Sept. 11, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – In the most impressive offensive output of the season, the No. 16 Kentucky volleyball team used a .316 hitting percentage to cruise to a 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-17) sweep of Virginia Commonwealth during the morning session of the UK Invitational.
Kentucky (5-4) had three players strike for 10 kills while setter Christine Hartmann dished out 36 assists en route to UK’s most dominating offense performance of the season. Senior Lauren Rapp, junior Becky Pavan and freshman Whitney Billings each charted 10 kills to lead the way. Senior Blaire Hiler added seven hammers and a career-best nine digs. UK totaled 44 kills with just 14 errors for a .316 hitting clip for the match.
Sophomore Stephanie Klefot paced the back-line defense with 12 digs and has now reached double figures in that category in all nine matches played this season.
The Wildcats captured a 25-20 opening set victory after Pavan began the match with a sizzling offensive display of six kills on .750 hitting in the first stanza. The Wildcats scored the first four points of the set after benefiting from a pair of VCU miscues and consecutive kills from Pavan. The Rams would rally back and knot the score at seven apiece. UK’s answer was a 7-2 run capped off by a kill from Billings to stretch its lead to 14-9. The stanza ended with a thunderous hammer from Rapp.
Rapp paced the offense with six kills in the second set as UK took a 2-0 lead into the locker room behind a 25-23 victory. UK fought off a 4-0 defect to climb back into things at 12-12. Kentucky would grab its first lead of the frame at 15-14 after a kill from Hiler. VCU continued to fight and saved set point on three occasions before Rapp lifted the Blue and White once again with a set-clinching kill.
Kentucky used its most dominating effort in the final set to clinch the 3-0 victory. The Blue and White charted a match-high .375 hitting clip and 15 kills in the final stanza to win easily at 25-17. Billings totaled six kills in the set to lead the way.Pavan opened the scoring with a kill and the Wildcats would earn a 3-0 advantage it would never relinquish. VCU kept things interesting in the early portion of the set tying the score on eight different occasions, but UK broke open a 15-15 tie and closed out the set on a 10-2 run. UK charted five kills in that stretch and forced the Rams into three miscues in the run including the final play of the match.
Kentucky will conclude action at the UK Invitational this evening with a matchup against Kansas State at 5 p.m. ET.
Follow along all season long with the Wildcats at UKathletics.com.
