Oct. 5, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Junior outside hitter Sarah Mendoza was named the Southeastern Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week Monday, after tallying back-to-back matches with 20 or more kills for the first time in her career.

The junior struck for 20 kills in Kentucky’s upset of No. 5 Florida in Gainesville Friday night. Mendoza hit the 20-kill plateau with a team-high .296 hitting percentage on 54 attempts. Sunday, Mendoza answered that performance with a 21-kill effort and a season-best four blocks.

A Florida native, Mendoza and the Wildcats won at Florida for the first time in 20 seasons. It also marked the first loss for the Gators at the O’Connell Center since 2004.

For the week Mendoza led the squad with an average of over four kills per set and two digs per frame — the second highest total on the team. She matched a season-high of two aces against the Gamecocks while adding her 17th career double-double effort with the 21 kills and 12 digs.

This is the third SEC Offensive Player of the Week award for Mendoza after earning the honor twice as a sophomore. Mendoza also claimed SEC Freshman of the Week honors once in 2007.

UK has now achieved three SEC weekly awards this season with senior Sarah Rumely earning Offensive Player of the Week honors in September, and senior libero BriAnne Sauer being tabbed the Defensive Player of the Week honors for her efforts a week ago.

Mendoza and the Wildcats will return home this weekend for two SEC matches. Friday night Kentucky takes on Auburn at 7 p.m. ET at Memorial Coliseum. Sunday, UK welcomes Georgia for a 1:30 p.m. ET showdown which will air live on CWKYT (Lexington Channel 5).

Stay tuned to UKathletics.com for the most up-to-date news, highlights and features from the Kentucky volleyball team.