Sept. 21, 2002
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The University of Kentucky volleyball team fell to Oral Roberts, 3-0, on Saturday, Sept. 21, in Columbia, S.C. It was the second consecutive loss for the Wildcats, who fell to 6-5 on the season.
Junior Liz McCaslin led all Wildcats with 12 kills on .237 hitting, while senior Anne Koester also had 12 kills on the day. Setter Leigh Marcum recorded four kills on the match Freshman Danielle Wallace earned her first career start.
Oral Roberts took the first three points to start the match before UK got into the swing of things. UK managed to cut the Eagles’ lead to three several times but would get no closer, dropping the first game, 30-25. Neither team hit with great accuracy in the opening segment, with ORU edging out UK, .194 to .158. Kentucky’s Anne Koester led the Cats with three kills on .600 hitting.
The teams battled closely in game two, cutting an ORU lead to one at 14-13 before the Eagles used a 6-3 run to force a UK timeout. The Eagles used UK miscues to extend their lead to six at 24-18, forcing another UK timeout down the stretch. The Wildcats were unable to overcome the deficit, dropping the game, 30-22, and handing Oral Roberts the 2-0 advantage in the match.
The third game was back-and-forth as the teams played through an injury timeout before ORU took the 13-7 lead to force Kentucky to talk it over. Kentucky cut it to three at 16-13, but couldn’t overcome a potent ORU offense, losing the game, 30-22.
Kentucky returns to action on Friday, Sept. 27 when it plays host to Alabama at 7 p.m., in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky. The Cats complete the weekend on Sunday, Sept. 29 against Auburn at home.
