April 9, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After enjoying a 6-0 spring season the Kentucky volleyball team will play in front of its own home crowd Saturday when they host a three-team round-robin tournament.
The Wildcats will first host Marshall at 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. Marshall and Cincinnati will take the court in the second match of the day, approximately at 2:30. The final match of the day features the Bearcats and the Wildcats at 4 p.m. ET. Admission to this weekend’s tournament is free.
In addition to the spring tournament, the Kentucky squad and its coaches will be available for a meet-and-greet following the day’s events. A team and fan social will take place immediately following the conclusion of the Cincinnati match. Drinks and appetizers will be provided at no charge in the West Concourse of Memorial Coliseum.
Kentucky has dominated in the spring winning the Ohio Valley Center spring collegiate tournament last weekend in Louisville. Prior to that UK took three matches in the Southeast College Junior Invitational in Nashville.
In Louisville, the Wildcats were on fire offensively with a combined three-match hitting percentage of .311. Four players combined for 10 or more kills in the three two-set matches.
Kentucky opened the day with a 25-14, 25-12 victory over Murray State. They followed that performance with a 25-16 and 25-23 win over Big East member Notre Dame.
The match of the day was between the Wildcats and Saint Louis who were both members of the Lexington Regional in the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Tournament in December. Kentucky dismantled the Billikens by the tune of 25-18 and 25-19 to cruise to the perfect weekend.
Sophomore Lauren Rapp and freshman Becky Pavan led the way offensively. Rapp posted a combined effort of 17 kills on a .406 hitting percentage. She added nine blocks and three aces. Pavan hit a team-high .589 and tallied 11 kills on the weekend and matched Rapp’s nine blocks.
In their first spring action of the season the Kentucky volleyball team opened the spring tournament UK downed Notre Dame, Middle Tennessee State and Tennessee State.
In typical UK fashion the Blue and White was a balanced squad this weekend with eight players registering a kill. Sophomore Sarah Mendoza posted 23 kills and junior Brooke Bartek added 22. Mendoza and Bartek also led the way at the net defensively as the duo rejected 13 combined attempts. Rapp tallied 13 kills and five blocks, while freshman Gretchen Giesler totaled nine hammers and paced the team with five aces.
Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for more information on the Kentucky volleyball team.
