Oct. 4, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Following their 11th straight victory and third consecutive win on the road, Kentucky returns home to play Auburn on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats have opened Southeastern Conference action with five consecutive victories, the best start in league play since going 7-0 in 1988.
Against Tennessee, the difference-maker proved to be the nine blocks the Wildcats registered in the third set alone. UK tallied 15 for the match, but it was the third-set block party that gave the Wildcats the momentum to win their fifth straight over their border-rivals.
Freshman Becky Pavan anchored the blocking defense with a career-high 10 rejections. She is the first UK player to record 10 or more blocks in a match since Queen Nzenwa did it in Nov. of 2007. Junior Sarah Rumely was also a major-factor in the victory with her 23rd career double-double. Rumely accounted for 40 assists and a career-best 23 digs in the victory.
Auburn enters the match with Kentucky having lost their first five matches of conference action. The Tigers are led by Jessica Glover who leads the team with 3.12 kills per set on .240 hitting and 0.45 blocks per frame. Sara Shanks paces the offensive attack with over eight assists per set, while Glover and Liz Crouch average over two digs per frame.
Kentucky owns a 23-9 all-time record against Auburn. UK has won the last three meetings between the two schools, but has needed at least four sets in each of those victories. Prior to UK’s winning streak, Auburn had won the previous four matches.
First serve is slated for a 1:38 p.m. start. A live broadcast of the match is available on CWKYT in Lexington. A delayed broadcast of the match will be available on FSN South beginning at approximately 3 p.m. Dick Gabriel and former Kentucky coach Kathy DeBoer will be on the call.
