The Kentucky volleyball team closes out the regular-season portion of its 2005 Southeastern Conference schedule this weekend with a trip to LSU and Arkansas. The Wildcats, still vying for one of the top-four spots in next week?s conference tournament, face the Tigers in Baton Rouge Friday at 8 p.m. ET before traveling on to Fayetteville to face Arkansas on Sunday.
Kentucky enters the weekend with a 16-8 overall record and are currently looking at a fifth-place seed in the SEC Tournament with a 9-5 league record. LSU, who defeated Arkansas, 3-0, Wednesday, sits in fourth place. A win by UK would put the Cats in fourth place after sweeping the regular-season series with the Tigers. Should the Wildcats sweep this weekend, they would finish third in the conference standings.
Kentucky split its matches with South Carolina and Tennessee this past weekend. In a 0-3 loss to the Lady Vols on Senior Day, the Wildcats were led by freshman outside hitter Ashlee Fisher who led the way with a match-high 13 kills. Senior outside hitter Danielle Wallace added 12 put-downs, while senior middle blocker Amy Kaplan posted 10 kills and four blocks.
Kaplan leads the Cats in hitting percentage with a .370 clip in league matches only, which ranks third in the Southeastern Conference. Wallace is third in the SEC in league matches only with a squad-best 4.32 put-downs per game in league action. Senior setter Leigh Marcum is second in the league in assists with 13.06 dishes in conference play, while junior libero Jenni Casper is tops with 5.74 digs per game.
LSU enters Friday?s match with a 20-6 record, including a 10-5 league mark. Ivana Kuzmic leads the squad with a .341 hitting percentage, while Jelena Mijatovic has posted a squad-best 4.19 kills per game. Setter Daniela Romero is leading the team with 8.69 assists per game, while Mijatovic has a squad-best 239 digs.
Arkansas is 19-9 on the season and 11-4 in SEC play after the loss at LSU on Wednesday night. Amy Allison leads the way for the Lady Backs with a .296 hitting percentage, while Denitza Koleva is tops on the squad with 3.61 kills per game. Setters Iva Docekalova and Nicole Martin each are averaging nearly six assists per game as part of a 6-2 offense.
