Sept. 3, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After capturing its own home tournament crown in the opening weekend of the season, the No. 18 Kentucky volleyball team will hit the road for the first time in the 2009 campaign and head north to Indiana for a three-match tournament. Kentucky will face Murray State, Indiana and UT-Martin at the Indiana Adidas Classic Friday and Saturday.
Kentucky’s veterans were the force behind a perfect 3-0 weekend. Junior Sarah Mendoza was named the MVP of the tournament after pacing UK with 4.50 kills per set in the tournament. Junior Lauren Rapp totaled a double-double effort in the opening win over Northwestern, while sophomore Becky Pavan exploded for 11 kills and a team-high five blocks in the tournament-clinching win over Florida International.
For the opening weekend of volleyball action in the country, UK ranked 14th in the country averaging over 1,050 fans per match. UK also totaled the 21st biggest crowd of the weekend when 1,560 fans witnessed Kentucky beat Northwestern to begin the year.
Up first for UK on the road is Murray State. The Racers enter the weekend with an 0-3 record after falling to Xavier, Kansas and Middle Tennessee State in the opening weekend. Sara Hayden leads the attack after finishing with 2.18 kills per set on an attacking percentage of .273 last week. Defensively, Murray State recorded 17.0 blocks and scooped up 9.91 digs a frame. Kentucky and Murray State will hit the court Friday at 10 a.m. ET for the first match of the weekend.
Senior libero BriAnne Sauer will face her sister, Kayleah, on the other side of the net this week. Kayleah is the starting libero for Murray State and averages 3.00 digs per set. The siblings are the oldest children of four in the Sauer family, and both are defensive players on the court for Kentucky schools.
Later Friday night, UK will face the home standing Indiana Hoosiers at 7 p.m. ET. Indiana charges into their home tournament with a perfect 3-0 record. The Hoosiers captured wins over Southeastern Louisiana, New Orleans and Houston. Ashley Benson tallied 43 kills in the three wins for an average of 4.30 kills per set. Indiana was spectacular at the net defensively registering 32 blocks on the weekend while their opponents came up with just a mere four rejections. As a team, Indiana hit .285 with 136 kills. A year ago, Kentucky came away with a 3-1 victory over the Hoosiers at Memorial Coliseum at the Kentucky Classic.
Saturday afternoon UK will end the weekend with a matchup against UT-Martin. That match time is slated for a 4 p.m. ET start. UT-Martin holds a 3-1 record entering the weekend. The Skyhawks picked up wins over Centenary, Louisiana Tech and UA-Pine Bluff. Their lone loss came in four sets against South Alabama. Five Skyhawk attackers average two or more kills per frame, but the team hit for just .188 in the four matches. Defensively, UT-Martin averages 14.21 digs and 2.32 blocks per stanza.
Complete coverage of the Wildcats at the Indiana Adidas Classic can be found at UKathletics.com. Live stats are available for every match at the official site of the Kentucky Wildcats.
