Sept. 4, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. –
The University of Kentucky volleyball team will hit the road for the first time in the 2008 after opening up with four consecutive home matches to start the season. Kentucky travels to the University of Maryland to face St. John’s, Missouri and Maryland at the Comcast Center Pavilion Friday-Saturday. UK’s first test is St. John’s at 5 p.m. on Friday.
The Wildcats hold a 3-1 record, with their only blemish coming at the hands of then #13 Wisconsin. In UK’s last match, senior Queen Nzenwa, sophomores Sarah Mendoza and Lauren Rapp, and freshman Ann Armes led a passionate offensive attack as the Blue and White held off Morehead State 3-1. All four players reached double-figure kill efforts with Rapp leading the way with 15 and Armes setting a career-high with 11. Mendoza has recorded 10 or more kills in each of Kentucky’s first four matches.
St. John’s enters the tournament with a 1-2 record, although, one loss came at the hands of #5 California in a 3-0 sweep. Valeria Kovaleva leads the attack averaging 3.30 kills per set. Wiolet Leszczynska has dished out 89 assists on the season for an average of 8.90 a set. Kovaleva is also the leader of the defense and has earned 34 digs thus far into the season, the second best on the team.
Missouri has been impressive to start the season, holding a 2-1 record. Their only loss on the season is a 3-2 defeat at the hands of #20 BYU. Julianna Klein and Weiwen Wang lead the offense as they both average over three kills a set. Missouri has out-hit its opponents for the season with a .199 clip for the year. Missouri’s defense has also been stellar as the Tigers have blocked seven more shots than their opponents.
Maryland enters the season under first-year head coach Tim Horsmon who previously has taken Dayton to four NCAA tournaments. Horsmon’s squad has posted a 1-2 record with their lone win coming over Virginia Commonwealth in a 3-0 sweep. Michelle Kenning leads the team averaging 3.40 kills per set and 2.80 scoops. Maryland has struggled at the net with a .131 attack percentage and 68 errors on the year.
Complete coverage of the UK volleyball team can be found at UKathletics.com.
