Kentucky Volleyball still has not beaten a ranked opponent and sits at 6-5

Southeastern Conference play for Kentucky Volleyball begins this Friday, September 27th at 9:00 PM EST. The Cats travel to Auburn, AL to play the first of 16 SEC games to conclude the regular season. Unfortunately, a team that was predicted to be one of the best didn’t quite live up to those expectations. Kentucky has yet to beat a ranked opponent this season (0-5) and is currently 6-5.

This season, NCAA volleyball has been top-heavy. The really good teams are exactly what they are supposed to be: really good. Pittsburgh, Stanford, Louisville, Penn State, Nebraska, Creighton, Wisconsin – the list goes on. And while Kentucky sits at No. 12 in the Week 4 AVCA Coaches Poll rankings, the ‘Cats have failed to gain any momentum. Craig Skinner’s team has lost – in order – to No. 2 Nebraska, No. 4 Penn State, No. 10 Purdue, No. 5 Louisville and No. 3 Stanford this season. However, against unranked opponents, Kentucky is 6-0 and has only lost one set.

The silver lining, however, is that the “cats” could Despite it be able to win the SEC when all is said and done. Of the 11 teams above Kentucky in the rankings, only one is an SEC team: No. 6 Texas. In fact, the Big Ten is practically in the top 10… imagine that. Texas, home of former Wildcats Madisen Skinner And Reagan Rutherfordfell to No. 2 Stanford over the weekend. Similar to Kentucky, Stanford defeated the Longhorns in a quick 3-0 game.

The main difference between Kentucky and Texas, however, is that Texas actually beat a ranked opponent. On September 1, the Longhorns defeated No. 3 Wisconsin 3-1. Since then, the Badgers have fallen to No. 7 in the rankings. Kentucky and Texas face off at Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, October 13th at 1:00 pm EST.

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So what happens to Kentucky volleyball?

In 11 games, Kentucky has won a total of 24 sets. Five of Kentucky’s six wins were 3-0, the only exception being a 3-1 victory over Western Kentucky. That means Kentucky only won a total of six sets in the five games they lost. However, that doesn’t mean the Cats are playing poorly. In the 15 sets Kentucky lost, there was an average points margin of 6.1 points per set.

In volleyball, six points isn’t much. A team can very quickly add six points to their score through a serve streak or lose six points due to poor communication. It can happen very quickly, but is usually not detrimental to a team’s success.

Fortunately, Kentucky has the potential to be one of the best teams in the SEC. The only thing really holding the team back is the defense. In 11 games, the Cats have made 39 serve receiving errors, 16 blocking errors and countless digging errors. Even if Kentucky manages to return a loose ball over the net, it allows the opposing team to send a kill right back to the ‘Cats. While Kentucky is a good team, the teams they have played are just better right now.

Fortunately, there is still more than half of the regular season ahead of us. Kentucky has 16 games left to prove it can be a national title contender, just like it did in 2020. If this season is anything like the last seven, the Cats will win the SEC and get into the Move into the NCAA Tournament, where they can hopefully prove the current status is wrong.

Kentucky’s upcoming game at Auburn is the next test. The Tigers are currently 10-1 but remain just shy of No. 27 in the coaches’ poll – likely due to the fact that Auburn hasn’t played any really good teams. It seems like voters see more success in Kentucky’s losses than they do in Auburn’s victories. Still, the Cats face a challenge this Friday at 9:00 p.m. EST on the SEC Network.