If you follow Kentucky volleyball head coach Craig Skinner on Twitter (@UKCoachSkinner), you have likely seen his recent tweets after victories over Tennessee and Georgia this past weekend.

If you're not following Skinner on Twitter, why don't you go ahead and do that now?

Twitter plugs aside, in each of his post-match tweets, Skinner made references to a theme that appears to be emerging from within the team. In both messages, the head coach hash-tagged the phrase, "#theWAYweplay."

Skinner shared this tweet with his more than 500 followers on Friday night after the win in Knoxville:

"Thanks for all the texts/tweets. Great comeback tonight vs UT. Proud of this team's heart. #theWAYweplay."

And then he thumbed this one out on Sunday afternoon:

"Another hard fought win on the road at UGA. Tough league! Love it! #theWAYweplay."

The "WAY" that his team played this past weekend allowed UK to come away with two five-set victories on the road, including an improbable comeback against the Lady Volunteers after trailing 2-0 at the break. And it looks like the Wildcats are starting to settle in for the final stretch.

But what is "#theWAYweplay"? What "WAY" is he referring to? It's an unselfish approach to the game that ultimately leads to greatness.

"I think it refers to a lot of intangibles," said Skinner. "A lot of things that don't show up in the stat sheet. Our presence, our composure, who's going to dictate how the match goes? Is it going to be us or is it going to be the opponent? (It's) How we go about things; the way we go about our business."

What do his players think when he talks about the "WAY"?

"When he says that, I just think that Kentucky volleyball is all about competitive playing all the time no matter what's going on, just playing until the whistle blows," said freshman middle blocker Sara Schwarzwalder.

Business is good for Skinner, at least for the time being, but there have certainly been some bumps and bruises along the way. With some inexperience entering the starting lineup at the beginning of the season and a brutal non-conference schedule lurking ahead, the Cats struggled to find their way early on.

Though Kentucky was given a preseason ranking of No. 13, the Wildcats couldn't live up to the lofty expectations to start the season. Skinner's team appeared to have the talent, but the inexperience reared its head as powerhouses like Nebraska and Oregon exploited UK's weaknesses.

As Skinner's squad entered conference season, an identity was nowhere to be found. With the lineup changing and confidence waning, Skinner decided to revisit an old approach. Talent and physical skills were not going to be enough to get them through the Southeastern Conference. They'd have to change the way they played.

"It started at the beginning of the conference season that we can't just rely on our physical talents and abilities," said Skinner. "There's got to be a way that we go about things, a way that we compete that can help give us an advantage against our opponent."

While it appears to be working well now, it didn't quite start off that way. A sweep at the hands of Florida at home followed by a loss to LSU on the road, UK was still searching for the "WAY."

It took a gritty performance on the road against Texas A&M after a four-match losing streak to get Kentucky back on track. And that "WAY" was just beginning to manifest itself.  

Kentucky then went on to notch a season-high four-match win streak.

What the team began to realize was that - no matter the opponent on the other side of the net - none of that mattered if the Catsa didn't worry about themselves. Taking care of business on their side of the net became much more important than what the opponent was doing.

"It's not about who's on the other side," said junior defensive specialist Jessi Greenberg. "As long as we play our game, Kentucky volleyball, then it doesn't matter who's on the other side. We'll know that we can beat anyone when we're at our best."

Though Kentucky fell to Tennessee in the first two sets last Friday, it wasn't because UK had lost its way. Skinner was actually pleased with how well his team was playing. The breaks just weren't falling their way. Yet.

"We played that way the whole match against Tennessee," said Skinner. "We had chances to win games one and two. They made plays at the end of the set and we didn't."

At the break, Skinner went into the locker room with a message. He wasn't mad, but he made sure to let the Cats know just to continue to play their game and eventually good things would happen.

"I wasn't disappointed in the way we were playing the game because I thought we were playing the game the way it was supposed to be played," said Skinner. "After (the break), it started to fall our way. So I just reminded our team at the break to just keep playing the way they were playing and good things can happen."

