Sept. 24, 2008

LEXINGTON, Ky. –

Kentucky is in the midst of an eight-match winning streak, and will take that on the road this weekend in SEC play. UK travels to Georgia and LSU for their first tests in conference play outside of Memorial Coliseum. Here’s an update on some notable achievements thus far into the season.

UK Team Notes

• Kentucky is 33-6 in the past three seasons at home in Memorial Coliseum, including 9-1 this season.
• Kentucky coach Craig Skinner now holds an all-time record of 69-36 overall, the fifth most wins in school history. He needs just 10 more wins to move into fourth place on the all-time list.
• Under Skinner’s direction, the Wildcats are 33-14 against teams not comprising the Southeastern Conference.
• Skinner has led his team to a 36-22 record in SEC play.
• The Wildcats’ eight-match winning streak is the longest stretch of victories since an eight-match winning streak in 1993.
• The last time UK knocked off opening weekend SEC opponents with sweeps was in 1989, which they achieved with 3-0 wins over Alabama and Mississippi State this season.
• Kentucky now holds a 35-1 all-time record over Mississippi State, the best record against any SEC opponent.
• The Wildcats rank first in the SEC with 12.60 assists per set and 2.69 blocks per set. The team is second in the conference with a .274 hitting percentage, a .145 opponent hitting percentage and 13.91 kills per set. They rank fourth in the SEC with 1.53 serving aces per set and 14.53 digs per set.
• UK’s 13 aces against Western Carolina are the most aces in a match this season in the SEC.
• Kentucky’s 18 rejections against Albany are the most blocks in a match this season in the SEC.

UK Individual Notes

• Junior Sarah Rumely has moved into fourth place all-time at Kentucky with 3,487 assists for her career. Rumely has also taken over ninth in the UK record books for service aces with 110. She needs just four more aces to tie Jill Ackerman for eighth place all-time.
• Rumely leads the SEC with 10.73 assists per set. She also ranks sixth in the league with 0.38 serving aces per set.
• Senior Queen Nzenwa holds UK’s record for block assists and now has 480 for her career. She also ranks third all-time at Kentucky with a .337 hitting percentage.
• Nzenwa’s 480 block assists ranks seventh all-time in the SEC. She needs 15 more to tie sixth-place Lisa Smith from LSU (495).
• Nzenwa ranks in the top-10 in the SEC in hitting percentage and blocks again this season. Currently, she is second in the SEC with a .372 hitting percentage and fourth in the conference with 1.11 blocks per set in her senior year.
• Sophomore Sarah Mendoza earned the SEC Offensive Player of the Week award after the Alabama and Mississippi State matches. It’s the second weekly honor of her career, as she was named SEC Freshman of the Week once in her first season.
• Mendoza tallied 14 digs in the win over Alabama—which was a career-high.
• Mendoza’s 17 kills against Maryland is the most in a three-set match in the SEC this season.
• Mendoza ranks sixth in the SEC averaging 3.33 kills per set.
• Junior BriAnne Sauer’s 23 digs against Alabama was a career-high for a three-set match. It also leads the SEC for most digs in a three-set match this season.
• Sauer’s 27 digs against Albany is the most digs in a four-set match in the SEC this season.
• Sauer leads the conference with 4.53 digs per set.
• Sophomore Lauren Rapp has tallied two double-doubles this season. She set career-highs with 17 kills against St. John’s and 13 digs against Pittsburgh.
• Rapp ranks sixth in the conference with a .331 hitting percentage, and ninth in the SEC with 3.11 kills per set.
• Freshman Becky Pavan is among the leaders in the SEC as well. Pavan is ninth with a .316 hitting percentage and ninth with 1.00 blocks per set.