Sept. 28, 2008
BATON ROUGHE, La. – Kentucky’s defense was incredible as the team tallied 14 blocks to overwhelm LSU’s attackers en route to their third sweep in conference play with a 25-17, 25-21, 29-27 victory Sunday.
The defensive effort was in top form in the win for the Blue and White (13-2, 4-0). Freshman Becky Pavan led the way with seven blocks, with six players tallying a block in the win. Sophomore Lauren Rapp and senior Queen Nzenwa each registered five rejections, with junior Sarah Rumely (4), sophomore Sarah Mendoza (3), and junior Brooke Bartek (2) all getting in on the action. Five Kentucky players also tallied seven or more digs to go along with the gut-wrenching performance. Mendoza, Rumely and junior BriAnne Sauer all had nine digs. Sophomore Laura Stokowski and Rapp had eight and seven scoops, respectively.
Kentucky’s offense was also impressive hitting with a .282 percentage and tallying 43 kills in the match. Rapp was the lone UK player to reach double-figures with 10. Mendoza tallied nine, with Nzenwa contributing eight and Pavan laying down seven. Bartek added a season-high four, and Rumely got in the action with a pair. Four players registered double-figure point efforts, led by Rapp’s 13.
“I thought we really came out to play today,” said Kentucky coach Craig Skinner. “Our intensity and focus was exception from the very first point all the way through.”
The match was highlighted by a tremendously hard-fought third set that needed extra points to decide. There were 11 tied scores and five lead changes in the set. With LSU up on their second set-point, Bartek and Nzenwa teamed up for a block to continue the set. Then a pair of Mendoza kills claimed the victory of the Wildcats.
“We showed a lot of heart and poise to come back in the third set the way we did,” Skinner said. “I thought our blocking defense was exceptional, and to seal a win like this is huge for us.”
Kentucky trailed 17-10 at one point in the third set. Nzenwa, Bartek and Mendoza all registered a kill, but the run was highlighted by a pair of blocks. Rumely sent a shot back on her own, and then teamed up with Nzenwa for another rejection making the score 19-16 and forcing LSU into a timeout. Out of the break, LSU came up with a block of its own, but that was quickly followed by another Big Blue rejection off the arms of Mendoza and Nzenwa. An attacking error by the home squad and another block from the team of Mendoza and Pavan pulled UK within one at 20-19.The visitors had two changes to claim the match, but LSU twice saved match-point. LSU then took to strikes at forcing a fourth set, but Kentucky saved set-point.
UK hit .200 in the third frame, and turned back six LSU attacks. Mendoza led the way with seven kills in the stanza.
LSU opened the first set taking the first points of the match off back-to-back kills. Nzenwa would follow suit and put UK on the board with a powerful slam. Nzenwa’s second kill of the set tied the score at four a piece, and UK would grab the lead 6-5, off of a Rapp kill. Three consecutive Big Blue blocks gave Kentucky an early commanding lead. Rapp and Pavan teamed up for the first two, and then Rapp rejected on her own to give the visitors a 9-5 edge. Pavan’s ace along the left-side line gave UK a 14-7 edge. The Wildcats would maintain a six-to-seven point lead until Mendoza’s first kill of the night, followed by an attack error by the Tigers and the Blue and White took hold a 21-13 advantage. Pavan and Mendoza would add a pair of kills during the final stretch, which UK would claim 25-17.
The Wildcats used a powerful offensive attack generating 12 kills on a .308 hitting percentage to open the match. UK aided their cause with four team blocks in the frame led by Rapp’s three. Nzenwa paced the offense with four kills to open the match with five players registering at least one hammer.
To open up the second set, LSU appeared to take control of their early going with a 5-1 lead. But, UK would come back firing behind two kills from Rapp and their signature blocks. Rumely and Pavan teamed up for the first rejection to pull Kentucky back within one. Consecutive attacking errors gave UK the 7-6 lead, which was followed by a Mendoza-Pavan block. With Kentucky taking its largest lead at 13-7, the Tigers would begin to slowly creep back into the match. A kill by the home squad pulled them back within one at 16-15, and UK was forced to take its first timeout of the match. The Tigers eventually tied the score at 17, but Kentucky immediately rattled off consecutive points to regain the lead. Rumely laid down a kill, and then the Wildcats benefited from an attack error from the home squad. Another kill from Rapp gave the Blue and White a 21-18 edge, and LSU was forced to burn their second timeout of the stanza. After back-to-back LSU kills pulled the score to 21-20, Kentucky took their second timeout. Following the break, Pavan hammed home a powerful kill. LSU followed with a kill of their own to make the score 22-21, but Kentucky would score the next three points to win the set. UK first benefited from an LSU blocking error. Then junior Brooke Bartek and Nzenwa teamed up for a block, with Nzenwa ending the set on a two-handed slam.
In the second stanza, Kentucky once again used an impressive .375 hitting percentage while registering 15 kills in the frame. But, it was UK’s defensive effort that won the second set for the visitors. UK tallied four blocks, led by Pavan’s three while forcing LSU into eight attacking errors.
Kentucky is back in action again on Wednesday night. This time the Cats will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for a match against the Vols. Match time is slated for a 7 p.m. start.
Complete coverage and up-to-date news on the UK volleyball team can be found at UKathletics.com.
