The Kentucky volleyball team extended its win streak to five matches with a 3-0 sweep of East Tennessee State on Friday, Sept. 17 in the opening night of the Purdue Mortar Board Premier in West Lafayette, Ind. Senior Sarah Spinner led the Wildcats with 14 kills on .303 hitting.
Other Cats with double-figure kills included junior Danielle Wallace with 12 and junior Amy Kaplan with 11. Spinner added six blocks and six digs for Kentucky, while sophomore Jenni Casper led all defensive players with 18 digs. The Wildcats hit .228 as a team, edging out ETSU (1-7) with a .223 hitting effort.
Kentucky (7-2) opened play by taking an early 10-5 lead in the first game with two kills each by Spinner, Montefalco and Kaplan. The Buccaneers fired back though, tying the game at 18 and forcing a Wildcat timeout. The Cats were able to rebound from another scare at 23-22 to close to the game with a 30-26 victory. Spinner, Montefalco and Kaplan totaled five kills apiece in the game as UK hit a solid .310 in the victory.
After three early ties in the second game, ETSU was able to build a 7-3 lead after several unforced errors by the Wildcats. Kentucky came back fighting, using a 7-0 run to take a 10-7 lead. UK maintained its distance throughout the middle of the game, but several net calls on the Cats allowed the Buccaneers to work their way back to a one-point deficit at 19-18.
The impending threat of another tie seemed to spark Kentucky as it strung together a 6-0 run to put the Bucs on the ropes. ETSU was able to take a few more rallies, but couldn?t overcome a potent Kentucky attack as the Cats grabbed the second game 30-21 on a kill by Wallace. Kentucky hit just .132 in the game, but earned six blocks in the round.
The third game started to a familiar tune as UK fell behind 3-5 after a back-row attack was called on Spinner. UK rallied to tie the game at 6-6 on a kill by Spinner, and extended that lead as the senior added two more kills on the next pair of rallies. The Wildcats built to a 14-10 lead, but watched errors erase the margin as ETSU tied the score at 15.
The teams continued to play close as Kentucky couldn?t manage to take more than a three-point lead. Late in the game, the Cats used a 3-0 run to go up 26-21, but a service error by Casper put ETSU back on serve. The teams traded points down the stretch before two consecutive calls at the net pulled the Bucs within reach at 27-26. UK coach Jona Braden called for a timeout to regroup her team before Kentucky tallied strong kills of three of the final four plays for the 30-27 victory.
Following the match, the Purdue Mortar Board Society, which sponsors the annual tournament, presented awards to several awards to the teams. The Top Scholar Award for Kentucky went to junior Danielle Wallace, while Amy Kaplan earned the Most Improved Scholar Award. The Community Service Award was presented to the entire Kentucky team for their team efforts for charity in the Bluegrass area.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday when it faces Central Michigan at 2 p.m. ET and host Purdue at 8 p.m. ET.
