Sept. 20, 2003

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of Kentucky volleyball team dropped its second consecutive match of the season with a 3-0 loss to Ohio on Saturday, Sept. 20 in Albuquerque, N.M. With the win, Ohio secured the Albuquerque Marriott Lobo Volleyball Classic Championship after going 3-0 on the weekend.

Leading Kentucky (8-4) was Sarah Spinner with 12 kills on .241 hitting. Melissa Popp had her fourth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 10 digs. The stat of the game came in the area of blocking where OU totaled seven stoppers to Kentucky’s one.

The Wildcats started the match on a bad note, falling behind 6-1 to open the first game. Sloppy play would allow Ohio to stretch its advantage to 10 along the way before UK forced a Bobcat timeout after cutting the score to 23-17. The Cats were able to whittle the lead to four on two occasions, but still dropped the game, 30-24. Marcum had two kills on three attacks in the loss.

After building a four-point cushion at 5-1 to open the second stanza, Kentucky allowed the Bobcats to even the points with four scores in a row. OU took over from there, advancing by 10 on several occasions before securing the 30-20 win. UK hit just .105 in the second game and saw just three kills from Canfield and Spinner, the team’s top scorers.

Kentucky broke through four early ties to earn a 9-5 advantage early in the third game. OU evened the score again at nine after a failed Wildcat block, the first of six ties in a stretch. Tied at 19, Ohio took two points in a row to put a scare in UK and force a timeout. The Cats responded with a 3-0 run of their own to lead 22-21.

The tight match saw another turn as the Bobcats reeled off a 3-1 run out of the break for a 25-23 edge. The Wildcats would only manage two more points in the match and dropped the final game, 30-25.

The Cats will return to action when they open the Southeastern Conference schedule on Friday, Sept. 26 at Arkansas. The road swing continues at Louisiana State on Sunday, Sept. 28.