STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Kentucky middle blockers Nicole Britenriker (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Queen Nzenwa (Baltimore, Md.) combined for 34 kills and 11 blocks Sunday as the Wildcats defeated Mississippi State 3-1 (30-25, 32-30, 23-30, 30-25) in the Newell-Grissom Building.
The Wildcats (17-6, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) won their 34th match against Mississippi State (9-12, 4-8) in 35 tries. The Cats snapped a three-game winning streak by the Bulldogs with the victory. Kentucky reaches the 17-win plateau for the third consecutive season for the first time since the 1991-93 campaigns.
Britenriker recorded her team-leading 14th double-double of the season with a season-high 21 digs to complement her team-leading 18 put-downs. Nzenwa had 16 kills and nine blocks. Sophomore setter Sarah Rumely (New Palestine, Ind.) dished out a squad-best 50 assists, while adding 10 digs and a career-high eight blocks for her seventh double-double of the year. Freshman outside hitter Sarah Mendoza (Orlando, Fla.) added 10 kills, while freshman right-side hitter Lauren Rapp (Indianapolis, Ind.) had nine kills. Sophomore libero BriAnne Sauer (Louisville, Ky.) had 20 digs, marking her fourth consecutive match with 20 or more digs.
Mississippi State opened to a 3-1 advantage to begin the first game before the Cats trimmed their deficit to one, 4-3, after a kill by Rapp. From there, the Bulldogs went on a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 8-3 and force Skinner to burn a timeout. Mississippi State kept rolling out of the break to go up 11-3 before a Bulldog service ace and a Rapp kill cut it to 11-5. With Kentucky trailing 13-6, Britenriker registered a kill to spark a 4-0 run by the Cats to bring the Wildcats within three, 13-10, and cause a MSU timeout. Out of the break, UK scored four consecutive points and went in front 14-13 after back-to-back blocks by Nzenwa and Rumely.
Five straight points by the Bulldogs put them in ahead 18-14 before an Nzenwa kill down the middle stopped the scoring streak. Kentucky responded with a 5-0 run of its own, ended by two Nzenwa put-downs, to move back in front 19-18. After three more ties, Britenriker teamed with Rumely for a block on the right side before registering a kill of her own to give the Cats a 25-23 advantage. With Kentucky leading 26-25, the Wildcats scored the final four points of the game, including three consecutive blocks by Nzenwa and Rumely, to close out the 30-25 win. UK hit just .152 in the opening frame, but recorded six blocks, in a game that featured eight ties and five lead changes.
Nzenwa had four kills to open game two and give the Wildcats a 4-2 advantage. Mississippi State hung around in the early going of the frame, but Kentucky went up 9-5 after back-to-back kills by Britenriker and Bartek. Ahead 9-7, the Cats scored three of the game?s next four points to take a 12-8 advantage. After the Bulldogs scored two unanswered points, Rapp and Mendoza each had a pair of kills to silence the Mississippi State rally with the Cats ahead 16-10 heading into a timeout. A put-down by Rapp out of the break completed the 5-0 run by Kentucky. The Cats kept rolling as a kill by Mendoza put them in front by eight, 20-12. Mississippi State, however, closed within four, 23-19, after an attack by Nzenwa sailed wide of the court, causing a UK timeout.
Out of the break, the Bulldogs scored two points in a row to come within two, 23-21, and force Skinner to use another timeout to regroup his squad. A Rapp kill out of the time out stopped the Mississippi State rally at 24-21. Kentucky seemed to have control of the game after using a 4-0 run to go ahead 27-21 on an Nzenwa kill. The Bulldogs, however, fought back to tie the score at 29-29 after back-to-back Kentucky attack errors and a kill by Eva Kriegel. With the score knotted at 30-all, the Bulldogs had a service error and then Britenriker recorded an ace to cap off the 32-30 victory.
The Wildcats capitalized on a pair of Mississippi State errors to open to a 4-1 advantage in game three. The Bulldogs hung tough and came tied the score at 8-8 after a Jamie Joyner ace and an Ioana Demian kill. Mississippi State extended its run to 5-0, giving the Bulldogs a 10-8 lead and forcing a Kentucky timeout. The Cats came within one on several occasions, but Mississippi State extended its lead to 14-11 after a service ace. UK hung tough, but the Bulldogs moved in front 17-13 after another ace by Jucan. Ahead 21-18, Mississippi State used a 4-0 run to go widen its margin to 25-18. The Bulldogs expanded on their 25-20 advantage and won 30-23.
The two teams battled evenly to begin game four before Mississippi State took an early 6-4 lead. Two consecutive kills by Nzenwa knotted the score at 7-all. After two more ties, the Wildcats pulled back in front 11-9 following a Britenriker put-down and an attack error by the Bulldogs. A pair of attack errors by UK tied the score at 11-11 and Mississippi State used a 3-1 run to go up 14-12. With the Cats down 16-15, Rapp registered a kill to knot the score and followed with a block solo to give UK the lead at 17-16. The Wildcats widened their margin to four, 22-18, heading into a Mississippi State break. Kentucky continued to a 28-21 advantage on a block by Nzenwa and Rumely before the Bulldogs went on a 3-0 run to whittle their deficit to four, 28-24. The Cats closed out the match with a 30-25 win on a block by Nzenwa and Rapp.
The Wildcats improve to 3-0 in televised matches this season.
Kentucky returns to action on Friday when it plays host to Auburn. Opening serve in Memorial Coliseum is set for 7:30 p.m. EDT (please note the time change) and the match will be televised live by the Big Blue Sports Network.