Kentucky went on to battle through the next two sets to get victories before deflating Thompson Bowling Arena with a 15-5 fifth set blowout to bring home the victory.

But whether Kentucky is playing Tennessee and Nebraska or Ole Miss and South Carolina as the Cats will this weekend, the they are no longer worried about the caliber of the team or the colors they are wearing across the net. No matter the opponent, the team is focused on playing their game, their way.

The Kentucky way.

"We could be playing Penn State or be playing a (Division-II) school even," said Schwarzwalder. "You've got to just keep playing hard on your side no matter what. You can't go down to the competition and you just have to keep playing at your high level. That's what Kentucky is about: high-level volleyball."

Every Tuesday, UK Athletics recognizes outstanding performances for our student-athletes. These are the honorees for the week ending Sunday, Oct. 28:

Volleyball: Christine Hartmann

Senior Christine Hartmann led a multitude of UK players with standout performances in helping guide UK to a pair of five-set wins on the road against SEC Eastern opponents. Hartmann was masterful in all phases of the game. On Friday she helped lead UK from a 2-0 deficit to a win at Tennessee for the first time since 2008. Against Tennessee she totaled a career-high nine kills on a career-high .500 hitting percentage while recoding her second-straight double-double effort with 52 assists and 11 digs. She was one kill shy of recording what would have been the second triple-double in school history. Against the Lady Vols, Hartmann directed the offense to the tune of a .244 hitting clip and found four players for 10 or more kills for the first time this season for the Wildcats. She directed Ashley Frazier to a season-high 19 kills in SEC action on a sizzling .472 hitting percentage. Against Georgia, Hartmann led the Wildcat defensive effort with a career-high 19 digs while logging her third consecutive double-double. She passed out 58 assists (one shy of a career-high) as well as notching four blocks to couple with the 19 digs. For the second-straight match she found four players for 10 or more kills including 18 on a .452 hitting clip by Whitney Billings, and a career-high 15 kills from Alexandra Morgan on a .500 percentage.  For the week she set new career-highs in a match for kills (9), hitting percentage (.500) and digs (19) while also leading the Wildcats to an average of 14.50 kills per set on a .288 hitting percentage with four players logging 2.60 kills or more for the weekend.

Men's soccer: Steven Perinovic

NOTES: Junior defender Steven Perinovic had a dynamic game in leading Kentucky to a shutout win at No. 23 Tulsa on Saturday night ... UK's vocal and physical leader at center back, Perinovic led UK to the shutout vs. the Golden Hurricane, a team ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in goals scored ... Perinovic was a force on Saturday, with his ability to play the ball in the air thwarting scoring chances for the Golden Hurricane throughout the game ... UK finished with four saves in the win, its fifth shutout of the year ... A native of Delafield, Wis., Perinovic has been a major weapon for UK's defensive unit in 2012, with UK owning a 1.29 goals-against average ... On the year, Perinovic has started all 15 games at center back with one goal.

Volleyball: Sara Schwarzwalder

Freshman Sara Schwarzwalder provided a defensive spark in helping lead UK to a 2-0 weekend on the road with both victories coming in in five-set fashion. Schwarzwalder had a season-high nine kills within SEC action in the five-set come-from-behind win at Tennessee. She added a career-high three digs as well as a team-best four blocks while dishing out the first assist of her career from her middle blocker position. In a win at Georgia on Sunday, it was her presence at the net that helped fluster Georgia into 26 errors in the match with a career-high-tying eight blocks against the Bulldogs. It marks only the second time this season a UK player has logged eight or more blocks - and she has achieved them both. She also provided seven kills on a.353 hitting clip.

It's been a mixed bag for the Kentucky volleyball team this season, but as the Wildcats hit the stretch run, they're playing at a high level. Some have been unfavorable, but there likely isn't a situation the Wildcats haven't been faced with this season.

Last weekend, Kentucky found itself trailing its biggest Southeastern Conference rival, the University of Tennessee 2-0 as the two teams went into the break. After UK swept the Lady Volunteers in Memorial Coliseum earlier in the season, it looked like UT was well on the way to returning the favor.

