Nov. 12, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – With just five matches remaining in the 2009 regular season, the Kentucky Wildcats will wrap up their final road weekend of the season. UK visits Georgia on Friday night and Auburn on Sunday afternoon. Kentucky will have one remaining mid-week road trek to Tennessee to conclude the season.
The first match-up of the weekend pits Kentucky (24-2, 14-1) against fellow SEC Eastern Division member Georgia (7-17, 5-9) in Athens for a 7 p.m. ET start. Georgia and the Wildcats met earlier in the year with UK earning a 3-1 victory in Lexington.
With the win over Georgia, the then 10th-ranked Kentucky volleyball team secured its fifth straight season with 17 or more victories under head coach Craig Skinner. UK captured the win by set scores of 25-14, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23 in front of 1,205 fans in Memorial Coliseum. Juniors Sarah Mendoza and Lauren Rapp both achieved double-digit kill efforts for the second consecutive match. Mendoza struck for 19 kills with Rapp adding 12.
Earlier this week senior libero BriAnne Sauer was tabbed the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 6.86 digs per set in two UK wins last week. Sauer has been tremendous for the Wildcats pacing the SEC in digs per set in league matches with 5.22 per frame.
This weekend several UK players are set to achieve career milestones. Sauer is a mere 17 digs shy of attaining 1,500 for her career. Mendoza is nine kills shy of the 1,000 mark and senior setter Sarah Rumely is just 68 assists shy of setting a new UK record.
On the other side of the net, Valentina Gonzalez has done it all for Georgia as she leads the team in hitting percentage, aces and blocks per set. Erika Clark throws down over three kills per set and Carla Tietz leads the back row with 3.97 scoops per stanza.
For the most up-to-date news, highlights and features about the Kentucky volleyball team please visit UKathletics.com.
