good job at UK just preparing the student-athletes to be successful off and on the court. We have tutors, a lot of academic resources. I think a combination of that. Then just UK pushing us to be excellent both on and off the court,” Thigpen said.
Once the match started, she played a big role in Kentucky’s five-set comeback win as she had eight kills and hit .300. She also had three digs, one block and one assist to help put Kentucky into Sunday’s national title match against Texas A&M, a team UK beat 3-1 on the road during the regular season.
She said Friday that the Cats were using Friday and Saturday to “clear our minds from the Final Four match” because there was a lot of crying and emotion after the five-set win. She said the players also need time to rest and get treatment to be physically ready for Sunday afternoon’s matchup.
Kentucky got destroyed by Wisconsin in the first set (it also lost the first set at Texas A&M before coming back to win).
“They (Wisconsin) had an awesome first set. They were siding out like 100 percent. They were hitting like .800. Super hard to stop, but at the same time we weren’t really executing on our side. The score kind of reflects that,” Thigpen said. “Eva Hudson was just talking that the awesome thing about volleyball is it’s 0-0 now (going into the second set). We can start over. It’s a fresh start. We just kind of washed it out of our system and knew that we had a couple more sets in us.”
Thigpen had to make a bit of a fresh start herself this season when she moved to the right side hitting position.
“I really kind of struggled on the right just with tracking and the blocking aspect,” she said. “Again, our coaches do such a good job of instilling confidence in me. (Setter) Kassie (O’Brien) does a really good job of just giving me the ball I need to be successful. That comes with a lot of preparation, watching film, and then just lots of reps in the gym.”
Hudson had 24 kills and O’Brien 48 assists in the Oct. 8 win at Texas A&M. Thigpen did not play in the match.
“We beat them, but they had a really good offensive night. That’s what we remember. We’ve seen their matches versus Louisville and Nebraska … just like their big block presence. They’ve grown as a team since then. We have, too. I think just continuing to instill confidence in ourselves that we can do this,” Thigpen said. “We’re two totally different teams going to go at it on Sunday.”
Thigpen has appreciated the joy this team plays with daily.
“We all have these smiley faces drawn on our hands. We all play so much better when we play loose and free, playing for joy,” she said. “I think just taking that into the next couple years of volleyball, just understanding that I play my best when I’m confident and I’m just having fun.
She knows it is a cliche answer but notes that the “people” in the program have made this run so special this year.
“Everyone in this program is just so bought into each other. You could feel it from January. I feel like freshmen and the transfers came in. I feel like I had known them for six months. It was super crazy the bonds we had off the court. You can kind of see that on the court,” the UK sophomore said. “We’re just a special group of people. The coaches, the players, every single part of the staff is invested in this program.”
