Aug. 29, 2009
The No. 21 Kentucky volleyball team rolled to a 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-11) sweep over Western Carolina in the Kentucky Classic morning session Saturday.
Kentucky had another tremendous offensive output posting a second consecutive match of an above .270 hitting percentage. The Wildcats hit at a torrid percentage of .363 in the victory. Junior Sarah Mendoza led seven players with two or more kills as the Winter Park, Fla., native totaled 10 on the day. Junior Lauren Rapp and sophomore Becky Pavan each tallied nine.
Senior Sarah Rumely had a double-double effort with 33 assists and a team-high 10 digs. Junior Laura Stokowski also notched 10 digs, while Pavan led the way with five blocks at the net.
The Wildcats were impressive defensively holding Western Carolina to just 20 kills on a .011 attack percentage.
Kentucky got things rolling early with a 25-14 opening set victory. Mendoza and Rapp each had four kills in the opening frame while UK hit at a .281 rate. Rumely had 11 assists and five scoops in the stanza.
In the second set Pavan caught fire with five kills to guide UK to a .519 attacking percentage in a 25-17 set win. Pavan was a perfect 5-for-5 on her attempts in the frame and also paced the defensive performance with three block assists.
To finish things off, UK dominated the third set by the tune of 25-11. Kentucky held Western Carolina to a .000 hitting percentage while they posted .312 and 13 kills. Mendoza led the way with four kills, but six UK players earned at least one hammer.
The Wildcats return to the court later this afternoon with a showdown against Florida International who is also undefeated in the Kentucky Classic. The Golden Panthers needed five sets to shake Northwestern, but prevailed to keep their record perfect.
Western Carolina and Northwestern will play first in the evening session beginning at 5 p.m. UK and FIU follow that contest.
Complete coverage of the Kentucky Classic can be found at UKathletics.com including live stats, video feed and recaps following the day’s events.