Trailing by two sets at the break was not a new situation for the Wildcats. They had gone into the locker room facing that deficit multiple times this season, but have been unable to climb that hurdle. Florida was able to overcome that deficit when the Cats had the Gators on the ropes, trailing 2-0.

Of course, Florida had the luxury of playing in front of ots home crowd that day. The Cats, well, they were on the road playing in a building in which they they had not won since 2008.

But as you probably already know by now, the Wildcats pulled it off. They won three straight sets against Tennessee and swept the season series with the Vols for the first time since 2007.

Georgia, an up-and-coming program in the SEC East, gave the Wildcats quite a test as well as the Lady Bulldogs threatened to end Kentucky's 13-match winning streak over the Bulldogs. After UK pounded UGA by 12 points in the first set, Georgia came back and took the second set, 26-24. The Cats took the third set, then the Dogs the fourth.

In the fifth set, Kentucky flexed its road warrior muscles once more. For the second straight road match, the Cats won the decisive fifth set 15-12.

And when the dust settled, Kentucky found itself right back outside of the top-25 in the AVCA poll as the top vote-getter not to crack the list. UK sat alone in second place in the SEC East. The Cats also saw themselves ascend to No. 15 in the RPI.

Speaking of mixed bags, senior setter Christine Hartmann has had her share of variety this season. After finding herself on the bench behind freshman Morgan Bergren early the in the season, Hartmann has battled all the way back, much like her team did this weekend, to find a great deal of success.

For the second time in three weeks, Hartmann was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week after posting a near triple-double against Tennessee in which she had a career-high with nine kills, 52 assists and 11 digs. She posted another double-double against the Bulldogs, leading UK to a .338 hitting percentage for the match. That number was good for best in the league by any team in SEC play this season.

Several offensive players had great matches over the weekend, but you have to credit Hartmann for putting them in position to do so. Much credit goes to the attackers for putting the balls away, but given the .338 hitting percentage, chances are  that Hartmann was money for most if not the entire Georgia match.

Kentucky is yet to put together a really solid stretch this season. The Cats' longest winning streak of the season is just four, dating back to the early portion of the SEC schedule. Now riding a three-match win streak, the Cats can match and surpass that with SEC opponents Ole Miss and South Carolina looming this weekend back in Lexington, Ky.

While UK is likely going to continue its approach of taking the season one match at a time, it appears its toughest test will come when the Cats head back out on the road to face Arkansas. The Razorbacks dismantled an unsuspecting Wildcat team when the Hogs came to Memorial Coliseum in mid-October. The rest of the schedule looks quite favorable for UK.

A strong stretch run in its final seven matches paired with a strong RPI could do wonders for Kentucky's position in the NCAA Tournament. After a brief moment of speculation, Kentucky appears to be a lock for the Big Dance this December, and if UK handle business the rest of the way, could end up hosting and grabbing one of the top 16 seeds.

That is all, of course, if UK can find consistency and no longer produce a mixed bag of results. At this point in the season is typically where teams find their identity.

Have the Wildcats found theirs?

Only time will tell, but they have to feel confident in the direction that they are headed over the last few weeks of the season.
 

Every Tuesday, UK Athletics recognizes outstanding performances for our student-athletes. These are the honorees for the week ending Sunday, Oct. 21:

Men's soccer: Dylan Asher

Junior Dylan Asher registered a prolific week in leading the Wildcats to two crucial Conference USA wins ... With UK leading scorer and starting forward Tyler Riggs out for both games due to injury, Asher - a two-time All-Conference USA defender - made his two first career starts at forward ... He finished with his first four career goals in the two games, with the eighth hat trick in UK history during a win over FIU ... During the 1-0 win at 10-win Marshall on Wednesday, Asher scored the game-winning goal in 54th minute, his first-career tally ... In the win against FIU, Asher had a career day for the Wildcats, notching goals in the third, 41st, and 57th minute to record the eighth hat trick in Kentucky soccer history ... His goals were dynamic during the week, including a diving header for the hat trick in the 57th frame vs. FIU ... The Richardson, Texas, native fired a total of four shots in the week, connecting at a 1.000 clip with all four finding nylon ... A two-time All-Conference USA selection, a preseason All-Conference USA honoree and a freshman All-American in 2010, Asher has played in 45 games with 43 starts in his career with four goals and three assists.

