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No. 16 Kentucky Begins Weekend With Sweep of LSU
Frazier unleashes for 10 kills on a .500 hitting percentage
LEXINGTON,
Ky. – Behind a tremendous offensive performance from junior Ashley
Frazier and a strong blocking presence from senior Ann Armes the
16th-ranked Kentucky volleyball team earned a 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-21)
sweep of visiting LSU on Friday night in Memorial Coliseum in front of
1,378 fans.
With the victory, Kentucky improves to 25-4
overall on the season and a 16-2 mark in conference action. LSU drops
to 18-10 overall and 11-7 against Southeastern Conference opponents. UK
will return to action with a 1:30 p.m. ET matchup against Arkansas on
Sunday. Prior to the match, UK will honor Armes, Gretchen Giesler and
Becky Pavan in a traditional Senior Day ceremony. The trio ranks as the
all-time winningest class in a four-year span in school history with a
.770 career-winning clip.
“We were ready today,” UK coach
Craig Skinner said. “We had a really good week of practice leading up
to the game tonight, and I was really happy with our performance. The
first two sets, we were really smart attacking.”
In the
opening two frames the Blue and White notched 25 kills and committed a
mere two errors as a unit for a near .400 hitting percentage. UK
finished the match with 37 kills and a .276 clip led by 10 kills and a
.500 percentage from Frazier.
Armes paved the way
defensively with a match-high five block assists in leading the
conference’s top blocking unit which totaled eight for the match.
Sophomore
Whitney Billings narrowly missed on her third consecutive double-double
effort with nine kills and nine digs as well as a pair of aces.
Freshman Lauren O’Conner added six kills and Pavan registered five to
aid the Wildcat cause. Junior setter Christine Hartmann passed out 29
assists and added a trio of kills to the offensive effort.
Junior
libero Stephanie Klefot kept her streak alive with 10 or more digs in
every SEC match with 11 scoops in the victory. Freshman Jackie Napper
added 11 digs and has now reached double-figures in the digs column in
both victories over the Tigers this season. Sophomore Jessi Greenberg
contributed eight digs in the quality defensive effort by the Blue and
White.
Kentucky jumped out to an early advantage behind an
opening 25-15 set victory. UK charted 13 kills on a sizzling .429
hitting percentage with Billings connecting on five kills for an
unbelievable .714 clip.
Billings began the scoring rally
with a kill followed by the match’s first serving ace. Pavan then added
a kill for the early 3-0 lead that LSU would never threaten. Kentucky
maintained a steady advantage throughout much of the frame, but the
Tigers would pull back to within two at 16-14.
With the
Tigers attempting to make the most out of its run, UK responded
convincingly with a 9-1 span to end the set. Billings and Frazier both
posted a pair of kills, while Frazier teamed up with Armes for the
match’s first block to highlight the stretch. The stanza ended in the
same fashion it began with a Billings’ kill.
The second
set saw four ties and a lead exchange before the Wildcats earned a 2-0
advantage into the locker room with a 25-19 second set victory. UK
notched 12 kills on a .333 hitting clip and limited LSU to a mere .067
attacking percentage behind a trio of rejections.
LSU
opened the scoring, but a solo put-back by Billings quickly tied the
score at one. Kentucky secured a lead with back-to-back kills from
Pavan and Armes to grab a 6-4 advantage it would never relinquish.
Kentucky’s defense forced the Tigers into its 12th miscue of the stanza
for the set’s winning point.
UK once again jumped out to
an early 3-0 advantage to open the third frame behind a pair of kills
from Pavan and Hartmann. Kentucky earned a six-point edge at 10-4 after
forcing the third LSU misfire of the early going. The Tigers would come
back to tie the score at 12, but once again the Wildcats would respond.
Following a timeout, Pavan slammed down a kill and Billings earned
another timely service ace to give UK a 15-12 lead.
LSU
would not go away, however, and clawed back to tie things at 15.
Frazier answered with a kill and then Armes and Hartmann teamed up for
the second block of the stanza. Armes and Frazier then combined for a
block and Armes followed with a kill to stretch the lead to four at
20-16 in favor of the home team. LSU would pull back to within two at
23-21, but Kentucky scored the final two points to claim the match.
O’Conner and Giesler teamed up for the set’s fourth rejection and
Frazier closed out her impressive offensive performance with her 10th
kill of the night for the clinching point.
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