Even with formidable fall sports competition, women’s volleyball continues to grow

In the crowded fall sports calendar packed with college football and the NFL, with the NBA, NHL and college hoops not far behind, it’s easy for college volleyball to get lost in the shuffle.

Even with all that, women’s volleyball continues to skyrocket as a participation sport. The numbers keep growing. The interest keeps growing. At his Media Day press conference Tuesday, Kentucky Coach Craig Skinner pointed out that the nation’s largest volleyball club is in the football stronghold that is Atlanta. And the A5 Volleyball Club didn’t start until 2006.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, girls’ volleyball has overtaken girls’ basketball as the No. 2 most popular team sport, growing from 17,952 participants in 1971 to 300,810 in 1990 and 452,808 in 2018. (Track and field ranks first.)

Still, it’s a good bet you were unaware that Skinner’s Wildcats, the 2020 national champions, open the 2022 season on Friday at 7 p.m. against Marquette in Memorial Coliseum. Two days later, the Cats face Ohio University at 4 p.m. at the Coliseum.

It’s the start of a marquee-filled schedule for the Cats, who as defending national champs went 25-5 a year ago, captured their fifth straight SEC title, but saw their season abruptly and unexpectedly end with a 3-1 loss to visiting Illinois in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re definitely not happy with the way things ended,” junior Reagan Rutherford said Tuesday.

Three of last year’s NCAA Final Four teams visit Lexington to play the Cats in a span of 10 days in September. Defending NCAA champion Wisconsin arrives on Sept. 9. Five days later, on Sept. 14, Kentucky faces archrival Louisville, a 32-1 team in 2021 that as the tournament’s No. 1 seed lost to Wisconsin in an epic five-set national semifinal match. On Sept. 18, NCAA runner-up Nebraska comes to the Coliseum to play UK.

If that doesn’t get your attention, it should. There’s a reason the sport’s trend line continues to rise. The women are athletic, powerful and exciting to watch. The competition is fierce. The atmosphere is enjoyable. Last December’s volleyball championship earned a 119 percent increase in television viewers over the 2019 pre-COVID title match.

What volleyball needs is continued exposure. That doesn’t come overnight, of course. In speaking about current UK star Azhani Tealer, Skinner repeated a quote from South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, “Greatness doesn’t happen today. It’s an accumulation of day after day after day.” The same holds true for the interest in volleyball as a spectator sport.

For instance, on August 1-2, the Big Ten held its first Media Day for women’s volleyball. The first ever. The event was televised by the Big Ten Network.

“We have a challenge,” Skinner said. “We have the great sport of football that’s during our season, so we have to find ways to get recognized. Those things help.”

Excellence stretches from coast to coast. Around the country, this year’s American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason Top 25 included teams from the Big Ten (seven), Pac-12 (six), ACC (three), Big 12 (three), SEC (two), Big East (one), C-USA (one), WCC (one) and independent (one).

“I would challenge anyone to find a sport that has more parity than volleyball right now,” Skinner said. “It’s incredible the number of really good teams everywhere. Not just Power Five conferences but other conferences, as well. They’re all Division I athletes and they all compete at a high level.”

Three of the top 25 are from Kentucky. Besides UK at No. 11, there’s Louisville at No. 4 and Western Kentucky at No. 21.

At what level can this Kentucky team compete? Skinner has taken 17 consecutive UK teams to the NCAA Tournament. On Tuesday, the coach described his current roster configuration as one-third newcomers, one-third experienced players and one-third players in between. It’s an interesting mix.

“I think we have great focus but we also have fun while we play,” said sophomore Emma Grome. “BBN, the fans are amazing and that brings such a great energy to the gym that people want to be a part of it.”

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