Volleyball Senior Named SEC Player Of The Year

By Larry Vaught

SEC Player of the Year Madison Lilley became a “crafter” during quarantine but this week she'll be trying to help UK put together a national championship run. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Senior Madison Lilley’s amazing season earned her Southeastern Conference Player of the Year honors going into this week’s NCAA Tournament. Lilley averaged 11.9 assists and 2.32 digs per set. She had 24 service aces in 20 matches.

She was named SEC setter of the week seven times this season and player of the week five times.

However, as much as Lilley appreciates her sport and talking about it, COVID quarantine made her expand her perspective this season.

“I was diving into books, crafts, figuring out what I was passionate about outside of volleyball,” she said. “We all have our passions.”

Lilley is such an intense competitor on the court it’s hard to imagine her as a “crafter” on a regular basis.

“I try to be a crafter whether good or ugly,” Lilley laughed and said. “It is fun. It could be baking or anything. We would do banana bread and just whip out recipes that would take hours. Just something to take our minds off just the hardwood.”

Lilley and her teammates are the No. 2 seed in the NCAA volleyball championships that start this week.