Kentucky volleyball bumped to No. 14; Reagan Rutherford named SEC POTW

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Coming off a successful weekend in Omaha, Craig Skinner’s squad is earning plenty of praise.

On Monday afternoon, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) released its Week 2 rankings where Kentucky came in at No. 14, a two-spot improvement from Week 1. The Wildcats played three games in two days on Friday and Saturday as part of the 2022 Bluejay Invitational. Kentucky won the entire event, sweeping Northern Iowa and No. 25 Southern California while taking down No. 17 Creighton 3-1.

UK ascends two spots to No. 14 in this week's AVCA Coaches' Poll. https://t.co/W3WNiN7mdP
— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) September 5, 2022

As a result of the near-perfect weekend, junior Reagan Rutherford was tabbed the Southeastern Conference’s Player of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week. Additionally, fellow Wildcats sophomores Eleanor Beavin (SEC Defensive Player of the Week) and Emma Grome (SEC Setter of the Week) also earned recognition. In total, Kentucky took home four of the five weekly SEC awards.

Rutherford posted a career-high 25 kills in Kentucky’s win over Creighton and hit .473 over the three-game span. She logged a total of 50 kills throughout the weekend while adding five aces, three assists, 20 digs, and nine blocks. Rutherford was also named the Bluejay Invitational MVP.

But wait … there's more! 🏆🏆#WeAreUK x @SEC pic.twitter.com/d7Ann5CWBV
— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) September 5, 2022

Kentucky started the season No. 11 overall but dropped the season opener to unranked Marquette before recovering over the last week. The ‘Cats now sit at 4-1 on the season with an incredibly tough stretch ahead.

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Over the next two weeks, Kentucky will take on three of the country’s top-ranked programs, all of which will be played at home inside of Memorial Coliseum. The ‘Cats will first host No. 6 Wisconsin this Friday at 6:00 p.m. EST on ESPNU before taking on Indiana State the following day.

Fast forward to Wednesday, Sept. 14 and Kentucky will host in-state rival Louisville, which is now No. 5 in the country. The challenging stretch concludes on Sunday, Sept. 18 with a showdown at home against an undefeated and No. 2 ranked Nebraska team.

Four games in 10 days, three coming against teams ranked among the top six in the nation.