BOZICH | Kentucky beats Washington, will play Texas for NCAA volleyball title | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — When the University of Kentucky volleyball team rolled through its first three NCAA Tournament matches without losing a set, the Wildcats left only one question:

How would they handle adversity?

Coach Craig Skinner’s team supplied the answer Thursday night. They handled adversity with supreme confidence, poise and power.

After losing the second set and falling behind 21-15 in the third, Kentucky rallied mightily and defeated Washington in the NCAA semifinals 25-18, 23-25, 25-23 and 25-17 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Wildcats will play Texas, the No. 4, seed in the championship match Saturday at 8 p.m.

Kentucky will chase its first national title and try to become only the second program located east of the Mississippi River to win the championship.

"The biggest thing we talked about was embracing the challenge, embracing the battle," said UK's Madi Skinner. "We just leaned into each other and tried to take care of our responsibilities."

UK let a 22-20 lead slip away in the second set. The momentum shifted after Washington won a challenge about a tipped ball when Kentucky was about to move ahead by 3 points.

Then it the third set, the Huskies won back-to-back points to move ahead 21-15. The teams traded the next two points before won six straight points to tie the match. Washington went ahead 23-22 but Kentucky won the final 3 points, 2 on kills by Avery Skinner, to take regain the advantage.

In the fourth set, Kentucky trailed 5-2 and 6-4 before asserting its dominance. The Wildcats elevated their hitting percentage to 52 percent in the fourth set.

"Our team showed some serious toughness to get through that," UK coach Craig Skinner said. "What a mentally resilient performance."

The Wildcats dominated in hitting percentage, converting 34 percent, considerably better than Washington's 20.6 percent.

"We just tried to stay in the moment," said Madison Lilley, UK's national player of the year. Lilley showed her value by leading the match with 63 assists.

Avery Skinner led Kentucky with 19 kills while Madi Skinner, Azhani Tealer and Alli Stumler also had 13 kills.

"Kentucky is a team that's been playing at a very high level all season," Washington coach Keegan Cook said. "I give them credit for chasing us down in the third set. Their physicality is just impressive. It's just a lot of pressure."

Kentucky, the No. 2 seed, improved to 23-1. The Wildcats are in line to become the first team from the Southeastern Conference to win the NCAA title.

The Wildcats will play Texas in the national championship match Saturday night. The Longhorns improved to 27-1 by defeating top-seed Wisconsin in three sets -- 26-24, 25-19 and 25-23 -- in the second semifinal Thursday. Texas won its second national title in 2012 when the finals were played in Louisville. Wisconsin had been the nation's final unbeaten team.

"It's a big accomplishment," said Craig Skinner, who was voted national coach of the year this week. "You can see the excitement and enthusiasm from our players."