Kentucky volleyball goes undefeated in Omaha; beats two ranked opponents

Omaha might be Peyton Manning’s favorite audible, but it also may be Kentucky Volleyball’s new home away from home. A perfect weekend for the Wildcats came as a result of three wins against Northern Iowa, No. 17 Creighton, and No. 25 Southern California. The No. 16 Wildcats picked up two important wins over ranked opponents in Omaha, NE to win the 2022 Hilton Omaha Bluejay Invitational.

The first win of the tournament came in a 3-0 sweep of Northern Iowa on Friday night. Eleanor Beavin had 18 digs and Reagan Rutherford added 11 kills in the victory. Next up, the Wildcats were in for a challenging doubleheader on Saturday, but handled business against Creighton and USC.

🏆🏆 2022 Bluejay Invitational Champs! 🏆🏆

(and 2 ranked wins today) 👀@KYBloodCenter | #WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/1VXrjQUmvi

— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) September 3, 2022

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You wouldn’t have thought this was Kentucky’s first-ranked matchup of the year. After dropping the first set to Creighton in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, the ‘Cats stormed back to win three consecutive sets. Reagan Rutherford had a whopping 25 kills, a career-high for her. Emma Grome was a big help with 48 assists and 14 digs. A 3-1 win in the second match of the weekend would have USC waiting next.

UK was even more impressive in its final game of the doubleheader, sweeping the Trojans 3-0. The first set that Kentucky won 25-17 was the closest one of the match. The ‘Cats did not take their foot off the gas, handling the second and third sets comfortably. Rutherford had another impressive performance, recording 14 kills. Elise Goetzinger added 11 kills against USC as well.

The awards were not done for Kentucky after they won the Bluejay Invitational. Goetzinger walked away with all-tournament team honors and Rutherford was named the MVP of the event.

Something about the Cornhusker State

Omaha seems to treat Kentucky volleyball very well. An outstanding performance this weekend reinforces that point. Let’s not forget where Kentucky won its first national title in volleyball as well. Omaha was the site of the 2020 National Championship, where UK was crowned champions after taking down Texas. The Wildcats seem to love the 402 and maybe it’s time to plan more trips to Nebraska — or maybe just play there every other weekend.

The Best and Hardest are yet to come

With Kentucky sitting at 4-1 on the year, it must look ahead to even tougher opponents. Three of Kentucky’s next four will be against the Top 6 teams in the country. This gauntlet of matchups kicks off on Friday, Sep. 9 against No. 6 Wisconsin in Lexington.

The Wildcats then welcome No. 3 Louisville and No. 2 Nebraska in under two weeks. Although Kentucky should benefit from having to play these powerhouses at Memorial Coliseum, it will be a challenging slate to play before conference play begins. And hey, if the ‘Cats want to move the games out of their home gym for a season, I can think of at least one city where they’re guaranteed good performances.