One final message: A tremendous opportunity at Kentucky Sports Radio

My one-year period at KSR has come to a close. While many may not know me, I had a blast covering the Kentucky Volleyball and Men’s Tennis teams this past year as a college intern. Others at KSR are veterans in the UK sports world, covering the Big Blue throughout every season. I leave KSR extremely grateful for immersing myself within two sports that I hope brought joy to countless Kentucky fans.

The Kentucky Volleyball beat was exciting to get into. I knew it was a squad with mile-high expectations and a challenging schedule ahead of them. Anything short of an SEC championship for UK VB would have people asking questions. They knew their target and would without a doubt achieve it.

Kentucky Men’s Tennis was a similar vibe.

Talk about another team with expectations through the roof. A year removed from making it to the national championship, UK Tennis had an uber-talented squad that was more than ready to compete. Despite some mid-season struggles, this team rallied in a loaded SEC bringing home a conference championship and going deep in the NCAA Tournament.

The championships and memories I was able to witness are unique in my opinion. Perhaps it’s the connection that I felt following around “not as popular” sports in comparison to football and basketball, which are the alphas in the collegiate game.

Or maybe it was the attachment that both Kentucky Volleyball and Men’s Tennis provided, finishing the season with conference championships. The “Volleyball School” or “Tennis School” comments that I found under my posts always brought me a smile. That smile was genuine because Kentucky is indeed a school for both of those sports. Never underestimate the passion that sports like volleyball and tennis bring, never underestimate the hype that they can generate. I was grateful to witness that first-hand.

Thrown into the mix

Kentucky volleyball had a madness of matches at the beginning of the season. Household collegiate volleyball names such as Louisville, Nebraska, and Wisconsin were all inside of Memorial Coliseum providing difficult tests for the Wildcats.

The energy around Kentucky vs. Louisville early on in the year was something I had never witnessed before. The noise inside Memorial was marvelous and the five sets that both squads dueled out was a box-office. It wasn’t only me who felt this as well. Some viewing records were broken after this match concluded.

I mean… just take a look at this.

This was set point for Kentucky in the fourth set. pic.twitter.com/APi7qQ7LBE

— Ian Alvano (@1_ianalvano) September 15, 2022

Watching Kentucky battle throughout the season was a great testament to the leadership of head coach Craig Skinner and many talented players. Emma Grome, Reagan Rutherford, Azhani Tealer, and Adanna Rollins all were spectacular during the season. All of them walked away with awards as the season concluded.

With all things said and done, Kentucky finished the year with yet another SEC Championship, which they’ve gotten quite used to, and an impressive Sweet 16 run in the tournament.

Locked in again

After volleyball, it was a quick switch to the UK Men’s Tennis season. As mentioned before, the ‘Cats were fresh off a trip to the National Championship match in 2022, where they lost to Virginia. Kentucky battled the entire year in the SEC, many times looking like the second or third-best squad in the conference, but that was quickly forgotten as the postseason began.

Behind seasoned veterans such as Liam Draxl and Alafia Ayeni, Kentucky got hot right when it mattered.

The legend of “The Comeback ‘Cats” was born during the week of the SEC Championship in Auburn, AL. Kentucky refused to lose and clawed its way to an SEC Crown when the week was done by taking down top-seeded Georgia.

Then came the NCAA Tournament where the ‘Cats would continue to come back in matches against Northwestern and Stanford. This came on the weekend of the Round of 32 and Sweet 16 of the tournament — both hosted in Lexington. Here is where I realized that no matter the sport, Big Blue Nation will always show up.

Watching UK come back against both Stanford and Northwestern was amazing. Lexington had turned into a tennis city for two weeks and the Boone Center was packed, setting attendance records like it was nothing. I firmly believe that at the time, the excitement around tennis was unlike anything else. “Caturdays” are a tradition, but having all of BBN show out in the Elite Eight for the men’s tennis team was unique and just felt right.

Tennis had left its stamp on me and many, many others.

CHARLELIE COSNET! @UKMensTennis is going to the Elite Eight in Orlando. Cosnet with the clincher. Kentucky wins 4-3. WOW!!

Match point here. Goosebumps. pic.twitter.com/WdN2Agy6v2

— Ian Alvano (@1_ianalvano) May 13, 2023

Kentucky home

Some of the clips I’ve shared above are just glimpses into the excitement that was covering Kentucky Volleyball and Men’s Tennis. I’m proud to say that I followed both teams in successful seasons. Hard work by both squads resulted in conference championships.

I owe many thanks to KSR for giving me the responsibility of covering both beats. Both sports showed me a lot about their individual dedication and success even when not being in the spotlight. That’s something I’ll always respect.

There are championships in and around Lexington, sometimes it might take a little harder to look for them. I found them with tennis and volleyball. My hope is that those sports grow and people continue to give them a shot and a chance to shine, because the results are there. I’ll never regret my time invested in them.