Nov. 1, 2001
LEXINGTON, Ky. –
Tennessee Game Notes
Kentucky will look to take over sole possesion of third place in the SEC East with two wins over Tennessee this weekend. The Cats and Vols are currently deadlocked with five wins and five losses a piece in league play. Should one team sweep the other this weekend, that team would gain ownership of the third-place spot.
Both teams swept Ole Miss and Mississippi State last weekend to move to 5-5 in league play. UK’s trip to Starkville, Miss., was highlighted by a 10-for-12 showing from senior April Barnhorst for a career-high .833 hitting percentage.
UK’s .366 team percentage against the Bulldogs also was a season best and helped lead the Wildcats to a 3-0 win over MSU. On Friday, Kentucky gave up the first game to Ole Miss before correcting some errors and taking the match, 3-1.
Barnhorst looks to move into the UK record books this weekend as well. The middle blocker needs just nine block assists to take over 10th place on UK’s all-time BA leader list.
The Cats are currently deadlocked with the Volunteers for sixth place in the conference with identical 5-5 league records.
UT is coming off a three-win week which saw the Vols take down Middle Tennessee State, 3-1, in a mid-week match before sweeping the Mississippi schools over the weekend.Senior outside hitter Ariana Wilson is second in the SEC in overall hitting percentage, averaging a .400 mark. Fellow senior Erica Lear holds first place in assists in all games, averaging 12.61 per game. Junior Kelli Scott is second in the SEC in service aces per game with her 0.67 average.
Kentucky leads the series with UT, 35-13, and recorded the last win in the series on Nov. 12, 2000, with a 3-1 win in Lexington. Just two days earlier, the Vols won the first match in the series by the same score.
The Volunteers are coached by Rob Patrick, who is in his fifth year at the helm of the UT program.
