Nov. 19, 1999

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – In opening round action of the Southeastern ConferenceVolleyball Tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats did not look like a No. 6 seedwho qualified for the tournament on the last day of the season, as the Catstook care of the third-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks in straight sets, 3-0.

The Cats were powered by their outside hitters as Stephenie Taylor andKristen Batt scored 11 and 10 kills, respectively. UK’s attack efficiencywas deadly in the match as the Cats made only 15 hitting errors. Taylor ledthe way with a .714 percentage.

After winning the final three games to take last Sunday’s match againstUSC, UK (15-13) played three fundamentally sound games on Friday to pushits win streak over Carolina to six games and win the season-series, 2-1.

“USC played with some real courage,” UK Coach Jona Braden said. “Our teamis extremely focused and intent on doing the job at hand. We are notworrying about who we are going to play, we’re just going out and playingour game.”

The Cats established themselves early in the match as they jumped out toan 8-1 lead in game one. Carolina fought hard to stay in the game, but UK’spotent attack was too much for the Gamecocks to handle and the Cats won thegame 15-6. Kentucky hit .412 in the game.

Game two was a much more tightly contested game as, despite a 5-1 UK lead,Carolina got within 11-8 before the Cats went on a 4-0 run to take the gameand a 2-0 lead in the match. Batt was the story in game two as the freshmanrecorded five kills and seven digs in the game.

Carolina continued to fight hard into the third game and, after trailing7-4, gained a 14-13 lead late in the match. But with the game on the line,Batt took her game up a level again and put down three kills to help theCats grab the 16-14 game three win and advance to the second round of theSEC Tournament for the third straight year.

“This was really a team effort for us,” Braden said. “We knew we needed toexecute to get a win today. Our outside hitters (Taylor and Batt) and ourmiddle blockers (Megan Weiskircher and Jaclyn Homan), in particularly, hadgreat matches and kept Carolina running all match.”

Bothered by the absence of top attackers Crystal Moore and Milica Perovicto injury, USC (14-12) was out of sync offensively all match as shown bythe team’s 28 hitting errors and 10 reception errors. The Cats out-hitCarolina for the match, .269 to .203, making UK 12-1 when the team posts ahigher hitting percentage than its opponent.

The Cats will next match-up with No. 2 seed and 23rd-ranked Arkansas LadyRazorbacks at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. The Lady ‘Backs won theiropening round match against Alabama, 3-1, on Friday afternoon

AGATE

Knoxville, Tenn. – Stokely Athletics Center – Attendance: 160

                                  Hit %#6 Kentucky        15   15   16   .269#3 South Carolina   6    8   14   .203