March 30, 2002
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The University of Kentucky volleyball team completed its second weekend of spring play by capturing the title at the Indiana Invitational in Bloomington, Ind., on Saturday, March 30. The Wildcats defeated host Indiana, 2-0, in the title game after going 6-2 in pool play.
Competition in the tournament consisted of two 30-point pool play games between the contestants and a championship game between the two teams with the best records. UK opened competition with a 2-0 win over Indiana State before splitting with Indiana. The Cats swept Cleveland State before splitting with Indianapolis.
Kentucky came back from a first-game deficit to sweep the Hoosiers in the title match and take home first-place honors in the tournament. The Wildcats return to action on Saturday, April 6, when they host the Kentucky Spring Invitational at UK’s Seaton Center. Action gets underway at 9:30 a.m., with UK taking on Evansville while Morehead State and Western Kentucky square off.
Coach Braden’s thoughts on…
Changing setters…
Sophomore Kristi Kelley and redshirt freshman Leigh Marcum have been sharing in the setting duties, with Kristi quarterbacking game one with each opponent and Leigh & Kristi setting backcourt/frontcourt, respectively, in game two.
UK’s defensive players…
The defensive specialists Aleisha Craven, Toni Lee and Lauren Speelman have all brought very productive energy and fight to the backcourt play along with enhancing our ball control during the entire day. Junior, Aleisha Craven has been our primary libero this spring.
UK’s outside attackers…
Kristen Batt, Sarah Spinner, Anne Koester and Liz McCaslin (also playing in the middle) have been doing a nice job mixing up their shots out of serve-receive and defensive transition. They are attacking the opponents defense with a variety of options.
UK’s middle blockers…
Sissy Canfield, Katie Bright and Julie Davis have been turning up the blocking component of the Kentucky defense, while at the same time putting a great deal of pressure on the opponents with their offensive weapons out of transition.
