Vicky Graff Photo/Colby Vaught Graphic
By LARRY VAUGHT
Coming off a four-set win over No. 10 SMU on Saturday, there was no letdown for No. 3 Kentucky Sunday as it beat Houston 25-16, 25-23, 25-13 in straight sets in Memorial Coliseum.
“Pleased with our serving today and our backcourt defense made some great plays and transition opportunities,” Kentucky coach Craig Skinner said. “The people that came off the bench today did their job, and you’re asking players to come off the bench not quite warm enough like they would pre-match.”
He praised Molly Berezowitz, Trinity Ward, and Kennedy Washington for what they did against Houston, a team Skinner predicted would win a lot of matches.
Berezowitz had 10 assists, two service aces, two assists, and one kill. She had a spectacular dig in the second set that brought special notice from Skinner during the match.
Berezowitz, a Marquette transfer who had an older sister on UK’s national championship team, said her goal was to “bring whatever the team needs” when she’s in the game.
“Whether it’s like energy or just getting a good serve in defensively, just whatever they need,” Berezowitz said. “(Molly) Tuozzo told me we needed some energy, so I just tried to be loud, smile, and pick up my teammates in any way I could.”
I asked her if being “loud and proud” comes naturally to her. Berezowitz said yes, and Skinner said it “runs in the family” as he chuckled.
Freshman setter Kassie O’Brien had seven blocks and 32 assists against Houston. Kentucky’s defense held the Cougars to .083 hitting for the match and forced Houston into 20 hitting errors. Kentucky hit .257 with 42 kills, led by All-American Brooklynn DeLeye’s 15 kills on 28 swings with only one error in the contest. Eva Hudson had nine kills and two blocks.
Kentucky is now 5-2 with the losses coming to No. 1 Nebraska and No. 7 Pitt, both Final Four teams last year.
Skinner continues to tinker with his lineup and has a lot of talented players to work into the rotation if he wants.
That made me wonder how Skinner can keep a full roster of players happy, knowing they all would like to play and could play at a lot of other schools.
“I don’t think it’s my job to necessarily keep people happy. I mean, you’re recruited to a program that’s trying to win championships, and so knowing that going in, everyone knows you’re going to have competition for spots,” Skinner said. “Opportunities are going to come. Some people’s opportunities come sooner than later.
“I think that the more important question is, how do you make sure everyone feels like their value is recognized? We know over the course of years that our entire roster means the difference between competing for championships or not. There are a lot of examples over the years where someone wasn’t always getting the kills, but the way they played impacted the match.
“For example, Eva (Hudson) here had a butt load of digs in the back court, which made a difference in the middle of that second set, especially.”