Volleyball: Whitney Billings

Junior Whitney Billings provided magnificent defensive play in guiding UK to a 1-1 weekend. Billings led the team in every statistical category this week in kills (4.17), hitting percentage (.367), digs (22) and blocks (8). She paced the Wildcats in both digs and kills in both matches this week including a five-block, 14-dig performance in a 3-0 win over LSU. She also provided an offensive spark with a team-high 16 kills on a blazing .481 hitting clip for her 23rd career double-double and the 10th of the season against the Tigers. She logged 32 serve-receive chances and did not commit a single error in that category. The win over LSU marked the 10th time this season the junior topped 10-or more digs and just the third time with five or more blocks. For the week she was well over her season averages in both digs (3.67 vs. 2.70) and blocks (1.33 vs. 0.87).

Football: Landon Foster

Foster was key for Kentucky in switching field position, launching six punts and pinning UGA inside its own 20-yard line three times. Foster averaged 44.5 yards per punt against the Bulldogs while also drilling a 53-yarder. He also did not have a touchback. Individually, Foster ranks fifth in the conference and 21st nationally in punting with a 43.1-yard average. He is third among true freshman punters in the nation and first in the conference in that category. As a team, Kentucky sits 20th in the nation and fifth in the Southeastern Conference in net punting at 39.95 yards per punt.

Women's soccer: Arin Gilliland

Sophomore Arin Gilliland continued her stellar season, capturing the game-winning goal vs. South Carolina on Friday night in a 1-0 defensive showcase and also scoring in Sunday's 2-1 come-from-behind win over Auburn. Gilliland has now scored a point in five of Kentucky's last six games, including scoring a goal in each of the last three games, with two game winners.

Women's soccer: Olivia Jester

Freshman Olivia Jester picked a perfect time to score her first-career goal, as the Cincinnati, Ohio native tallied the game-winning goal on Sunday afternoon in a 2-1 win over Auburn. Jester has played over 1,400 minutes this season and has started in every game this season. The goal was a header off an Alyssa Telang corner kick, and helped guide UK to its fourth-straight win.

Rifle: Henri Junghänel

Senior Henri Junghänel recorded a historic performance in Kentucky's record-breaking win over No. 4 Army. Contributing to Kentucky's 4716, a new school record, Junghänel bested the previous smallbore program high with a 592. The previous school record, held by Junghänel, was 590. Junghänel added a 594 in air rifle to bring his aggregate score to 1186, also a new program best. Two days earlier, Junghänel led the Wildcats to a 4676 - 4605 win over No. 10 Murray State. Junghänel recorded team highs in smallbore and air rifle, shooting a 587 in smallbore and 590 in air rifle. Through three matches, Junghänel leads the team in smallbore scoring average (589.5) and air rifles scoring average (591.7) on the year.

Women's soccer: Kayla King

After a weekend in which Kayla King recorded back-to-back shutouts, the Louisville, Ky., native backed it up with a 2-0-0 weekend in net, in which she made seven saves and also shutout South Carolina on Friday night. Until Auburn finally got a shot past the line, King went 322 minutes in the cage without allowing a goal. In addition, Auburn missed a PK while King was in net that would have given AU the 2-0 lead in the opening half of play.

Football
- UK's rushing attack was solid against a tough UGA defense, posting a season-best 206 rushing yards on 43 carries. Jonathan George led the way with a career-high 87 yards on 12 carries, while Morgan Newton and Raymond Sanders had rushing touchdowns. Newton also threw a touchdown pass to Aaron Boyd, while starting quarterback Jalen Whitlow threw for 86 yards, rushed for 31 yards and caught a 33-yard pass.
- Kentucky entered the game having played the toughest schedule in the nation, according to three of the computer rating used in the official BCS rankings. Georgia was Kentucky's fifth top-25 opponent this season. The Wildcats are using a young squad against the best teams in the nation, ranking top-five nationally in true freshmen played, and frosh (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen) played this season.

