Kentucky volleyball benefited from a brutal September schedule, but it wasn’t easy

Random notes:

▪ Having played a brutal early-season schedule, Kentucky volleyball was 5-5 after losing to LSU on Sept. 24. Two-and-a-half months later, the No. 12 seed Wildcats play No. 2 seed San Diego on Thursday night in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament.

It’s one thing to look back now and know those September losses to volleyball powerhouses benefited the Cats. It’s another thing entirely to suffer those losses at the time without destroying team confidence and morale.

“You go through some doubt. You go through some doubt as a coach. ‘Why did I do this? Why did I play these matches? Do we have the right people in there?” said UK volleyball coach Craig Skinner on Monday. “That’s where the culture of the program has to take over, the leadership. And the leaders were struggling at times. ‘Am I doing enough?’ And when you’re in the middle of it, you feel like what you’re doing is not benefiting anybody.

“It’s literally just keep going. Don’t stop. If you believe in what we’re doing, if you believe in the program. And I have to do that sometimes. ‘Hey, is what we’re doing the right thing?’ You just have to take each day like it’s a championship. If we take tomorrow as a championship, if we take today as a championship, we have a chance.”

The Kentucky-San Diego match is at 8 p.m. EST Thursday in Palo Alto, Calif. It will be shown on ESPNU.

▪ After leading Troy to a 10-2 record and the Sun Belt Conference title in his first season as a head coach, former UK assistant Jon Sumrall is one of eight finalists for the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award. The other finalists are TCU’s Sonny Dykes, Duke’s Mike Elko, Tulane’s Willie Fritz, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Southern Cal’s Lincoln Riley, Georgia’s Kirby Smart and UTSA’s Jeff Traylor.

▪ In games in which Kentucky has taken at least 15 three-point shots, the Wildcats’ 9-of-15 for 60.0 percent showing in the win over Michigan in London was its best since going 11-of-18 from three in that 107-79 rout of Tennessee last season at Rupp Arena. Before that, you have to flip back to a 12-of-18 (66.7 percent) UK beyond-the-arc performance against Alabama in the 2018 SEC Tournament.

▪ A definite concern for the Cats is free throw shooting. Through eight games, Kentucky has made just 68.4 percent of its free throws. It was just 10-of-20 from the stripe against Michigan.

▪ Nice move by Louisville naming former Cardinals star Deion Branch as interim coach for its Fenway Bowl game against Cincinnati.

▪ Prediction: This time Louisville will get Jeff Brohm to be its football coach.

▪ At his press conference Monday, UK football coach Mark Stoops referenced World War II General George Patton: “Again, I’ve probably used that quote before, but General Patton was on to something when he talked about morale. Morale is important, it’s really important for us. To stay constant, and go through the grind that we go through, and mentally, physically, you have to have good, talented people that are not only smart with X’s and O’s but they have to be very good with young men and let us continue to develop them, let us bring them along.”

▪ Judging from Stoops’ comments Monday, Kentucky did not want to play in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 17 because it conflicted with a recruiting period. Thus, the Cats ended up in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 31. Good move. As Kirby Smart will tell you, recruiting is what it’s all about.

▪ Speaking of recruiting, thanks to both recruiting and the transfer portal, I look for Kentucky’s offensive line to be much improved in 2023.

▪ If you missed it, Rick Pitino and Iona defeated Travis Ford and Saint Louis 84-62 on Tuesday night in New Rochelle, New York. Iona is now 5-2 with losses to Hofstra and Santa Clara. Pitino plays his son Richard and New Mexico on Dec. 18 in Albuquerque. The Lobos are currently 8-0.

▪ Almost too perfect: Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt has signed an NIL deal with Hyatt Hotels.

Kentucky volleyball is back in the Sweet 16. Its star sophomore setter is a big reason why.

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