Coming into a rivalry match against Louisville, confidence was the operative word for UK volleyball. Having posted three consecutive sweeps in the Kentucky Classic, the Wildcats had every reason to believe in themselves. Immediately following a loss to Cincinnati that the team called “embarrassing”, UK rounded into form to defeat three quality opponents soundly.Just when it looked like Craig Skinner’s team was playing its best volleyball of the season, the Cats took it up a notch, summarily dismissing the Cardinals in yet another straight set victory.So, where does that leave the team’s confidence now?”It’s through the roof,” junior setter Christine Hartmann said. “Coming off three wins, sweeping our tournament and sweeping a team like Louisville, it’s great for our confidence. It gives us momentum in our next few matches and it’s good to know we can trust our teammates in any situation.”Hartmann was at the center of the UK attack, dishing out 36 assists. Hartmann did not start at setter to begin the season, but she was inserted on Friday against Western Kentucky and the team has not looked back.”She’s a very confident player,” Skinner said. “She’s a very tough competitor and she makes people around her better. That’s what she’s brought since she’s been on the court: an edge, a toughness and a confidence that this team needs.”Hartmann’s approach was contagious on Wednesday night. Ten Wildcats saw the floor and each of them brought something to the table. The kind of balance that UK showed is just what Skinner has been preaching from day one.”That’s very important to beat good teams, and Louisville is a good team,” Skinner said. “We’ve stressed that since the beginning of practice that we’re going to have to be balanced to beat the teams we’re going to face this year.”Whitney Billings, Lauren O’Conner and Ann Armes all posted double-digit kills on the night. Stephanie Klefot led the defense with 21 digs, covering an unbelievable amount of ground in the process. Billings and Jackie Napper contributed on defense with 15 and 13 digs respectively. Armes, Billings and Becky Pavan each had at least four blocks.There were contributions up and down the lineup, but the common denominator in each statistical category was Billings, who had her best game of her first two years at UK. Skinner recently moved Billings to the right side of the floor and tonight the move paid off. Her hitting percentage of .450 was a career high and she was in the middle of seemingly every crucial point.”She’s a big block and she’s already proved herself as a passer and defensive player,” Skinner said. “She’s doing four or five facets in the match and that is huge for your right side player to be able to do that.”Billings along with O’Conner was a big part of crucial second set victory. Having won a tight first set 25-22, UK found itself facing set point in the second at 23-24. O’Conner had a kill to save set point, then, with Billings on serve, O’Conner had another kill and a block to give UK a 26-24 set victory.”Those were big points,” Skinner said. “You need big individual plays in close matches, and we had a couple. Most importantly, they followed the game play to a ‘T’ and all the things we wanted to execute, they did and our players really bought in.”The Wildcats would go on to dominate the third set, 25-11.Skinner admitted the importance of the match coming into tonight and reasserted how big the win was afterward. The way the Wildcats played reinforces in their minds just how good they can be, but they know they have a lot of work ahead.”Wins like that mean a lot,” Skinner said. “Louisville is a big RPI match for us, it’s a rivalry match and it shows that we’re able to compete at a high level. I’ve been in it long enough to know that one match doesn’t take you into six or seven in a row and you have to play each match. The biggest thing is that it proves to our players we can do a lot of good things.”