LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Freshman outside hitter Sarah Mendoza (Orlando, Fla.) recorded a career-high 16 kills Friday and junior middle blocker Queen Nzenwa (Baltimore, Md.) tied her personal-best with 12 blocks as the Wildcats defeated Auburn 3-1 (30-22, 30-25, 27-30, 30-15) in Memorial Coliseum.
The Wildcats (18-6, 9-4 Southeastern Conference), who swept the season series against the Tigers (10-14, 2-11) with the victory, reach the 18-win plateau for the second consecutive season. It is the first time UK has accomplished that feat in back-to-back years since the 1992-93 campaigns.
Mendoza?s career-high 16 kills came on .481 hitting, while Nzenwa had 13 put-downs to complement her 12 blocks. She is just six block assists away from breaking the school?s all-time career and single-season records. Freshman outside hitter Blaire Hiler (New Washington, Ohio) tied her career high with six rejections.
?This was a good win for our team tonight,? UK head coach Craig Skinner said. ?I am proud of the way Sarah Mendoza performed offensively. Our blocking and defense in games three and four was fun to watch. Blaire Hiler and Queen Nzenwa really came through for us with their blocking tonight.?
Senior middle blocker Nicole Britenriker (Cincinnati, Ohio), who has recorded double-digit kills in each of the team?s 24 matches this season, added 14 kills on .480 hitting with 12 digs for her team-leading 15th double-double. The double-dip was her third consecutive and her fourth in her last five matches. Freshman right-side hitter Lauren Rapp (Indianapolis, Ind.) notched 10 kills and posted five blocks.
Defensively, sophomore libero BriAnne Sauer (Louisville, Ky.) continued her strong play in the back row, recording 22 digs. Since being inserted into the lineup against Ole Miss on Oct. 12, Sauer is averaging 22.0 digs in the last five matches combined.
Sophomore setter Sarah Rumely (New Palestine, Ind.) dished out a match-high 48 assists, tied a season-high with five service aces and had seven digs.
The two teams battled evenly from the start in the opening game. The Wildcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a block by Nzenwa and Rapp, and a Rapp put-down. The Tigers battled back to even the score at 5-5 off a Kentucky error. After Auburn scored three consecutive points to take a 14-11 lead, the Wildcats answered with four straight points of their own, capped off by a Rapp ace to take a 15-14 lead.
After a television timeout, the Cats came out strong to take a 20-17 advantage after several Auburn errors and a kill by sophomore Brooke Bartek (Lincoln, Neb.), forcing the Tigers to burn their first timeout of the game. Kentucky continued to battle hard out of the breather, building a 25-19 lead off a Mendoza kill. The run was highlighted by a powerful block from Nzenwa and Rapp. The Tigers quickly used their second timeout of the game following the rally. The Wildcats took a 27-20 advantage thanks to an attack error by Auburn?s Rachel Shanks before Britenriker had three kills on the final four plays of the game to take a 30-22 victory.
The second game of the match was just as close in the early going, with Auburn jumping out to a 2-0 advantage. The Cats answered back with four consecutive points as Rumely had a kill and an ace during that stretch to take a 4-2 lead. After AU notted the score at 7-7, Rapp answered with a kill and an ace on back-to-back plays to give Kentucky a 9-7 lead. Following another kill by Rapp started a 4-0 UK run, Auburn used its first timeout to slow the momentum.
The break didn?t stall the Cats as they rattled off another 4-0 run, capped off by a block from Mendoza and Nzenwa to give them an 18-12 lead. That rally forced Auburn to call its final timeout of the game. The Tigers came out of the break chipping away at UK?s lead to get as close as 24-22. The Cats finally pulled away with four consecutive points to take a 28-23 advantage on an Nzenwa kill. Britenriker finished off game two with a strong kill to give UK the 30-25 win.
In a tightly-contested third game, Auburn, leading 11-10 ran off three consecutive points to take a 14-11 lead, forcing the Wildcats to use their first timeout of the game. Trailing 22-16, Kentucky began clawing away at the Tiger lead by scoring four consecutive points to cut the Auburn advantage to four, 23-19. With UK behind 25-20, Mendoza had three kills and Rumely had one put-down to get UK within one, 25-24. An auburn attack error knotted the score at 25. After two more ties, Auburn scored the final three points of the game to take a 30-27 win.
Kentucky came out rolling in the fourth game, putting together a 5-0 run to break a 2-all tie and take a 7-2 advantage. Nzenwa had three kills in the early part of the match and Rumely served up a pair of aces to force the Tigers to call an early timeout. A kill by Mendoza to cap off a 4-1 run by the Cats gave them a 14-7 advantage. Auburn never got closer than 17-11 as Kentucky cruised to the 30-15 victory. An ace by Rumely on the final play of the match gave the Wildcats the win.
Kentucky returns to action Sunday when it plays host to Georgia in the Dig for the Cure match. Opening serve in Memorial Coliseum is set for 1:30 p.m. EDT.
