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Kentucky Travels to Tennessee Aiming for SEC Title
Squads will compete for NCAA automatic qualification for SEC
LEXINGTON,
Ky. – The 16th-ranked Kentucky volleyball team travels to 15th-ranked
Tennessee aiming for a share of the Southeastern Conference
championship in the regular season finale for both teams on Wednesday
night. With a victory, UK would earn the SEC’s automatic berth into the
NCAA Tournament.
Tennessee has already clinched at least a
share of the SEC crown with a 26-3 overall record and an 18-1 mark in
league action. The Lady Vols’ lone loss of the season came at the hands
of the Kentucky Wildcats in a five-set thriller in Lexington on Oct. 12.
UK
owns a 26-4 overall mark and a 17-2 clip in league play. With a win
over the Lady Vols, the two squads would share the conference title,
but UK would receive the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA
Tournament based on head-to-head meetings.
Kentucky is
coming off a dramatic five-set match against Arkansas on Sunday during
the team’s Senior Day festivities. UK responded to a 2-0 hole to claim
the victory in five sets of play by winning the final three frames. It
marked the first time this season the Blue and White responded to a 2-0
deficit and came back to win. However, the Wildcats improved to 6-0 on
the season when the match needs five sets to determine.
Senior
Gretchen Giesler provided a spark to the offensive effort for UK with
six kills on a team-high .417 hitting percentage over the final three
stanzas. Classmate Becky Pavan aided the UK defensive charge with seven
blocks to lead UK to a season-high 15 rejections in a five-set match.
Junior
Ashley Frazier posted 10 or more kills for the 21st time this season
with a team-high 15 hammers in the victory over the Razorbacks.
Sophomore Jessi Greenberg paced the back-line defensive unit for the
first time in her career with 16 digs. Sophomore Whitney Billings’
continued her impressive play down the stretch with her third
double-double in UK’s last four matches. Billings notched 12 kills and
13 digs in a winning effort.
Kentucky’s offensive rhythm
runs through the hands of junior setter Christine Hartmann. Hartmann
passes out 11.0 assists per frame and finds six different Wildcat
attackers for between 2.20 and 3.15 kills per set. UK’s offense ranks
among the league leaders in kills per frame, assists and hitting
percentage.
UK’s blocking effort is tops in the SEC with
an average of 2.53 blocks per set. Pavan leads the way with an average
of 1.04 per set. Kentucky, however, has six players record 0.53 blocks
per set or more for another all-around dynamic.
The
Wildcats’ fourth 20-win season in seven seasons under the direction of
Craig Skinner can also be attributed to UK’s exceptional serve-receive
stats. The Blue and White post an average of 1.35 aces per set, but
allow just 0.76 aces per frame. Kentucky’s passing effort is
exceptional with a .961 clip with opponents managing just a .934
percentage.
The Lady Vols are paced by the reigning SEC
Player of the Week in Kelsey Robinson. Robinson leads the league with
4.50 kills per set and more than five points per frame. Freshman
Tiffany Baker earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors following wins
over Arkansas and LSU. Baker averages 2.40 kills per set a 0.59 blocks
per stanza. The Lady Vols’ defensive effort is paced by 1.13 blocks per
stanza from DeeDee Harrison.
Both offenses rank as the
top-two in the league, and both have a balanced attack setting up
another epic showdown between the border-state rivals.
In a match
that featured two top-25 ranked teams, a pair of conference leaders and
two dynamic offenses, 1,959 fans at Memorial Coliseum were not
disappointed in an exhilarating five-set match in which Kentucky
outlasted Tennessee 3-2 (26-24, 24-26, 25-20, 24-26, 15-13) on Oct. 12.
The
back-and-forth battled featured a total of 37 tie scores and 19 lead
changes in five sets of action with none closer than the final fifth
frame. The two teams battled through seven knotted scores and four lead
swaps before Kentucky finally prevailed with the 15-13 final margin.
"Statistically
before the match, you think it's going to be a great match," Skinner
said. "It was because statistically we do the same thing. When you look
at it, it was (even), 65 kills to 63 kills, 34 errors to 33 errors.
Defense is what made a big difference for us. With eight serving aces
compared to zero, five more digs and five more blocks, you've got to
play good defense against very good teams, which Tennessee is. I think
that was a big difference in the game."
UK's defensive effort
once again proved the difference in the match as the Wildcats totaled
13 blocks led by six from Billings. Kentucky limited Tennessee's
high-octane offense to a .164 hitting clip and forced the Lady Vols
into 33 attacking errors. Klefot anchored the back line with 21 scoops
as three players reached double-figures. Freshman Lauren O'Conner
posted a career-high 12 scoops and Hartmann added a career-best 16.
Freshman Jackie Napper posted eight digs and Greenberg contributed six
to the Wildcat cause.
Hartmann led the offense by dishing out 53
assists to post her second double-double effort of the season. Four
different Wildcats posted 10 or more hammers in the match for the
second time this season. Pavan led the way with 16 kills on .306
hitting. Billings was next with 15, followed by 11 each from senior Ann
Armes and Frazier.
UK's serving was also spectacular in the
match with the Blue and White posting eight points off of serves.
Frazier notched a career-high five aces.
The match with the Lady Vols wraps up regular season action for Kentucky. UK will learn its NCAA fate on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.
Kentucky's
Memorial Coliseum will play host to the NCAA Regionals Dec. 9-10. UK is
one of four sites selected for Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups with
one team advancing to the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, from the
Lexington Region. Opening night matches are scheduled for 5 and 7 p.m.
ET. Saturday’s final is set for a 4:30 p.m. ET first serve.
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