Volleyball
- Junior Whitney Billings led the way for the Wildcats with an average of 4.17 kills, 3.67 digs and 1.33 blocks per set for the week. She logged her 23rd career double-double with 16 kills and 14 digs against the Tigers.
- Senior Ashley Frazier was named a Senior CLASS award finalist during the week. She is the first player in school history to advance to the final 10 seniors for the prestigious award.

Women's soccer
- Sophomore Arin Gilliland has scored a point in five of the last six games for UK, including scoring a goal in each of the last three games, with two game-winners.
- Goalkeeper Kayla King recorded her third-straight shutout Friday night in a 1-0 win before allowing her only goal of the weekend to Auburn, snapping her 322-minute scoreless streak in net. King now stands at 11-2-0 in the net.
- The win Sunday over AU was UK's fourth-straight SEC win. It is the first time since 2006 that UK has won four-straight SEC games.

Men's soccer
- Kentucky (8-6-1, Conference USA 3-1-1) posted a 6-1 goal margin in its two games, as the Wildcats got the first career goal from veteran Dylan Asher against Marshall, as well as Asher's hat-trick, and Kentucky's eighth all-time, vs. FIU. Senior midfielder Charley Pettys netted a goal vs. FIU off of a handball in the box allowed him to take the penalty kick.

Rifle
- Kentucky set numerous program records in Sunday's win over Army, including total aggregate score (4716), total smallbore score (2348), individual aggregate score and individual smallbore score.
- Senior Henri Junghanel recorded a historic Sunday as an individual, posting a program-best 1186 total score and another program-record 592 in smallbore.

Women's tennis
- Freshmen Nadia Ravita and Kirsten Lewis had impressive outings in West Lafayette, Ind. The duo went 2-1 in doubles competition. Lewis advanced to the round of 32 while Ravita won two matches to make it to the quarterfinals of singles play.

Men's tennis
- The men's tennis team was in Memphis, Tenn., this weekend competing in the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Indoor Championships.
- Jomby and freshman Kevin Lai have earned a spot in the doubles championship match on Monday at 10:00 a.m. ET. Lai and Jomby are the No. 2 seed in the draw, and will face No. 1 overall seeded John Collins and Mikelis Lieibtis of Tennessee.

Men's golf
- The UK men's golf team finished tied for second at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate, shooting 11-under-par.
- Sophomore Will Bishop was the individual champion, carding a 2-under-par, 70 for the tournament.

Cross country
- Cally Macumber was named SEC Cross Country Athlete of the Week for the second time in a row on Tuesday.
- The Rochester Hills, Mich., native's 6K time of 20:09.0 at Pre-Nationals currently ranks as the best time in the conference this season at that distance.
- Macumber and Oswald led Kentucky to 12th-place overall in Louisville.

Swimming and diving
- Kentucky's lone victory of the swimming meet came from sophomore Lucas Gerotto who took home first in the 100-butterfly (49.70).
- The diving team had a strong opening meet with multiple victories. Junior Greg Ferrucci won the three-meter event with a score of 423.5 while senior John Fox placed fourth 332.50. Ferrucci also claimed second in the one-meter dive (361.95). For the women, in the one meter diving event Rebecca Hamperian took first for the Cats with a score of 298.35, while Sarah Chewning followed her in second scoring 282.20. Christa Cabot took first place with a final score of 308.05 in three meter diving.

Upcoming schedule

Monday, Oct. 22
Men's tennis at USTA/ITA Regional Indoor (Memphis, Tenn.)

