Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
What's up, Big Blue Nation? Welcome back to the UK
Sports Network Today podcast. We are back from our summer
break and we are ready to go. With the fall
calendar now in full swing across the University of Kentucky,
Andrew Capp is here with you as always. The highlight
of our episode today comes with perfect timing UK Volleyball
(00:31):
getting their regular season underway on Tuesday night in the
twenty twenty four AVCA First Serve Classic in Louisville, Kentucky,
taking on number two Nebraska, the Cats checking in at
number nine in the preseason poll. Louisville will battle Wisconsin
in the nightcap there at the Young Center. But we
are pleased to be joined by head coach Craig Skinner
(00:52):
in this episode as he previews his team and also
a little quick recap. We are jealous of coach Skinner.
He was able to go over and cheer on former
wild Cat and twenty twenty national champion Avery Skinner as
she competed for Team USA and won silver in the
Paris Olympics for Team USA. Very very cool, but great
to chat with Coach Skinner. He's got a busy week
(01:13):
ahead of him, the huge matchup against number nine, or
rather against number two Nebraska is his number nine Cats
get going and then home matches on the weekend as
well at the rebuilt Memorial Coliseum. Before we get to
Coach Skinner, want to remind you that the UK Sports
Network Today podcast is presented by the Big Blue Brew.
You can stay connected to the Cats with Big Blue Brew.
(01:34):
It's the official newsletter of UK Athletics. It's easy to
sign up. Just log onto UK athletics dot com slash
Big Blue Brew. It's completely free and it hits inboxes
every weekday morning. Once again, that's Ukathletics dot com slash
Big Blue Brew. Now here is UK head Volleyball coach
Craig Skinner. Volleyball season is upon US head coach Craig
(01:58):
Skinner kind enough to drop by the UK Sport Network
Today podcast and Coach Skinner, it's hard to believe the
off season is over. You guys had a bit of
a warm up on Friday night inside the new I'd
rather against Western Kentucky waiting to move into Memorial Coliseum.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
How have how have things been going for you?
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Uh?
Speaker 3 (02:15):
So far, so good.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
You know, preseason went well, stayed relatively healthy and you
know no significant injuries at least in in August here,
so all good.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
But uh, you know, practice been good, energy has been good. Training. Uh,
you see lots of improvement from different people.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
And it's nice to you know, get in the gym
and and uh, you know, play on Friday night.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Well, I don't want to get too far ahead into, uh,
into this season, because I do want to ask about
your summer adventures.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Avery Skinner.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Remember the National Championship squad a couple of years ago
on Team USA won the silver medal. Uh, you went
to Paris to to cheer on the former cat. So
how how was that experience?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
It was an amazing experience, you know obviously, you know,
to see Avery and you know, it was cool. And
she called to you know, ask if I'd be interested
in being tickets back in the spring, and of course
I jumped at the chance to see her perform for
the US Team USA and and play in Paris. And
and you know, aside from that and her journey, which
is incredible in its own right, but the you know,
(03:14):
just to feel the the environment in the Olympics, the
positivity people excited about you know, sports and generally, you know,
just just happy to be part of such a special
event was an amazing experience for me and and uh,
you know, love to have that chance to do it again.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Yeah, it was all I saw the picture. I think
I think you were in front of the tower. It
was it was very very cool, very jealous that you
got to got to head over there. But talking about
this year's edition, Brooklyn delay back as a sophomore Freshman
of the Year in the SEC, did you envision her
having the type of impact that she had from the
jump last year.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
Yeah, I mean in the recruiting process, we knew Brooklyn
had a chance to be a special player. And you know,
you never really know for sure as a freshman how
they're going to respond and handle the expectations and the
pressures that playing at this level. But you know, Brooklyn,
you know, has always been the best player on every
team that she's played on, whether that's basketball, volleyball, soccer.
