In-state rivalry restarts: Cats, Cards playing again

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The Cats and Cards are meeting on the volleyball court Wednesday night for the first time in four years.
UK head coach Craig Skinner said it was a long story, but the years off in the rivalry are now over. Louisville (6-3), which won a Big East Championship in 2008, will host the Cats (10-0) this season, while 2010 will have the Cards coming to Lexington.

“They felt like it was our problem that we didn’t play, and we felt like it was their (problem),” Skinner said. “But that’s beside the point, it hasn’t been played in a couple years and we felt like it needed to be played so we called them and told them we’d come to their place and play.”

The game will be UK’s final nonconference game of the season after winning its first 10 matches. The start is the best for the Cats since 1993 when they won their first 17 matches.

Stephanie Klefot digs the ball in the Cats' win against Cincinnati on Sept. 8. Photo by Britney McIntosh | Staff

“The exciting part about this team is they are experienced and mature enough to handle our record the way it is and really focus on the next match and right now that’s Louisville,” Skinner said. “And I don’t think there will be any extra motivation needed to play in that match.”

One player who’s especially excited for the match is freshman defensive specialist Stephanie Klefot. A Louisville native, Klefot said as a youngster she wanted to play for the Cards. Upon entering high school however, Klefot said the desire to play for Louisville left.

Still, she played on the same high school team as one player for Louisville and said she will have a lot of people from home at the game.

“Everyone looks forward to a UK-UofL game,” Klefot said. “The fans are going to be crazy and to go out there and play against them for the first time is going to be cool. Especially for it being my freshman year, that’s going to be awesome.”

In a road game at No. 21 Kansas State on Friday evening in front of a crowd of over 2,000 fans, Klefot had a match and career-high 20 digs.

Coming to UK with high credentials, Klefot has surpassed even Skinner’s expectations so far this year. Klefot said she’s played well so far, but a lot of that is due to her teammates’ help.

“They’ve helped me adjust – college volleyball and high school volleyball is a big difference,” Klefot said. “Without them I don’t think I’d be able to get as many digs as I did.”

Louisville has already sold out its gym for the game and the Cats are expecting a raucous environment. Skinner said he’d like to believe once the Cats and Cards play these games for the next two years, that it will be pretty easy to renew the contract for future matchups.

“We’re the two best volleyball programs in this part of the country so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be playing,” Skinner said. “For whatever reason it didn’t go on the last couple of years and we felt like it needed to so if they wouldn’t come to our place we told them we’d come to their (place) and get the series back going again.

“That’s what college sports is all about. It’s about big games and rivalries and exciting matchups and I think this will be no exception.”