Wildcats Continue SEC Play with Home Match Against Mississippi State
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LEXINGTON, Ky. – After beginning the Southeastern Conference season with a sweep of Georgia, the Kentucky volleyball team will return to Memorial Coliseum for a home match with Mississippi State on Sunday. First serve is slated for 1:30 p.m. and will air live on the SEC Network+ via the WatchESPN app.
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| Kentucky Hosts Mississippi State | ||
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| Sept. 25 (1:30 p.m. ET) Lexington, Ky. Match Notes: UK 
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TV: WatchESPN.com |
The Wildcats were impressive in the 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-14) sweep. A balanced Kentucky squad held the visitors to a .043 hitting percentage and racked up 52 digs during the contest. On the attack, UK had a three-set season-high 48 kills while hitting .268. Freshman Leah Edmond once again paced the Wildcats with 16 kills while junior Kaz Brown followed with 13.
The Kentucky win over Georgia marked the fifth-straight sweep for the Wildcats. In addition, UK has also taken down UGA, Virginia, Saint Louis, Louisville and Lipscomb during the winning streak. Kentucky has 205 kills while hitting .305 in this span, while holding its opponents to 142 kills with a .068 hitting percentage. On defense, UK has piled up 106 block assists and six block solos and has 14.1 digs per set. Leading the way individually on the attack is Edmond, who is averaging 4.33 kills per frame while hitting .350. Junior libero Ashley Duesk is pacing the defense with 4.33 digs per set and Brown is leading the block party with 2.00 blocks per set.
For more information, continue below:
Parking Information:
All surrounding E-lots around Memorial Coliseum including the North Craft lot, Rose Street, and Linden Walk employee lots are available for event parking beginning three hours prior to match time. Additionally, the South Limestone Garage (PS#5) and the Rose Street Garage (PS#2) are available two hours prior to first serve. Please see the General Parking Map for more information.
Disability parking is available in the North Craft lot. Spaces are limited and provided on a first come, first served basis with a valid, state-issued disabled parking hangtag.
Please note: Parking is prohibited in any R-lot. Vehicles parking in R-lots without a proper permit, along yellow curbs, grass spaces or other non-specified and unapproved areas may be subject to ticket and/or tow.
For shuttle information and parking maps, head to the volleyball gameday page located here.
Match Promotions:
New this year is a special area designated for our youngest fans. New this season is a Kid Zone near the Rose Street entrance. Various fun-zone stations include games, coloring, poster-making and more throughout the match. This area will be available all season long.
Scouting the Opponent:
The Wildcats continue Southeastern Conference play with a home match in Memorial Coliseum on Sunday against Mississippi State before heading on the road to take on the No. 6 Florida Gators in Gainesville on Wednesday.
Mississippi State (9-6):
Mississippi State heads to Lexington 1-0 in the SEC after a 3-0 sweep of Tennessee. Evie Grace Singleton averages 3.85 kills per set to lead the offensive effort. In a 6-2 system, Blossom Sato is posting 6.39 assists per frame. The Bulldogs have had five players log at least 20 blocks thus far with Jazmyne Johnson pacing the frontline defense with 1.14 blocks a set. Payton Harris anchors the backline with 3.92 digs per stanza.
Brown Shines as Kentucky Takes SEC Opener
Kentucky began the SEC season the same way it ended its non-conference slate, with a 3-0 win over Georgia. Junior Kaz Brown was heavily involved in the offense, contributing 13 kills on 19 swings, hitting .579. Brown’s five block assists moved her up in the record books. Brown has now 296 block assists, good for second all-time. Becky Paven holds the top spot with 403 block assists.
Dailey Helping the Cause
Sophomore setter Olivia Dailey became just the fourth player in school history to have multiple 40+ assist nights in the win over Georgia. Dailey contributed 40 helpers during the sweep and also tossed in six digs. The sophomore also hit the mark against Purdue last season with a career-high 56, and has 405 career assists, good for fourth all-time in UK history.
Coach Skinner’s 20th Win Over Georgia
Twelfth-year head coach Craig Skinner picked up his 20th win in 21 tries over Georgia in the conference opener on Wednesday. During the streak the Wildcats have only dropped 16 sets to the Bulldogs and hold eight sweeps of UGA.
Edmond Repeats as SEC Freshman of the Week
The 6-foot-2 outside hitter led the way for the Wildcats in wins over Louisville and Lipscomb to end the non-conference season with four-consecutive wins in the form of sweeps. Leah Edmond averaged 4.50 kills, 3.17 digs, 0.67 blocks and attacked at a .385 rate for the week. She’s posted 10 or more kills in 10 of 11 matches this season – including both that week. In her first taste of the rivalry match between Louisville, the calm, sure-handed freshman from Lexington, Kentucky, torched the Cards for a match-high 13 kills on .346 hitting. She added eight digs, the second most on the team, and a trio of blocks. Against Lipscomb, Edmond once again led the way with her third career double-double with match highs in kills (14) and digs (11). She posted a .423 attacking percentage, which was the second-highest of her career.
Non-Conference Season Ends in Style
Kentucky wrapped up non-conference action last Saturday with its fourth-consecutive win by way of a sweep, this time downing Lipscomb. UK was paced by the electric offensive play of its starting outside hitters in junior Darian Mack and freshman Leah Edmond. The duo teamed up for 24 kills and both boasted at least a .400 attacking percentage to pave the way for the Cats. Kentucky also limited an up-tempo Lipscomb offense to a mere .162 hitting and 35 kills on the night. UK posted seven blocks, four from junior Emily Franklin, while picking up 39 digs to frustrate the Bison all night. Edmond led the backline defensive effort with a match-high 11 digs.
Make That Four in a Row
With a 3-0 win over Louisville in the annual matchup with the Cardinals, UK extended its streak to four in a row over its instate rival. The Wildcats dominated in all phases of the match, including displaying a balanced offensive attack anchored by a steady presence defensively. Sophomore setter Olivia Dailey was the engineer to UK’s crippling attack that boasted 46 total kills on a .358 attacking percentage. Dailey dished out 37 assists and added seven digs and a pair of blocks. Freshman Leah Edmond led the way with 13 kills, with Brooke Morgan and Kaz Brown adding nine apiece. Libero Ashley Dusek posted a match-high 15 digs, while junior Emily Franklin had a squad-best five blocks. In addition to the four-straight wins, UK has also taken six of the last seven overall and improved to 6-3 in the Skinner era.