(04:12):
I mean, she's just an incredible athlete, and she just
has a great understanding of angles and how things go
and anticipation and you know, to put that along with
an incredible work ethic, it's it's hard to imagine her
not having success. So it's it's not a surprise, but
she's even gotten better and looking forward to seeing her
out here again this season.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Yeah, really excited for a sophomore season. From from Brooklyn Delay.
I was watching the SEC Network preview volleyball preview, and
I think they did a great job of pointing out
that some of your best teams, you have one of,
if not the best setters in the country, And I
think that's true this year as well.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
I mean, Emma as a three time All American and
and you know, has led the country and assists on
a couple of different occasions, and you know, she's just
an elite athlete playing in the center position and has
a great understanding of who to set the ball to
at the right time, and and just has a great
instincts too, and transition when there's a lot of quick
decisions that need to be made in traffic, in different
(05:13):
you know, parts of the court, she's seriously has a
great understanding of who to get it to, but also
in the right tempo location.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Had a chance to watch up close and personal a
number of your games last year, and it almost seemed
like even as a junior, she was an extension of
the bench out on the floor. So it's got to
be a nice luxury to have that type of leadership,
not just with the playing talent, but but that side
of it as well.
Speaker 3 (05:36):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
I mean she spends a lot of time with Madison
Lily and training and working, and she spends time with
both her and you know Ben, you know, working through
the game plan, offensive strategies, and you know, so she's
a student of the game and then also wants to
know kind of what's working in matches, so she'll get
some a lot of instruction and timeouts and then what
things need to be adjusted and and so she's you know,
(05:59):
she's the constant for pfessional that way.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
No doubt you went to the transfer portal to bring
in one player, Delaney Hogan, who I think you're pretty
excited about if she comes into Kentucky from from Xavier.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
What can we expect from.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Her, Well, Delaney's working hard.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
She's not quite a starter yet and on the floor yet,
but she's a very versatile player. She can score behind
the center, she can score in front of the center,
and you know, obviously brings an amazing amount of experience
with her you know, performing in the Big East and
being an all big eas big East player, you know,
on a couple of different occasions, so you know she's
a great player, and she's working.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Away into the lineup and getting back to the subject
of returners, Eleanor Bevin is back and it just was
so fun to watch her impact, especially in the back
line defensively, So that's got to be a huge luxury
knowing that you don't have to worry about that, especially
out of the gate.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Well, you know, Eleanor has you know, proven herself to
be one of the best liberos in the country and
she you know, has had you know SEC Liberrol the year,
all SEC type seasons and you know, very well respect
in the volleyball circles for how she plays the game.
And she's gone to a new level and in part
because she's playing next to maybe the best athlete in
the libero position in the country and Molly Tuzzo. So
(07:10):
those two combined are you know, super impressive. Make it
very difficult to put the ball down and practice and
you know, just great you know, players that absolutely love
playing the.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Game of volleyball.
Speaker 4 (07:21):
So when you have people like that and Eleanor leaning
the charge being a senior, it's it's a special group
to lean on.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Well, you mentioned Tuzzo, you played a number of fresh
a couple of freshmen last year and a lot of
a lot of a lot of sets, a lot of
time on the floor last season, maybe more than what
you necessarily normally see from from Kentucky in terms of
that youth. But the exciting thing is those that they're
now sophomores. We talked about delay, but you got a
number of freshmen that that contributed last year that now
(07:48):
have that year under their belt.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
Yeah, I mean that's you know, to have some experience
and you know here another year. That The cool thing
also about this year is we have we probably have
three freshmen starting also two red shirt freshmen who didn't
play a ton last year, we didn't play at all
with Jordan Daily and Brooke Baltima, who were having you know,
great your camp so far. And then also Kenny Washington
(08:12):
is also making a name for herself in practice.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
She's a true freshman.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
But then all Asia thick Pen will definitely be on
the floor for us, you know, against Nebraska. Then also
this weekend, you know, so we have a youth movement
too to go along with some upperclassmen and good balance both.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Oh, it's a great combination.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Really excited to see this how this roster kind of
formed out during the off season and they're going to
be tested early. The one thing that I think Kentucky
fans really love about how you build your schedule. You
don't wait to challenge, to challenge, challenge these girls because
you look at what the schedule was like last year.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
I think it's even tougher this year.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I mean, we're going to talk about the matchup with
the number two Nebraska here in just a moment, but
I looked it up. You face, you face four different
top eight teams in the first like three or so
weeks of the season.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
That's just that's incredible.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Well, you know, sometimes by design and sometimes teams just
end up that way in the polls, you know, but
we we always want to play really good teams. We
always want to test ourselves and challenge ourselves early because
you know, in my opinion, is the easiest way to
find out the gaps and.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
That you need to improve on.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
And and also you know, it shows the things that
you're you know that are working in practice. So I
think it's the best way to evaluate where you are
and if you want to be competing for championships. You
got to beat those teams anyway, and if you if
you don't play them, you can't beat them.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
So we might as well get them on the schedule.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
And it really kind of sets up for conference play
as well, because it certainly shows you guys wont seven
consecutive conference titles. In preparing the team, you don't really
have to go through those growing pains once you do
hit SEC play and go through just a different type
of gauntlet.
