Sept. 4, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 18 Kentucky volleyball team rolled to a 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-20) sweep of Murray State in the opening match of the Indiana Adidas Classic Friday. The Wildcats improved to 4-0 on the young season with the victory.
UK was paced by the dominating serving of senior Sarah Rumely who tied a career-high with six service aces in the victory. With the six additional tallies she now has 148 for her career, which is second all-time in the UK record books. She trails just Krista Robinson who totaled 159 for her career.
Rumely guided the Wildcat offense to a .274 attack percentage and 47 kills, as she registered 38 assists for the match. Two UK outside hitters totaled 10 or more kills with junior Sarah Mendoza leading the way with 14. Sophomore Ann Armes put down 10 for her fourth career match with double-figure kills. Sophomore Becky Pavan contributed seven for the day and also led the way at the net defensively registering a team-best three blocks.
In the back row, freshman Stephanie Klefot paced the Blue and White with a team-high nine digs. Mendoza had eight and senior BriAnne Sauer picked up seven scoops.
To open the first set Murray State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, but Kentucky would fire back behind the play of Rumely. The senior was in on the first three UK points including a kill and a pair of service aces. From that point on it was a back-and-forth battle between the two Bluegrass state schools. Murray State took a one-point edge at 24-23, however the Wildcats would score three consecutive points to capture the first set. Pavan was instrumental in that run throwing down a kill and then teaming up for consecutive blocks to end the stanza in the Blue and White’s favor.
Mendoza paced the attack with five kills, while Armes added three. Of the four blocks registered in the set, Pavan was in on three of them.
The Wildcats wasted little time in jumping out to an early lead in the second frame behind an authoritative performance by Mendoza. The junior outside hitter was responsible for eight kills in the set, including the final two points of the frame. Armes chipped in with four kills in the set, as the Wildcat offense finally found its rhythm and was never threatened by the scrappy Racers.
UK used a dominating .485 hitting percentage in the second set, led by Mendoza’s impressive .615 average. Rumely was at her best with 15 assists while adding her fourth service ace of the match. Klefot contributed four digs in the stanza to pace the back row.
Kentucky dominated the third set jumping out to a 4-0 lead and never once trailed. The sophomore class picked up steam in the final set as Pavan led the way with five kills and Gretchen Giesler pitched in with four. With the score at 18-10 in favor of the Blue and White, Murray State scored three consecutive points before Pavan ended the run with a powerful slam and UK never looked back.
UK returns to action this evening at 7 p.m. ET. Kentucky will face the homestanding Indiana Hoosiers at University Gym.
Complete coverage of the Wildcats at the Indiana Adidas Classic can be found at UKathletics.com. Live stats are available for every match at the official site of the Kentucky Wildcats.
