Morgan Gaerte’s move back to the left side paid off in a big way for Kentucky.
After the Wildcats dropped back-to-back matches to Tennessee and Texas A&M, Gaerte helped steady things in Friday’s sweep of Missouri, which she called a “great win” for UK. Back in the outside hitter role she played for two seasons at Notre Dame before transferring to Kentucky this year, Gaerte finished with a .350 hitting percentage and 19 kills.
That total was just two shy of her season high and career high of 21, which she set in the league opener at Vanderbilt, and it was enough to earn her Southeastern Conference Player of the Week honors. Teammate Kassie O’Brien also picked up conference recognition as SEC Setter of the Week.
Gaerte talked about the lineup flexibility on WLAP Sunday Morning Sports Talk, saying it was “really cool” that coach Craig Skinner has enough depth to keep mixing things up.
“I think our bench has so much depth and that we’re able to use so many different girls for different things that it’s a little bit unconventional, but I think it’s just really worked well for our team,” Gaerte, who had seven assists, said.
She explained that the switch against Missouri came after spending the first part of the year on the right side.
“I was a right side the whole first part of the year. Against Missouri, I played outside.
I think he’s just trying some different things out. We had a lot of success with that, but we’ll just see what happens throughout the rest of the season.
But I think I’ll see myself staying over there.”
For Gaerte, the transition was hardly a big adjustment. She had already spent her Notre Dame career on the outside, and she said the comfort level was there from the start.
“Right side was a little bit newer for me this year. I’m comfortable hitting on both pins.
I think my team just gives me a lot of confidence. And Kassie did a great job setting either pin (against Missouri),” Gaerte said.
“I think it puts a lot of pressure on the other teams when we do what we did.
“I don’t think anyone knew that I’d be playing where I did outside of our team for this last game. We have so many weapons and it puts so much pressure on the blockers.
Kassie does a great job just getting the ball to different hitters. It definitely puts a lot of pressure on the other team, which kind of gives us an advantage.”
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