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Yeah, I mean, ultimately the goal is is to be
playing you know, you know, hitting all cylinders by the
time you get to conference, but then also playing your
best by the end of the conference. So you know,
you don't get to hit on all cylinders unless you
found out all the things you need to about your team.
And we can do that in the first four weeks
of the season. Now, you know, there's last year was tough.
(10:11):
I mean we were three and seven or whatever it is.
The beginning of the year, it was. It was a
huge challenge to overcome that, and you know, so you
don't want to be in that position. But at the
same time, we want to be ready to compete with
everyone the SEC and this year's you know, first weekend
is against Auburn who made the tournament last year, and
then also on the road at Florida, so we we
don't mess around in the conference either, So it'll be
(10:33):
a nice little test to begin.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
No, right out of the gate.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
You mentioned that that tough start last year, but it
led to a seventeen out of eighteen in conference play,
which was just incredible to see that run. Really cool
event that we will be there actually broadcasting live the
Kentucky game on Tuesday night, the twenty twenty four AVCA
First Serve Showcase. You guys are the lidlifter of the
event at the event, which is really cool. Preseason top
(10:57):
ten teams number nine Kentucky, number two, Nebraska, the national
runner up from last year, and then of course the
nightcap is Louisville in Wisconsin.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
But pretty cool to.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Be on the national stage right out of the gate
with with that type of matchup.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Yeah, it's definitely you know, a sign of respect and
an honor to play in this event. You know, only
four teams are able to and the NCAA gave us
an exemption to participate, and you know, to get you know,
started a few days early and then you know, certainly
test ourselves against Nebraska and Wisconsin and Louisville testing themselves also.
But you know, I think the biggest impetus for this
(11:31):
is Jamie Gordon AVCA just trying to get ahead start
on marketing and promoting the sport of volleyball on ESPN
before football season starts, and to get volleyball in the
spotlight early on. And you know, there's gonna be a
ton of great matchups this year on TV and both
ESPN and ABC and Fox and all all and all
(11:53):
the channels, So you know, to get the to kick
start this for us is awesome and we certainly can't wait.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
I did the Horizon League Volleyball Championship about eight years ago,
and it's that's pretty much how long I've been following
collegiate volleyball regularly, and it's just been really fun to
see the growth of the sport and it just continues
to grow. So I'm really looking forward to tomorrow night
inside the KFC Young Center. But you guys have some
new digs as well, some exciting news as a memorial coliseum.
Of course, we talked about last year playing in rupp Arena,
(12:23):
but you get to go back home this year. How
has it looked so far? I know there's some still
some things being worked on as they kind of near
the finish line, so to speak.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
But boy, that building is beautiful.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Oh man, you know, beyond expectations and beyond what I
was hoping. And you know, I'm sure midst the administration,
the contractors, the architects, I'm sure so pleased with the
way this has turned out so far and only going
to get better and better as the.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Weeks go by.
