No. 22 Kentucky Begins SEC Play With LSU, No. 14 Tennessee at Home

With the nonconference schedule officially complete, the No. 22 Kentucky volleyball team is turning its attention to conference play as they prepare for a pair of home matches this weekend, beginning with the LSU Tigers Friday night. 

The Cats finished the nonconference slate with a record of just 2-6, in large part because of a schedule that consisted of mostly road games against ranked opponents. Kentucky played just one home game prior to the start of the SEC season, a loss to No. 10 Pittsburgh inside of Rupp Arena on September 1. Of their eight matches thus far, six have come against ranked opponents, with the Cats’ lone victory coming in a four set win over No. 21 Houston. 

Former Kentucky setter and current assistant coach Madison Lilley appeared on ‘Point Kentucky’ late Thursday night and cited how excited the team is to finally be back playing at home after a long month on the road. 

“Going into SEC play, we’re ready,” Lilley said. “We’re excited to play at home. It feels like it’s been a really long time. It’ll be really nice to be back in Rupp and compete in front of BBN and boost the confidence.”

Even with their losing record, Lilley and company are encouraged by the Cats’ recent play, especially their most recent road loss at No. 4 Nebraska. Heading into the match, Nebraska was the statistically best defensive team in the nation, holding opponents to .076 hitting on the year. But despite their early season offensive struggles, Kentucky hit .243 against the Cornhuskers, the highest offensive mark of any Nebraska opponent thus far this year. And that offensive improvement is one of the biggest areas of excitement for Lilley and company moving forward. 

“We saw it against Nebraska. I’m really pumped to see what we do this weekend at home against LSU and Tennessee because we’re working on a lot of really cool stuff. Again, we have amazing athletes who are capable of running really cool plays.”

That offensive attack is headlined by senior right side hitter Reagan Rutherford, who’s averaging an impressive 3.77 kills per set on a .298 clip. Rutherford totaled a season-high 19 terminations against Nebraska on Sunday with only three errors and hit on a .372 clip. 

First up for the Cats this weekend are the LSU Tigers, who come to Rupp Arena with a 5-5 record. The Tigers have won two of their last three matches and are led by freshman outside hitter Jurnee Robinson. Robinson is currently second in the SEC in kills per set, averaging an impressive 4.3 per frame. 

No. 14 Tennessee awaits the Cats on Sunday, as the Volunteers boast a 10-1 record heading into the match. Tennessee’s lone loss came in a five-set defeat on the road against No. 1 Wisconsin. The Volunteers rank first in the SEC in hitting percentage, assists per set, kills per set, and service aces per set. Despite all of that, however, Lilley says the Cats are excited for the opportunity and are on the verge of a breakthrough. 

“We’re turning a corner, I’m super pumped. And when it all clicks, and I don’t think we’re far from that, it’s going to be really, really fun to watch.” 

First serve Friday against LSU is set for 7:00 pm inside Rupp Arena. Fans can listen to the match live on the UK Sports Network or catch the match on tv on SEC Network+.