(Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky coach Craig Skinner has one definite message for his players as they prepare to play No. 13 Penn State at Wrigley Field — the home of the Chicago Cubs — on national television (FOX) Sunday night.
“The biggest message is just don’t be consumed with your stats because I have no idea what that will look like,” said Skinner. “Let’s be consumed with Kentucky and give ourselves the best chance to win.
“It’s going to be fun. I haven’t told our players this yet, but they’re being trailblazers. I can’t imagine the number of young aspiring athletes in the stands that are looking at them, going, ‘Holy cow! I can’t wait to be those girls at some point in time.’”
This is a part of the Big Ten/SEC Challenge that will feature No. 1 Nebraska against Missouri in the second half of the doubleheader.
With the way Nebraska fans travel and the novelty of playing outside, Skinner knows it will be a “spectacle” with 40,000 or more fans expected. Over 100 media members have requested credentials, including 30 from Kentucky — and trust me that’s way more than normally attend UK home matches.
“I mean, are you kidding? Having 38,000 to 40,000 people to watch a volleyball match on a baseball field. People who have never been to a Kentucky volleyball match will be at Wrigley Field,” Sinner said. “I am just thankful the people in leadership see the value of volleyball and playing matches like this.
“Volleyball is such an engaging, exciting sport for the spectators. It is an event every time you come to Memorial (Coliseum). What other sport highlights female athletes like volleyball.”
Skinner joked he had never played an indoor volleyball match outdoors” to know exactly what to expect but also knows Penn State has not either.
“It’s how well can we manage the game, and can we be efficient enough that we aren’t giving them too many points? Can we adapt? After the first set, we’re going to have to adapt our serve-receive patterns. We have to adapt how we swing. We’re going to adapt the speed of our sets,” Skinner said.
He said the wind will create issues with how balls are set and hit.
“There will be moments where either our player or Penn State might jump and whiff just because the weight of the ball is so much lighter outdoors and beach (volley)balls are heavier, so they travel better in the wind. It will be interesting.”
Skinner said it would be “impossible” to use the same ball used for beach volleyball because of the difference in the weight. The beach ball is heavier to counter the wind.”
Kentucky practiced outside at the UK track Thursday to acclimate to outdoors conditions and will have practices Saturday night and Sunday morning at Wrigley Field.
Chris Shoals, volleyball media relations director, said the team has “done a lot of research” in terms of sun position and even if the players should or should not wear sunglasses.
“We’ve gotten some NCAA waivers for that match. People will notice this year we’re only switching sides after the second set but we’re going to switch sides after every set at Wrigley for sun equity purposes and equal playing conditions,” Shoals said.
“We need to work on how the wind is going to affect the volleyball when you’re setting it, so we’ll run through some light serving and passing. I doubt we do any necessary jumping on the infield of the track just for safety purposes, but we are going to get outside and try to acclimate ourselves to what those conditions are going to be like.
“The staff has been having those conversations for months about how we want to best prepare ourselves to beat a really good Penn State team at Wrigley.”
