Aug. 30, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 13th-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team used a .367 hitting percentage for the match to claim a 3-0 win over the Kentucky Wildcats Saturday night in Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats added a .232 hitting percentage in a match that saw a lot of offense on the night. The Badgers won by the scores of 25-21, 25-19, 25-22, to hand UK its first loss of the season.
Kentucky (2-1, 0-0) was led by sophomore Sarah Mendoza who enjoyed three consecutive matches with 10 or more kills this weekend after putting down 10 kills in tonight’s match. Freshman Becky Pavan had an outstanding collegiate debut in three matches as she recorded 22 kills, seven aces and six blocks for the tournament. Sophomore Lauren Rapp tallied 25 kills and eight blocks and recorded her second career double-double effort in the win over Pittsburgh Friday night.
In a match that was not indicative of the final score, Kentucky and Wisconsin opened the match trading points back and forth when the Badgers’ Audra Jeffers evened the score at 17 with a kill in the first set. Consecutive kills by Wisconsin gave them a 19-17 edge, but Kentucky fired back on a Pavan kill. That’s when Wisconsin rattled off five unanswered points to take a 23-18 lead they would not relinquish. Pavan helped bridge the gap with another kill making the score 23-19. An attack error by the visitors gave UK back-to-back points. Wisconsin edged toward set point, but Pavan put down her fifth kill of the frame to hold off the visitors at 24-21. Wisconsin’s Katherine Dykstra’s kill ended the first set with the visitors taking a 1-0 edge.
In the second set, Kentucky got behind early trailing by as much as 8-3 to start the set. Two Wisconsin miscues and a kill by senior Queen Nzenwa pulled the score to 8-5. Kentucky would rally behind aggressive defense and a smart offensive attack to knot the score at 14-14 on a Pavan service ace. But, the Badgers’ offensive firepower proved to be too much as the Wildcats would not get any closer the rest of the way. Wisconsin notched a match-high .433 hitting clip in the second frame putting the home squad behind by two sets headed into the break.
UK started off the third set by taking an early 3-0 edge behind an ace and a kill by junior Sarah Rumely. The Wildcats stayed in control until the score evened at 10 a piece. Kentucky then appeared to be pulling away when they took a 17-13 lead off an attacking error by Wisconsin. The Badgers took a timeout to end the Kentucky rally and came back to tie the score at 18.
Freshman Ann Armes’ gave UK a 22-21 lead when she laced a kill down the line for the home squad. The match ended in favor of the Badgers after two of the final three points were scored on Kentucky errors.
“Wisconsin has a lot of talent and is a very good team” said head coach Craig Skinner. “I didn’t think we showed the toughness and passion down the stretch that we had against Pittsburgh. We had some opportunities at the end of all three sets, but we just didn’t capitalize on our chances.”
UK’s BriAnne Sauer led the defense with 14 digs on the night. Rumely added 24 assists and eight digs to go along with six kills. Nzenwa chipped in with five kills and four blocks.
“Wisconsin is a top-15 program every year,” Skinner said. “UK is right there with them, now we just need to start going out and proving that.”
Kentucky returns to action Tuesday night, when they play host to Morehead State in Memorial Coliseum. Game time is slated for a 7 p.m. start. Live stats and complete coverage of the match can be found at UKathletics.com.
Kentucky Classic All-Tournament Team
Audra Jeffers, Wisconsin
Lauren Rapp, Kentucky
Sarah Rumely, Kentucky
Amy Town, Pittsburgh
Katherine Dykstra, Wisconsin
Liz Rondone, Western Carolina
MVP: Brittney Dolgner, Wisconsin
