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No. 16 Kentucky Returns Home for Final Home Matches
Kentucky will play LSU and Arkansas in remaining two home matches of regular season
LEXINGTON,
Ky. – The 16th-ranked Kentucky volleyball team plays its final two
regular season home matches against Southeastern Conference opponents
LSU and Arkansas this weekend. The Wildcats will begin the weekend
hosting LSU at 7 p.m. ET on Friday and conclude with Arkansas at 1:30
p.m. ET on Sunday in Memorial Coliseum.
Kentucky enters
this weekend’s matches with a 24-4 overall record and a 15-2 standing
in SEC play, along with an 8-0 record in league matches played at home.
UK’s first match of its final home stand is against SEC Western
Division leader LSU who owns an 18-9 overall record and an 11-6 clip in
league action.
Kentucky returned home from a thrilling five-set
performance at Ole Miss in its last action. Seniors Becky Pavan and Ann
Armes, junior Ashley Frazier and sophomore Whitney Billings made
tremendous offensive efforts to help the Wildcats return with two
victories in their final two-match road swing last week.
Billings
achieved a season-high 17 kills against Ole Miss. Frazier followed with
16. Armes (13) and Pavan (11) were the other UK players to reach
double-figures in the dramatic victory. Junior setter Christine
Hartmann also made major contributions to the offensive effort with a
career-high 59 assists, while leading Kentucky to a .297 hitting
percentage.
Defensively, junior Stephanie Klefot achieved
a match-high 28 digs followed by 14 from Billings and 10 from freshman
Jackie Napper. Billings accomplished a double-double in consecutive
matches for the second time this season in wins over Ole Miss and
Alabama.
Klefot leads the Wildcats and the SEC in digs
with 494 which ranks among Kentucky’s top-10 all-time in a single
season. Kentucky also leads the league in blocks with 2.48 per set
after charting eight in a win over the Rebels.
The Tigers
currently lead the SEC Western Division and are paced by 3.54 kills per
set from Madie Jones. As a unit the Tigers post 13.90 kills per frame
and defensively chart 2.10 blocks per set led by Desiree Elliott’s 0.97.
Kentucky
swept LSU in one of the team’s more impressive offensive performances
of the season in the squads’ first matchup in Baton Rouge, La., in
early October. UK struck for 48 kills on a .385 hitting
percentage in the win.
Hartmann topped 40 assists for the third consecutive match with 41 dimes, while adding six kills of her own.
Freshman
Lauren O’Conner led the offense with 13 kills on a career-best .545
hitting percentage. She posted 10 or more kills in back-to-back
contests in wins over the Tigers and Arkansas.
Napper led a
strong defensive effort with 10 digs in the win. It marked the first
time in SEC play Napper has posted 10 or more scoops and marked the
fifth time at that point in the season she had achieved the feat.
Frazier
topped 10 or more kills for the third straight match with 10 in the
win. Pavan chipped in with eight kills and six blocks. Billings
continued to provide an exceptional all-around effort with six blocks,
six kills and eight digs in the match.
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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