Kentucky hopes to build on momentum from win over South Carolina.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky volleyball team looks to build on the momentum of a thrilling 3-2 victory over South Carolina last Sunday as it hits the road to face No. 8 Florida and Georgia. The Wildcats will face the Gators at 7 p.m. Friday in Gainesville, Fla., and the Bulldogs at 2 p.m. Sunday in Athens, Ga.
The Cats (12-11, 3-9 Southeastern Conference) are still vying for the eighth and final slot in the SEC Tournament, to be held Nov. 19-21 in Gainesville. Mississippi State and South Carolina currently are tied for eighth in the league with 4-8 conference records, while Kentucky ties Auburn with a 3-9 mark.
UK had a huge comeback win over the Gamecocks that saw the Wildcats overcome a two-game deficit and a 27-22 lead in the fourth game. The Wildcats were led by outside hitter Alex Montefalco’s game-high 19 kills on .205 hitting. Amy Kaplan added 17 kills on .394 hitting, while Sarah Spinner and Danielle Wallace each had 10 putdowns. Julie Gagnon tied her career-high with 13 digs in the match, while setter Leigh Marcum dished out 53 assists and posted 12 digs for the Cats.
Spinner is leading the team with an average of 3.84 kills per game on .226 hitting. Kaplan is tops on the squad in hitting percentage with a .319 efficiency mark. Libero Jenni Casper is leading the back-row effort with a league-leading 4.55 digs per game, while setter Leigh Marcum is dishing out 12.42 assists per game.
Florida, coached by former UK assistant coach Mary Wise, leads the all-time series with Kentucky 32-9, including a 3-0 win over the Cats in Lexington earlier this year. UK has not defeated UF since the 1990 season and is currently on a 30-game losing skid to the Gators.
Georgia, coached by Kentucky graduate Mary Buczek, leads the all-time series with the Wildcats 23-21. The Cats have won four of the last seven meetings in the series. The Bulldogs won a 3-1 decision over UK in Memorial Coliseum earlier this season when Alexandra Oquendo set an NCAA record for hitting efficiency by registering 35 kills on .778 hitting
Fans can follow all of this weekend’s action with live stats on www.ukathletics.com.
