Sept. 28, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky will complete its three-match road swing with a mid-week date at Tennessee on Wednesday, Sept. 29. The match is set for an 8 p.m. ET start and will be aired live on ESPNU and ESPN3.com.
UK (8-6, 2-2) earned a dramatic come-from-behind victory at Georgia on Sunday. Trailing 2-0, Kentucky staved off match-point twice in the third set to claim a 28-26 win and continue the match. The Wildcats would then rally to capture the next two sets and preserve a 10-match winning streak over the Bulldogs. Senior Blaire Hiler was sensational in leading UK to the win at Georgia and help UK improve to 2-2 in SEC action. Hiler set career highs in kills (18) and blocks (seven) in UK’s victory. She also posted a .245 hitting clip on a career-high 53 attempts in the win.
Tennessee owns a 10-3 overall record and a 2-2 clip in SEC action. The Lady Volunteers are currently ranked No. 23 in the country despite losing two of their last three matches. Tennessee is led by All-SEC player Nikki Fowler who charts 3.64 kills per set on .318 hitting. Fowler has also totaled 10 service aces and 29 blocks on the year.
The Lady Volunteers have earned three consecutive wins in the series. Kentucky leads the overall series by a 40-26 margin. The last win over the Lady Vols came in Knoxville on Oct. 1, 2008 when Becky Pavan had 10 blocks in the win. In all eight of the previous matches extra sets has been needed to determine a winner.
In last year’s dramatic season finale, Kentucky came back from a 2-0 hole to force a deciding fifth frame. UK had match-point at 14-10, but the Lady Vols rallied to score the next six points and win 16-14 and take the match.
With Kentucky trailing by two sets the Wildcats put together a spectacular comeback effort to force a deciding fifth frame only to come up short in the final set when Tennessee claimed a 16-14 fifth set win to take the match. Tennessee captured the 3-2 (25-16, 25-14, 24-26, 17-25, 16-14) win.
Hiler matched a then career-high with 14 kills, while Lauren Rapp posted 12 and Gretchen Giesler added 10. Tennessee limited UK’s high-octane offense to just a .171 hitting percentage. It was the second time in 2009 the Lady Vols’ defense got the better of the Wildcats as Tennessee was the only team to keep Kentucky under a .200 hitting percentage.
Follow along all season long with the Wildcats at UKathletics.com.
