Kentucky players celebrate after winning the national championship. (NCAA Photo)
Madison Lilley had a short, simple message for all those finally appreciating just how good the Kentucky volleyball team is after the Cats beat Texas in four sets Saturday night to win the school’s first national championship.
“Welcome to the bandwagon everyone,” Lilley, the national player of the year, said. “We have been on it. Volleyball school.”
It sure looked that way Saturday night based on social media, UK hosting a watch party in Memorial Coliseum and UK students even taking to the streets near campus to celebrate much the same way students did in 2012 when UK won a men’s basketball national championship.
Kentucky lost the first set 20-25 but stormed back to win the next three sets 25-18, 25-23, 25-22. It was the same type of resiliency that coach Craig Skinner has come to expect from his team and why he thought all season UK could do what it had never done before and win the title.
“I knew we would be good. I knew we had a chance (to win a title),” Skinner said. “Good offense, good defense, great setting, great libero. The skill this team has is underrated.
“I don’t know if we have a weakness. If someone wants to tell me a weakness, I would love to hear it. I knew we had a chance but to lose only two sets in the NCAA Tournament, no I didn’t predict that.”
Texas coach Jerritt Elliott was visibly disappointed his team did not win the national title, especially considering how well he felt the Longhorns played in the national title match. But he couldn’t find a weakness in Kentucky, including how UK’s passer handled his team’s serves better than he anticipated.
“We hit .417 in set three and still did not win (the set),” Elliott said. “We could not get them out of sync. No matter how hard we were serving, they were efficient. Their outside hitters were very good. Their better was better than our better.”
Elliot said his team got some “free points” the first set and thought maybe some of that was due to UK’s nerves — Skinner said it was more how Texas played than UK’s nerves. After that, Kentucky seemed to take over.
“We knew if Kentucky played a great match they could beat us and they did. Kentucky just played that good,” the Texas coach said. “It wasn’t luck. They were just better. They made plays.”
No one made more plays than Lilley, the national player of the year and four-time All-American. She had 53 assists, 19 digs, and three blocks, including one in set three that put all the momentum in UK’s favor.
“Their setter Lilley is phenomenal. Maybe one of the best setters I have ever seen in college volleyball,” Elliott said. “There is a reason she’s player of the year.”
There’s also a reason Kentucky did not panic when it lost the first set. Junior Alli Stumler, who had 26 kills and hit .471, woke up Saturday confident UK would win and told Skinner that about 8 a.m. Gabby Curry, who had 14 digs and 13 assists, told Skinner she was more confident than ever UK would win after the team’s final film session Saturday.
Skinner said UK never wavered in how it approached the season.
“All along we were not going to compromise the way we did it,” Skinner said. “I hope all the players and coaches before feel part of it because they are.”
Lilley said the team would just take “no for an answer” about how good UK could be.
“The vision and motivation to get where we are right now should not be overlooked,” Lilley said. “This is not by chance.”
Lilley said anyone who doesn’t think it took “blood, sweat and tears, hours in the gym” to win a national championship in a COVID year that had both a fall and spring season for the first time should try to duplicate what UK did.
“To be the 11th school to do this (win a national championship) and put Kentucky on the map and have people jump on the Kentucky volleyball bandwagon …. ,” Lilley said.
Lilley said winning the title in his unique season made the championship even more special.
“I think it means 10 times as much,” she said. “This has been a grind to say the least. It took a lot of self-discipline to have this ending. There were hard days, no doubt.”
However, the grind paid off in a big way with a spectacular season and national championship.