Wednesday, Oct. 24
Men's basketball Blue-White game - 7:00 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 25
Women's soccer hosts Vanderbilt - 7:00 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 26
Cross country at SEC Championships - 7:00 p.m. (Nashville, Tenn.)
Volleyball at Tennessee - 7:00 p.m.
Women's tennis at Knoxville Hidden (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Swimming and diving at Missouri (Arkansas, Missouri, SIU) - 2:00 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 27
Women's tennis at Knoxville Hidden (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Men's soccer at Tulsa - 8:00 p.m.
Football at Missouri - 12:00 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 28
Volleyball at Georgia - 1:30 p.m.
Rifle hosts Tennessee-Martin
Women's tennis at Knoxville Hidden (Knoxville, Tenn.)
Women's golf at Alamo Invitational (San Antonio, Texas)

Highlights, post-match with Craig Skinner


Lauren O'Conner - Outside hitter

The weekend didn't go particularly as planned for Kentucky. With two Southeastern Conference opponents coming into town in Arkansas and Louisiana State, Kentucky hoped to defend its home court and bolster its SEC record.

Then came Friday night when Arkansas came into Memorial Coliseum and stunned the Wildcats, leaving with a 3-0 win.

But as the Wildcats have been able to do often this season, they bounced back right away on Sunday and atoned for their loss to Louisiana State earlier in the season with sweep of the Tigers. It was a much-needed win for the Wildcats' psyche after Friday's match.

"It's always important to respond after not getting the win you want on Friday night," said Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner. "LSU has been very good over the last couple of weeks and it was important for us to jump on them early. Our blocking defense did a good job of that."

It looked like Kentucky would be in for another battle early on. The Tigers came out firing early and the first set appeared eerily similar to Friday night. But UK never wavered and continued to fight back as the first set went back and forth. Led by the efforts of sophomore outside hitter Lauren O'Conner, who pitched in seven first-set kills, Kentucky created some distance from LSU towards the end of the set.

Kentucky's defense was also instrumental in winning the first set 25-19 victory over the Tigers. The Wildcats were physical at the net from the onset of the match, including six blocks of their eight blocks in the first set led by junior Alexandra Morgan's three.

"Their offense is really fast, especially the middles," said O'Conner. "It was definitely important to get back with them and get back to base and be up on them to get blocks and get touches."

The second set was a forgettable one for both teams early on. Each team committed several unforced errors early as they traded points once more. But Kentucky would manage to clean things up.

Grabbing an 11-7 lead in the second set, Kentucky forced former Kentucky head coach and current LSU head coach Fran Flory into taking a timeout. That didn't slow the Cats down much as Whitney Billings continued UK's dominance at the net and blocked another LSU attacker.

While Billings was discouraging LSU attackers, she was infuriating their defenders in the second set with eight of her team-high 16 kills after tallying just two in the first set.

The Tigers looked to have something cooking near the end of the second frame as they pulled to within two points of the Cats at 18-16. It would be too little, too late, however, as the Wildcats rallied to put the Tigers down 25-18 in the second.

It looked as if LSU would make some noise in the third set and try to hop back into the match. The Tigers got off to the exact start that they had hoped, jumping out in front to a 12-6 lead. The 12-6 lead turned into 15-8, and it felt like LSU was going to cruise to a third set win.

Not so fast.

As Kentucky had seen earlier this season, even a 2-0 set lead isn't safe, so in order to ensure a win, the Cats decided that three sets would be enough on this day. The Wildcats, fueled by a 7-0 run and a great serving display from senior libero Stephanie Klefot, came all the way back to take a 23-20 lead late in the third set.

The Cats would grab a 24-22 match-point opportunity, and on her 32nd attempt of the match, O'Conner put the hammer down for her 14th kill of the match to give the Wildcats the three-set sweep.

O'Conner and Billings were huge for Kentucky all day, and were instrumental in their comeback effort in the third set, but Billings' was particularly more impressive with her defense. She picked up her eighth double-double of the season with a match-high 14 digs to go along with her team-leading 16 kills. Klefot and senior setter Christine Hartmann kicked in 13 digs apiece as well.

It was an impressive victory for the Cats, especially after Friday's disappointing result. Skinner was particularly proud of his team's bounce-back effort Sunday afternoon.

"I was proud by the fact that we were able to come back and make plays at the end," said Skinner. "We had a nice serving run at the end that gave us some momentum. Something definitely to feel good about."