Cats Impress as Spring Ball Gets Underway

Spring ball is officially underway in the Bluegrass for the Kentucky volleyball team and after only one match the Wildcats are already making an excellent impression. First up for the Cats was a clash with the Dayton Flyers Thursday night in Dayton against a team coming off a Sweet Sixteen berth last season. And thanks to some stellar play from some of the newest Wildcats, Kentucky downed Dayton by winning each of the four sets the two teams played. 

As is often the case during the spring season, these matches provide coaches and players with the opportunity to experiment with different lineups and combinations in real-time game action. And for Kentucky, that theme proved true as the Cats cycled through two setters, two right sides, and several other lineup changes in an effort to see what worked the best. 

One of the things that immediately became clear is that yes- the pairing of Brooklyn DeLeye and Eva Hudson is as good in reality as it appeared to be on paper when Hudson announced her transfer back in December. Hudson and DeLeye finished the match with 14 and 13 kills respectively, impressive numbers given the fact that the Cats are looking for a new setter after the departure of Emma Grome and as a result are still working through some timing and connections with the setters now running the show. 

"There's just so many balls that weren't perfectly set to the outside that both of them can kill," assistant coach Merideth Jewell said.  "It's like, 'Okay, that ball is wide, that ball's too far inside and really high.' So again, there's some tempo stuff that I think we're working through with our setters, but it's like, 'Oh my gosh she just got a kill on that, how did she do that?' It's just cool having that consistent lethal weapon on the pin 24/7 and then you add a back row attack 24/7 that now we can occupy all four gaps all the time. So it just puts a lot of stress on other teams that we play."

Speaking of that setter position, it sounds like a battle for the starting setter spot has very much emerged inside Kentucky's gym between redshirt sophomore Ava Sarafa and true freshman Kassie O'Brien. Each provides a different strength to the Cats' offense, a fun challenge that the coaching staff is enjoying working through on the court. 

While Sarafa has the advantage of having been in Lexington and inside the practice gym learning the system and culture for two years, Jewell says that she's working intently on solidifying her connections with each of her middles and placing the ball in the proper position for them to have success. And for O'Brien, while the freshman's connection with the middles seems to be going well, the staff is working with her on adjusting to the faster setting tempo that's required to play at a high level in Division 1. 

As far as who the Cats will start in that setter position, Jewell says that's an answer that will likely vary from week to week until the season starts. 

"It's really just going to come down to who can learn the fastest, who can adapt the fastest into the system that we want to run," Jewell said. 

It also sounds like the Cats have discovered a pleasant surprise on the right pin as Jordyn Dailey and freshman Georgia Watson battle it out for that starting pin spot. Dailey's athleticism and experience playing all across the net throughout her time in club volleyball allows Kentucky the opportunity to move her around the court through different routes and approaches, including some of the slides that we saw Kentucky run with her last season. And as far as Watson, her arm swing and ability to pick up information quickly has thoroughly impressed coaches early in her career in Lexington. 

"She has terminal heat," Jewell said regarding Watson's arm swing. "We have two terminal arms on the left, can we add another terminal arm on the right that can kill balls over there and create pressure?"

Kentucky's best teams have had right sides that could consistently find the floor with the ball to alleviate some of the defensive pressure that opposing defenses showed to the left pin, clearly evident in the performance of Madi Skinner during the Cats' title run in 2020 and Reagan Rutherford's career in the blue and white. If early reports are any indication, it sounds like the Cats might be well on their way to finding some of that consistent offense on the right side again.

With three more spring matches left on the schedule, Kentucky has plenty of time to continue working on and experimenting with a lot of these lineups to try and get a clearer picture of who will fill the starting lineup once the season rolls around in August. And while that lack of consistency may present a few challenges for the Cats here early, it sounds like the players battling it out in the gym every day are only making some of Kentucky's newest Wildcats better- a great thing for Kentucky fans and a nightmare for anyone else. 

​