Nov. 27, 1999

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Wildcats closed their 23rd season of volleyball with a 3-1 win over South Florida on Saturday at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. Kentucky (16-15) has now posted two straight winning seasons under Head Coach Jona Braden after four consecutive sub-.500 years before her arrival.

Playing their final matches as collegians, senior Katie Eiserman, Jaclyn Homan and Terri Crabb finished their careers in fine fashion in leading Kentucky (16-15) to victory. Eiserman posted a match-high 16 kills and with her 13 digs, recorded her team-leading 18th double-double of the season. Homan led the Cats with a .391 hitting percentage and eight blocks en route to her placement on the Florida Volleyball Conference Challenge All-Tournament team. She pounded out 13 kills in the match. Crabb also recorded a double-double, her 3rd of the year, with 36 assists and 10 digs. Her 36 assists were her highest match total since she had 45 on Oct. 10 vs. LSU.

Game one was tightly contested throughout as the lead changed hands on four occasions and the score was tied six times. Homan was a rock in the middle for the Cats as her three kills and four blocks allowed the Cats to stay in the game despite a .064 hitting percentage. Eiserman led the Cats with seven kills in the game, but 11 UK hitting errors greatly contributed to the 15-10 win by USF. The Bulls only hit .137 in the win.

The Cats began game two with a flourish, building a 7-3 lead, but allowed the Bulls to get as close as 13-10, due in large part to nine more UK hitting errors. Homan continued her fine play for the Cats with four more kills and two blocks as her block assist with Stephenie Taylor sealed the game two win for the Cats at 15-11. Megan Weiskircher powered UK in the game with seven kills and three blocks. The junior posted 10 kills, eight digs and five blocks for the match.

UK*s momentum carried into game three as the Cats scored the first seven points en route to the 15-3 win. In game three, the UK offense got untracked for the first time in the match as the Cats hit at a .483 clip. Homan recorded five kills in the game while Kristen Batt reached the 10-kill plateau for the match with four in the game.

The Cats ended the match with another outstanding offensive effort in game four as the 15-13 win gave UK the 3-1 victory for its 16th win of the season. Batt led the way for UK as the Cats built an 11-4 lead in the game. Batt finished the match with 14 kills and nine digs. The Bulls came back to tie the match at 13-13, but with Eiserman serving, the Cats iced the match with two kills right off of the sideout.

UK displayed a much better passing and defensive game in the match than the team did on Friday against Marquette as six Wildcats recorded at least eight digs in the match. Tying Eiserman for the team lead was Aleisha Craven with 13. The Cats held the Bulls to a .119 hitting percentage for the match aided in large part by UK’s 14 blocks.

                           Hit%South Florida  15 11  3 13 .119Kentucky       10 15 15 15 .182