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The Kentucky volleyball team was defeated by the Gators in the first of back-to-back matches against rival Florida in Gainesville, with the Southeastern Conference regular season title on the line. The Cats will be forced to win Sunday’s match to have a chance to win or share the title.
That fact seemed to spark the cats. UK will sweep Florida to split the weekend set. Then, the Cats would sweep South Carolina on consecutive days to claim a share of a sixth consecutive SEC Championship. This made it nine consecutive sets in which the Cats had won heading into the postseason.
That stretch continued Thursday night as Kentucky opened the 2022 NCAA Tournament with a sweep of Loyola-Chicago inside Memorial Coliseum.
According to Emma Grom, the sweep in Florida served as both inspiration and a bit of an awakening for cats.
“Nobody likes to get swept, especially against an opponent like Florida, so I think that will definitely kick us into gear a little bit,” Grom said. “We’ve been working really hard in the gym, staying focused and intentional.”
Senior Adanna Rollins paced the Cats offense with seven kills in the first set, while Bella Bell had four. UK hit .433 as a team to win the first set 25-17.
The onslaught continued in set two as the Cats hit .385 to win the set 25-14. And in the final stretch, the Cats hit .359 en route to a 25-20 win. The final frame helped the Cats eliminate the Ramblers inside 90 minutes. UK head coach Craig Skinner was pleased with his team’s effort on Thursday.
“Loyola is a very good team,” Skinner said. “They have won 25 matches and 17 in their league and for us to hold them to 20 or less to 3 sets is a very important defensive performance.”
The Cats were able to balance on offense during Thursday’s match. Rollins led the Cats with 15 kills, but UK got 11 from Reagan Rutherford, nine from Bella Bell and Azani Tiller and eight from Erin Lamb.
Grom is happy to have so many options on which to distribute the ball.
“We have a lot of good hitters on this team,” Grom said. “We keep it really balanced. Having so many different options makes it really fun for me. I have a lot of faith in my hitters.”
Skinner was also impressed with the balance.
“I was impressed with him today. Emma did a really good job of getting the ball to the right people at the right time. And the balance got better as the match went on. It is definitely an important part of the tournament.
“We’re blocking better than we were in September. After point 20 our implementation is better. I think this team is starting to believe a little bit.”
Kentucky advances to Friday’s second round, where they will face instate rival Western Kentucky. First service will be at 7pm ET. Between now and then, cats will focus on small things, as well as prepare for toppers.
“Eat, sleep, watch some film, rest up for tomorrow,” Grom said. “We’re going to come to practice ready to scout Western Kentucky.”
The Cats seem to be using the loss in Florida as motivation. UK hopes the trend continues Friday against WKU.
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