Kentucky Volleyball Hosts Georgia to Open SEC Slate
Share
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After concluding the non-conference season with four-consecutive victories by way of sweeps, the Kentucky volleyball team will begin its portion of the Southeastern Conference season with a home date vs. Georgia on Wednesday in Memorial Coliseum. First serve is set for 8 p.m. and the match will air live on the SEC Network.
|
||
| Kentucky Hosts Georgia | ||
|---|---|---|
| September 21, 2016 (8 p.m. ET) Lexington, Ky. Match Notes: UK  | =””>UGA Television: SEC Network |
||
| Coverage | ||
|
Live Stats: Georgia at Kentucky |
It’s $1 night in Memorial on Wednesday as general admission tickets will cost just one dollar, as well as select concession stand items.
The Wildcats have picked up victories over Virginia, Saint Louis, Louisville and Lipscomb in their last four outings. Kentucky has been stout defensively, limiting opponents to a .074 hitting percentage in the four wins. Offensively, outside hitters Darian Mack and Leah Edmond have produced high kill numbers at an efficient rate as told by the duo combing for 24 kills and both hitting over .400 in the win over the Bison on Saturday.
For more information, continue below:
Furthermore, a shuttle is available free of charge from the South Limestone Garage (Parking Structure #5) beginning two hours prior to first-serve. The pick-up/drop-off point at the South Limestone Garage is located on Administration Drive. UK asks that all patrons access this pick-up/drop-off location by the sky bridge, accessible from level three of the parking structure. The shuttle pick-up/drop-off location at Memorial Coliseum is located at the front of the Coliseum on Avenue of Champions.
Scouting the Opponent
The Wildcats open Southeastern Conference action with a pair of home matches to begin the 18-match portion of their schedule. Georgia is up first in a nationally televised primetime matchup. Mississippi State will visit Memorial Coliseum on Sunday.
Georgia (12-1):
Georgia has enjoyed a resurgence under sixth-year head coach Lizzy Stemke with a 12-1 record in the non-conference season. The Bulldogs have earned 11 of their 12 wins in four sets or less. Their only setback came in the form of a sweep to Bethune-Cookman. Maddie Lobenstein leads the way offensively with 3.29 kills per set. Setter Meghan Donovan dishes out 10.26 assists per frame, while finding seven players for 1.40 kills a set or better. Cassidy Anderson, this week’s SEC co-defensive player of the week, picks up 4.35 digs a frame, while Majesti Bass leads the way at the net with 1.20 blocks a set.
Edmond Repeats as 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 on 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.
Block Party at the Bluegrass Battle
Kentucky logged back-to-back matches of 16 or more blocks to conclude the Bluegrass Battle with sweeps of Virginia and Saint Louis. Junior middle blocker Kaz Brown broke out for 10 blocks in the win over the Cavaliers in which UK held the visitors to a negative hitting percentage. UK followed that performance with a 16.5 block party against Saint Louis. Brown had eight rejections, while classmate Emily Franklin joined in with seven.
