In her final trip back home to Chicago, senior Amy Kaplan put on a show for the home crowd Saturday at the Northwestern Wildcat Classic, guiding Kentucky to a 3-1 win over Southern Illinois. Kaplan had 18 kills on .325 hitting and added five blocks in the victory.
Kentucky (7-2) also saw solid play from Jenni Casper, who had 20 digs. Julie Gagnon had 11 digs for her third double-digit dig performance this season. The Wildcats hit .259 to SIU?s .105, but let 15 points get away on service errors.
?This is the first match this season where we?ve competed from point one to the end,? Coach Craig Skinner said. ?We competed and battled from start to finish. Amy Kaplan was a big reason why we were so focused and ready to compete. She had a great match for us.
?When you talk about team wins, this is what you mean,? Skinner concluded.
After two quick ties in the first game, Kentucky build to a 7-3 lead after a strong kill from Wallace. A ball-handling error forced SIU to burn a timeout with UK leading 12-7, but the Salukis came back strong from the break to tie the match at 14. Close play ensued with the final tie at 25 all. Back-to-back kills from Southern Illinois forced a Kentucky timeout, but the Wildcats couldn?t make up the distance, falling 30-28 in the opening stanza.
Kentucky rebounded strong in the second game, riding Kaplan?s dominating play and three consecutive kills from the senior to jump to a 21-13 lead. The Cats remained composed late in the second game as SIU made a small run and finished off a 30-22 win after a Saluki hitting error. Kaplan finished the game with eight kills on .667 hitting, while the team hit .432 in the game to Southern Illinois? .083.
The Wildcats raced out to a 4-1 lead in the third game and never trailed. UK led by as many as seven at 26-19 after a block from Wallace and Kaplan, which forced a Saluki timeout. Southern Illinois tried to make a run toward the end, but a strong kill from Nzenwa sealed a 30-23 win. Kentucky hit .359 in the game and Kaplan and Wallace had five kills apiece.
The fourth game was all Kentucky to start, with the Cats taking a 12-2 lead, which included a 7-0 run to start the game. After a timeout, the Salukis managed to cut the UK lead to six at 18-12, but Marcum gave Kentucky sideout on a strong tip to the corner for a kill.
The Wildcats took the next two points to extend the lead to nine at 21-12, but allowed SIU back in the door. The Salukis cut the Kentucky advantage to five at 21-16, forcing Skinner to call at timeout. The Cats took five of the next six points to move the score to 26-17 and force a final SIU timeout. Mistakes allowed the Salukis to get back in the game at 27-22, but after a Kentucky timeout, the Wildcats closed out the match with a 30-24 win.
Kentucky closes play in the 2005 Wildcat Classic on Saturday night, facing host Northwestern at 7 p.m. CT. Live stats are available at www.ukathletics.com.
