The NCAA volleyball tournament concluded Saturday evening, and Kentucky rallied to defeat Texas in four sets at the CHI Health Center arena in Omaha, Neb.
Here are some key takeaways:

What happened?
Kentucky shook off a slow start by its standards, found a rhythm and went on to capture its first national championship. Texas lost in the final for the third time since winning it all in 2012. The Longhorns lost to Nebraska in 2015 and Stanford in 2016 in the finale.

The Wildcats put on a masterful display of offense and defense. Setter Madison Lilley, the national player of the year, engineered an attack that featured big-time performances from Alli Stumler, Madi Skinner and Avery Skinner.
Stumler had 26 kills, freshman Madi Skinner chipped in a career-best 19 kills, and Avery Skinner totaled 14 kills. Lilley had 53 assists, a career-high 19 digs and two blocks, including one with Kentucky (24-1) leading 20-19 in the fourth set that gave her team just enough cushion to fend off Texas.

Kentucky senior libero Gabby Curry had a rare double-double for the defensive-minded position, notching a career-high 13 assists and 14 digs.

The Longhorns (27-2) rode the attacking of junior outside hitter Logan Eggleston to a win in the opening set. Eggleston finished with 21 kills and a .400 hitting percentage. Skylar Fields added 16 kills.

“I knew we were going to be good,” Kentucky coach Craig Skinner said. “Did I know we were going to be this good? I thought we had a chance. We’re good on offense, we’re good on defense. The skill this team has is super underrated. I don’t know what our weaknesses are. It’s hard to spout that before today. If someone wants to tell me a weakness, I’d love to hear it.”

After recording a .216 hitting percentage in the opening set (15 kills on 37 attempts, with seven hitting errors), the Wildcats had a combined .391 hitting clip during the final three sets (55 kills on 115 swings, with only 10 errors). Texas had a .417 hitting effort in the third set — and lost. The Longhorns had 18 kills on 36 attempts, committing three errors. Kentucky hit .429, collecting 20 kills in 42 swings, with only two errors.

Did you know?
Kentucky became the first Southeastern Conference school to win a national championship in volleyball. The league was 0-2 in title matches before Saturday, with Florida losing to Nebraska in 2017 and to Southern California in 2003 in Dallas.

Best of the best
Kentucky’s Madison Lilley, Alli Stumler and Avery Skinner, Texas’ Brionne Butler and Logan Eggleston, Washington’s Samantha Drechsel and Wisconsin’s Devyn Robinson were named all-tournament. Lilley was selected as the most outstanding player.

What’s next?
Most teams will take time off to allow players to prepare for final exams and recover from a season that spanned nine months overlapping the fall and spring semesters. When they do return to the court, expect Texas to be an early favorite to contend for the 2021 national title.

The Longhorns should return their entire roster, including All-Americans Eggleston, Butler and Jhenna Gabriel, middle blocker Asjia O’Neal, outside hitters Skylar Fields — who made a big splash during the tournament — and Molly Phillips and back-row players Morgan O’Brien, Sydney Petersen and Nalani Iosia.

Kentucky will likely have to replace all-everything setter Madison Lilley, libero Gabby Curry and outside hitter Avery Skinner.

Nebraska — which had the No. 1 recruiting class — and Washington should also be on the short list. Other than that, there’s a lot of unknowns, but don’t be surprised if some top programs hit hard by graduation reload thanks to the transfer portal.

They said it
“We’re winning next year. That’s how we’re all feeling. You never want to end the season on a loss. We’re coming back stronger next year, and there’s a lot of blood boiling and we’re ready to go.” — Texas outside hitter Logan Eggleston

“We were just confident we were going to win this game. We had confidence in our skill and athleticism. We felt like if any team was going to win it for this program, it was going to be this team.” — Kentucky outside hitter Alli Stumler on rallying to win after dropping the first set

“Their better was better than ours tonight. Kentucky was just that good. I thought our team fought, I thought we gave everything we had.” — Texas coach Jerritt Elliott

“I think the moment we stepped in Omaha, it was, ‘We’re going to win this thing.’ There was never a doubt that any team was better than us; that could play harder than us, have more grit, determination.” — Kentucky outside hitter Alli Stumler

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1