– Schedule, Results, Recaps
Junior outside hitter Danielle Wallace tied a season-high with 17 kills and the Kentucky Wildcats had a season-best seven service aces en route to a 3-0 (30-18, 30-28, 30-27) victory over Indiana State Saturday afternoon at Memorial Coliseum in the second day of the Kentucky Conference Challenge. It was UK?s third consecutive victory of the season, moving the Cats? record to 5-2 on the year.
Wallace hit a season-high .615 in the match and freshman outside hitter Alex Montefalco tallied 10 kills for the Wildcats, who hit .250 on the day. Sophomore libero Jenni Casper led the team defensively for the seventh time this season with 13 digs.
Kentucky got off to a quick start as Wallace opened the match with a kill and Spinner followed with a service ace to take the Wildcats to a 2-0 lead. Indiana State (4-2) was able to hang around in the game early due to a number of unforced errors by the Cats. Leading 5-2, UK went on a 7-1 run to take a 12-4 lead. The Wildcats recorded two blocks during that span and Amy Kaplan registered a service ace. Kentucky extended its lead to 16-9 when Kaplan slammed a kill down the middle.
The Sycamores were never able to respond in the opening game as Spinner eased a kill over the net to put the Wildcats ahead 22-14. Casper then tallied her first of two services aces on the day to give UK a 28-15 advantage. Kaplan followed with back-to-back kills to give the Wildcats a 30-18 game-one victory. The 12-point margin of victory was UK?s largest this season. Kentucky hit .548 in the first game, while Indiana State hit only .032. The Cats? impressive hitting percentage in the first stanza marked their single-game season high for hitting efficiency.
Though the Wildcats opened game two with an ace by Leigh Marcum, her second of the season, the Sycamores built an early 6-3 lead in the match thanks to two UK errors. Kentucky responded to take a 17-14 lead in the game after winning successive jousts at the net as Kaplan and Montefalco each came away with hard-fought kills. Three consecutive attack errors by the Sycamores allowed the Wildcats to build a 23-19 lead and forced Indiana State coach Julie Krofcheck to burn a timeout.
Indiana State kept it close over the game?s final 10 points, but a Montefalco kill gave UK a 27-25 advantage and caused Krofcheck to call another timeout late in the second game. Out of the timeout, Kaplan recorded a kill off the block and Montefalco was able to get a touch called on a hit down the line to bring the Cats to game point. After the Sycamores held off one UK attempt at the game, Spinner drilled a dominating diagonal kill to send the Wildcats into the locker room with a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Kentucky led from the get-go in the third game and opened up to a 9-5 lead. The duo of Kristen Cunningham and Wallace posted a powerful block to extend the UK lead to 12-6 and bring the Memorial Coliseum crowd alive with applause. Wallace then registered back-to-back kills to give the Wildcats a 22-15 advantage.
Indiana State clawed its way back into the game by scoring four consecutive points to come within two points, 23-21. UK coach Jona Braden was forced to call a timeout, but the Cats did not respond and the Sycamores tied the match at 24, causing Braden to burn her last timeout. Illinois State committed a double-hit violation out of the timeout and Kaplan followed with a kill to give Kentucky a 26-24 lead.
Wallace teamed up with Marcum and Melissa Popp to record blocks on the next two plays to give UK a 28-24 advantage and force Krofcheck to use a timeout. Wallace registered a kill on the next possession and despite two spectacular diving digs by Casper, the Sycamores held off two UK attempts at game point before Cunningham drilled home a kill to give UK a 30-27 win in the final game.
With the win, Kentucky improves to 62-25 all-time in regular season home tournament action, including a 15-12 all-time record in Kentucky Conference Challenge action.
Kentucky returns to action tonight when it hosts Hofstra at Memorial Coliseum in the final match of the Kentucky Conference Challenge. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. Fans can follow all of the action with live stats on the official Web site of Kentucky Athletics at www.ukathletics.com.
