BATON ROUGE, La. ? The Kentucky volleyball team looks to regroup from a five-game loss to LSU when it travels to Oxford, Miss., Sunday to take on the Ole Miss Rebels. Opening serve in the Gillom Sports Center is set for 2:30 p.m. EST and live statistics will be available at ukathletics.com.
The Wildcats (19-7, 10-5 Southeastern Conference) will be seeking to avenge a loss to Ole Miss suffered earlier this season in Memorial Coliseum. Kentucky, which currently is in second place in the SEC Eastern Division, also is looking to claim its 20th win of the season for the first time since 1993.
Senior middle blocker Nicole Britenriker (Cincinnati, Ohio), who recorded her team-leading 17th double-double on Friday with a season-high 22 digs and 19 kills, is tops on the squad and sixth in the league with 3.88 kills per game. Junior middle blocker Queen Nzenwa (Baltimore, Md.) is first in the SEC in blocks with 1.63 rejections per game, while she also is second in hitting percentage with a .379 clip. As a team, the Wildcats are second in the SEC in three statistical categories – blocks, hitting percentage and kills.
Ole Miss enters the match in a tie with LSU for second place in the SEC Western Division. The Rebels are 21-6 overall and 10-5 in league play and have won four of their last five matches. Ole Miss claimed a five-game win against Tennessee on Friday evening in Oxford as two Rebels ? Katie Kramer (21) and Jackie Jones (20) ? each eclipsed the 20-kill plateau on the evening.
The Rebels have succeeded this season in large part to their defense as they are second in the SEC in digs, averaging 18.20 scoops per game, and third in opponent hitting percentage by limiting the opposition to just a .175 clip.
Kentucky and Ole Miss meet for the 37th time in school history with UK leading the all-time series 27-9. The Wildcats have won eight of the last 11 meetings between the two schools, but the Rebels have won two of the last three.
Complete results and a recap of Sunday?s match will be available at ukathletics.com.
