UK volleyball has multiple ways to win
Published 7:00 am Tuesday, November 25, 2025
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Kentucky players celebrated after winning another SEC volleyball title, but have never lost track of the end goal – a national championship.
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Kentucky’s Jayden Quaintance (left) is making “terrific progress” coming back from his ACL injury/surgery.
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Quarterback Cutter Boley’s play helped take the pressure off his teammates during Kentucky’s three-game win streak before the Cats collapsed at Vanderbilt last week.
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Otega Oweh believes Kentucky players are learning they have to do more than make shots to help the team win.
Kentucky coach Craig Skinner has led UK volleyball to nine straight Southeastern Conference championships, but he doesn’t talk a lot to his team about winning.
“We talk about whether we can play in ways that are deserving of winning. We have to continue to find different ways to win because that will be required in the NCAA Tournament,” said Skinner.
Kentucky should be one of the four No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament when pairings are released on Sunday. That would mean as long as Kentucky kept winning, it could play four games in Memorial Coliseum until reaching the Final Four in Kansas City.
“We have really embraced playing on the road this year. Part of you almost likes winning on the road more because there is nothing more satisfying than winning in front of opposing fans,” UK associate coach Kyle Luongo said. “But come tournament time, you want to be in front of your people and keep the same routines you had during the season. You get to sleep in your own bed, practice in your gym. The support we’ve had lately has been incredible and that’s why we have been fighting so hard to be a regional host.”
Kentucky has road wins over No. 3 Texas, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 7 Louisville and No. 24 Penn State along with home wins over No. 8 SMU and No. 18 Tennessee. Kentucky’s only regular-season losses were to No. 1 Nebraska in Nashville and at No. 4 Pittsburgh.
That brutal schedule made sure there was no “false sense of confidence” for Kentucky.
“That false sense of confidence is one of the most dangerous things you can have is to think you are good but yet you really haven’t been exposed or tested,” Luongo said. “And if you feel you are good enough to get the wins eventually, it doesn’t really hurt you to lose big matches early in the season. It might not feel good and not look great record-wise, but you learn so much from playing non-conference matches like we did.”
Skinner led Kentucky to the only national championship ever won by an SEC team in 2020. This team obviously will have a chance to challenge for another title.
“We don’t have to rely on one thing. We can do a lot of things to let us be successful,” Skinner said. “If something is not working we don’t have to panic. We are not just one-hit wonders. We need multiple ways to be successful and we have that.”
The coach likes that his team’s work ethic has not changed from September until now.
“They are working hard and are not satisfied,” Skinner said. “We like to be a little bit edgy and not comfortable with our play.”
Luongo joined Skinner’s staff this year because the expectation at Kentucky is to compete for championships. That’s the same expectation that brought SEC Player of the Year Eva Hudson from Purdue to Kentucky this season.
“Eva has had plenty of individual success and some team success,” Luongo said. “She was hungry for a little bit more than just more player of the week nods or all-conference selections. She loved them, but she was most hungry for a deep tournament run in December.”
That’s why she did not hesitate to become teammates with UK junior Brooklyn DeLeye, the 2024 SEC Player of the Year and also an All-American like Hudson.
“From an insider’s perspective I can tell you they realize they need one another and they can also empathize with each other because they both know what it feels like to be relied on and be the one expected to make plays,” Luongo said. “They know what it is like to have the responsibility on them to come through for the team. They quickly built trust with each other and it would be hard to separate who was more valuable to the team’s success. They are both legitimate national player of the year candidates.
“Their on-court personalities and playing styles are different, but they both know what it is like to be a dominant outside hitter. Eva would not have had the season she did without Brooklyn and vice versa with Brooklyn needing Eva. They are a great one-two punch and I don’t think any other team has that same caliber of players.”
Few teams have a setter as talented as freshman Kassie O’Brien, the SEC Freshman of the Year and top candidate for national freshman of the year. Luongo works with UK’s setters and admits he is “super proud” of O’Brien, who was not UK’s starter early in the season.
“She would tell you that early in the fall she was not very sure of herself. Even as a staff we were not sure who would be our starting setter,” Luongo said. “Her moment came at (defending national champion) Penn State in our big win when she came in and things just changed for us.”
Both Skinner and Luongo praise Kentucky’s depth that has made it possible for Skinner to make in-game personnel adjustments with confidence.
“You don’t always see depth only in matches. You need depth in practice,” Skinner said. “I tell our players you have to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready when your moment is called.”
There will be plenty of key moments in the NCAA Tournament for Kentucky, but Skinner has not only star power but plenty of reliable team players who understand their roles.
“I like the horses we have in our barn,” said Chris Shoals, Kentucky Assistant Director of Athletic Communications and Public Relations for volleyball.
So does Luongo.
“We had a great regular season and it was great to see the individual awards some of our players got,” the UK assistant coach said. “But we have higher aspirations and have never lost track of the end goal.”
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With point guard Jaland Lowe down with a shoulder injury again, will that make Kentucky coach Mark Pope even more hesitant about determining when sophomore center Jayden Quaintance is ready to return from the knee injury he suffered last season?
