No. 10 Kentucky Opens SEC Season at Missouri
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After wrapping up the nonconference portion of the season with two wins against Louisville and Kennesaw State last weekend, the No. 10 Kentucky volleyball program will hit the road to open Southeastern Conference play on Wednesday.
UK will face Missouri at 8 p.m. ET and the match can be watched live on the SEC Network with Missy Whittemore and Dawn Davenport on the call. The match will also be streamed live on the Watch ESPN app.
After the match on Wednesday, the Cats will return home to continue league play against LSU
Scouting the Opponent – Missouri
Missouri is 7-6 heading into SEC play and is 0-3 against ranked teams this year. Mizzou is riding a three-match winning streak heading into Wednesday with wins over Pepperdine, Nevada and Sacramento State. The Tigers have a balanced attack with six players averaging more than two kills per set. MU is led by Sydney Deeken on the attack at 2.57 kills per set. Alyssa Munlyn averages a team-high 1.50 blocks per set and and also 2.02 kills per frame. Defensively, Riley Sents leads the way in digs at 3.35.
Scouting the Opponent – LSU
LSU rolls into SEC play with a 9-2 record. After starting the season on a seven-match winning streak, LSU dropped back-to-back matches against North Carolina and Baylor. The Tigers swept Houston on Sunday. LSU averages 1.4 kills per set more than its opponents this season, and are led by Taylor Bannister at 3.00 kills per frame. Jacquio Armer leads the way in blocking at 1.41 blocks per set, while Anna Zwiebel has led the way in helpers at 9.07 per frame.
Sweeping the Battle of the Bluegrass
Kentucky won the annual Battle of the Bluegrass last weekend in a sweep. UK has now won five straight over Louisville, and seven of the last nine meetings since the series was renewed in 2009. Avery Skinner shined in the win with a match-high 15 kills on 34 swings. Senior Emily Franklin posted nine kills and an impressive seven blocks in the win, while classmate Kaz Brown had seven terminations and two rejections.
Kentucky in the National and League Rankings
Freshman Madison Lilley is No. 14 in the nation in assists per set at 11.51. She’s No. 2 in the conference, behind Rachel Rippee of Arkansas.
Leah Edmond is currently No. 26 in the nation in kills per set at 4.40 and third in the SEC, behind the national leader, Pilar Victoria of Arkansas and Rachel Ritchie of Georgia.
As a team, Kentucky is sixth in the nation in hitting percentage at .315. UK is the highest SEC team. UK sits at No. 15 in kills per set at 14.48, also the best SEC squad.
Record Holder
Kaz Brown set the 25-point rally scoring era record for total blocks in the match against Loyola earlier in the season. She’ll head into the week with 470 total blocks, and also holds the block assists record with 419.
Chasing Records
Kaz Brown is climbing the 25-point rally scoring era record book in multiple categories. The Waterloo, Iowa, native is currently in second in solo blocks (51). The senior is also seventh in kills at 809 and 10th in attack attempts at 1,686.
Emily Franklin is currently eighth in block solos with 29, fourth in blocks assists at 287 and fifth in total blocks at 316. Franklin also has the sixth-highest attacking percentage in the rally scoring era at .317.
Darian Mack is moving up the 25-point rally scoring era record book in kills and points. Mack is ninth all-time with 691 kills and eighth in attacks with 1,856. In total points, she is in ninth with 782.0.
Ashley Dusek is currently fourth in the rally scoring era with 1,224 digs and ninth in assists at 197.
Career Leaders
Kaz Brown is currently third in the country among active players in career blocks. Her 470 total blocks trail only Faith Dooley of North Dakota and Rhamat Alhassan of Florida.
AVCA Ranking
The Wildcats are ranked after week four, moving up two spots to No. 10. Under head coach Craig Skinner, the team has been ranked for 104 weeks, and currently has appeared in the poll for 14-consecutive weeks. Skinner’s highest ranking was No. 7 in 2009.
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