Oct. 18, 2002

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky volleyball team snapped a four-match losing streak with a 3-0 victory over Auburn in Auburn, Ala., on Friday, Oct. 18. The win was the Wildcats’ first since beating the Tigers in Lexington on Sept. 29.

Leading the UK attack senior Kristen Batt with 15 kills and 17 digs. Sissy Canfield had 12 kills on the night while hitting .419 with three blocks.

“This was a really solid team effort,” Coach Jona Braden said. “It’s never easy to step on the court and play a team for the second time. We really saw our defense transfer to offense and started serving much better toward the end. While we did play a lot of nip and tuck for the first 15-16 points (of game three), we stepped up and executed in the end.”

After several quick ties to start the first game, Kentucky used a 5-0 run to lead 7-2 on a Batt kill. The Tigers, however, fought back, tying the game at 17. The Cats kept AU at least two points back before using a 7-1 run to claim the game-win, 30-22. Batt led UK in the game, hitting .556 while putting down six kills.

The Wildcats opened the second game with a 4-0 run, including an ace by Kristi Kelley. Miscues allowed the lead to be cut to two at 7-5, before a kill and an ace distanced the teams by four again with UK leading 9-5. The Tigers wouldn’t back down, tying the game at 12 before taking over at 13-12 and forcing a UK timeout. The Cats retook the lead at 15-14 and never looked back, closing out the win, 30-20.

Neither team could find a rhythm to start the third game, as the teams reached their ninth tie at 20. A 5-1 Wildcat run gave UK a 25-21 edge, though, forcing the Tigers to talk it over. Kentucky closed out the game with another 5-1 run for the 30-22 game three win and the match victory.

The win gives Kentucky a 19-5 lead in the series with the Tigers including the sweep of this season’s matches.

Kentucky returns to action on Sunday, Oct. 20, when it travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide at 1:30 p.m. CT.