Lowe first injured his shoulder in June and then dislocated his right shoulder again in mid-October in the Blue-White Game. Lowe re-injured the shoulder again in practice before the Cats played Louisville.
Quaintance has yet to play this season and Pope has been vague about setting any specific timeline for his return. Quaintance was one of the nation’s best freshman defensive players last year and would give UK a potential dominating inside presence at both ends of the court when he’s able to return.
“I would say with JQ, I have not spent a lot of time worrying. I’m just excited when he’s ready to go and it’s going to be fun,” Pope said. “We have so much to figure out with JQ and he hasn’t been in any type of live action and it will have been nine months since he’s actually done anything live and had any contact at all.
“I’m way more curious than I am worried. I’m curious about how quickly he’s going to learn us and how he’s going to fit into the deal and what type of impact he can make and what type of player he’s going to be. I think players, you see them on film, and you look at their numbers. You kind of spend time with them and you get references. But there’s still a growing process once they actually get into us, into Rupp (Arena), into our style of playing and learning that. I think that’s where I’m more preoccupied is just fitting the pieces together.”
After Kentucky beat Loyola (Maryland), Pope confirmed to Tom Leach on the UK Radio Network postgame show that Quaintance was making “real progress” and has been in two-on-two live drills with the scout team.
“I almost had a heart attack cause (when Quaintance did that) I thought he just snuck into the drill. I was like B-Wells (trainer Brandon Wells)! But he was like, ‘Nope, he’s cleared to do it.’ So he’s making terrific, terrific progress.”
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Quarterback Cutter Boley had been called the “future” of the Kentucky football program by coach Mark Stoops well before he won Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week three straight times.
Senior running back Seth McGowan has been a key component of UK’s offense this season and watched Boley’s progression as a passer and leader.
“I definitely think the sky’s the limit for that man right there just because of how young he is,” McGowan said. “When you have little to no hesitation at that age and with that little of experience, that’s a great quality to have. He’s been executing at a high level. I’m super excited for him. He deserves everything that’s coming towards right now.”
McGowan leads UK in rushing and admits Boley has pushed him to become a better player.
“Cutter is a great guy. He obviously cares about the guys when he’s out there on the field with them. You’re going to want to do your best when somebody next to you, right next to you is expecting your best,” McGowan said. “It’s been up to us to take control of the backfield, manage the protection, manage the run calls.
“He’s done a tremendous job at that and it’s been really easy to play off, extremely easy. It could kind of take a little bit of weight off your shoulders knowing that you got a guy back there that knows what’s going on and knows the appropriate decisions to make. It’s great playing with him.”
He’s also shown his toughness. Boley got knocked out against Vanderbilt when he injured his left AC joint – the joint where your collarbone connects to your shoulder blade – but missed only a few plays before returning to finish the game. Stoops was impressed by how Boley handled that situation.
“I love the way he handles himself. We all have to accept our part and it starts with me, but I will take that guy any time,” Stoops said. “His attitude, his toughness … give Vandy credit, but there are a lot of good days ahead for Cutter.”
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Kentucky’s Otega Oweh was named the SEC Preseason Player of the Year but has not played to that standard this season, especially during UK’s losses to Louisville and Michigan State. He didn’t deny hearing the criticism from fans and the media.
“It’s gonna happen. There’s going to be outside noise if we win, outside noise if we lose. We just have to not let it bother us,” Oweh said. “Obviously, we are in a position where everything we do is like, there’s a comment on everything we do, so we just can’t worry about it. If we win or lose, it’s always going to be people talking. Just have to bounce back.”
Oweh said “everyone” made a conscientious effort to do his part in leading the team after those losses when Kentucky trailed by 20 or more points in both games.
“Adversity always brings teams together. Just because you know when things are going well, it’s easy to be happy, easy to be joyful, but when s**t hit the fan you have to turn to your brothers and really lean in,” Oweh said.
Oweh said players have to understand that even if they are not making shots there are other ways to help a team win.
“We’re a young team, so that may be hard to understand at first, but I feel like we’re starting to understand that. Just playing for each other. If you’re not being effective in one way, you got to find another way to be effective,” Oweh said. “You’ll be on the court, so you got to do something to help the team win.”
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Quote of the Week: “We spend a lot of time talking about gambling. It’s so dangerous and accessible now. We have met with the team multiple, multiple times to talk about this. Our guys know if we get something over the line to get it to us and push it up the chain,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope, on meeting with players about harassment from gamblers and fans in general.
Quote of the Week 2: “I mean that’s a legendary arena. It’s every kid’s dream. It’s like playing in an NBA arena, and then you get to play for Kentucky as well. So I think it’s the best of both worlds. Not many people get to say they got to play there. It’s a moment that I’m going to remember, and I got to play with my best friends,” UK freshman Malachi Moreno, on playing in Madison Square Garden last week.
Quote of the Week 3: “I was talking to (Louie) Dampier. I told him that it looked like to me that Mark (Pope) went down to the New York Athletic Club a half-hour before tip-off, got 10 guys who had never played together before, and put Kentucky uniforms on them. There was not one aspect of that — not one — game that would lead me to believe they’re going to be a decent team this year,” UK all-time leading scorer Dan Issel, on ESPN 680 Louisville radio after UK’s loss to Michigan State.