Speaker 4 (12:49):
But the feel, the aesthetics, the depth perceptions, the lighting,
the sound, the all of it is just incredible. And
you know, I cannot wait for our fans to see
at firsthand experience it. But it's going to be loud,
it's going to be exciting, it's going to be real
close kit environment for our fans to feel like they're
part of the action.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
For a guy with the eyesight that's not as good
as it used to be, I'm actually really looking forward
to the lighting. Is masturred and makes me sound a
little bit really looking forward to the lighting because it
looked great when I had a chance to see at
least their video as they kind of near things there,
but that will be on Friday. But the big one
of course, Tuesday night seven o'clock will have it live
on UK Sports Network, also be on national television on
(13:31):
ESPN as well. Number nine Kentucky number two Nebraska national
runner up last year. Coach Skinner, I look forward to
checking in with you throughout the year and look forward
to seeing it tomorrow night there in Louisville.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Hey man, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
That is going to be a fun one. On Tuesday,
we'll be live at seven pm for UK Volleyball against
number two Nebraska, the twenty twenty three national runner up.
The Cats in the top ten in the preseason poll courtesy.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Of the AVCA.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
So that one is going to be so so fun
in the Derby City on a neutral floor in which
should be a great, great volleyball atmosphere. Looking around UK Athletics,
it's officially fall season now. Women's soccer a couple of
weeks in under head coach Troy Fabiano in his second year,
and they are off to a four and oh start.
They got to four and oh by beating Jacksonville State
(14:23):
on Sunday four to one, a two goal game from
Maddy Kemp, the other ones being scored by Mikaela Woods
and Mia Bokhard, who made that a four to one
final over the Jacksonville State game. Cocks, Kemp, Woods and
Alexis Tylnda each lead the squad with two goals, so
this is a very balanced offensive attack for the first
handful of games and maybe the most telling stat of
(14:46):
how well UK has played on both ends of the field.
They have outshot their opponents in four matches one hundred
and one to twelve. Big test coming up though for
the UK women's soccer team. They will travel to Champagne
on the road to take on Illinois. They'll kick off
at three pm on Saturday. Men's soccer had their regular
(15:07):
season opener this past Thursday at home against Oral Roberts.
They got the win three to two, two goals from
Oliver Stavdahl, the freshman from Norway. What a sensational debut
for him. The youth movement, though, was the theme in
the three to two triumph. Sophomore Joel Gonzalez was the
other goal scorer. Mens soccer now plays at Virginia Tech.
Rather excuse me. At home against Virginia Tech at the
(15:29):
Bell on Monday. Kickoffs set for seven to thirty pm
there on Labor Day should be a really really fun
one at the Bell Cross Country they are also in action.
They will get their season their formal season started on Friday.
They don't have to go very far though, headed down
to the EKU Triangular in Richmond. Football of course week
(15:49):
one for them. They will take on Southern miss on Saturday,
a seven to forty five pm kickoff at Kroger Field.
Will be on the air at six fifteen with our
countdown to Kickoffs show. Be sure to stay tuned to
UK Sports Network Socials all week long as we get
you ready for the very first kickoff of the campaign.
Following the first Mark Stoop show of the season, we'll
(16:12):
have our next live broadcast on Tuesday night at seven
pm from the KFCM Center in Louisville, a neutral site
game for number nine Kentucky Volleyball.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
As we talked about.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Earlier, they will have a great early season test against
the runner up from last year, checking in at number
two in the AVCA preseason poll and that is Nebraska.
Should be a really fun matchup at seven o'clock. We'll
be on the air shortly before first serve across the
UK Sports Network. Big thanks to head coach Craig Skinner
for taking time to chat with us as he gets
(16:43):
ready for that one from the Derby City and has
always a huge thanks to Curtis and Michelle at the network,
for everybody at UK Sports Network and for everybody at
UK Sports Network today I'm Drew Kapus saying thanks for
listening and we'll see you next time. To inte people
have to intelet to indebate.