Oct. 7, 2010
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky volleyball team is set to hit the road once again in Southeastern Conference action with a Friday night matchup at 15th-ranked LSU, the league’s reigning champions. Kentucky owns a 28-21 overall record against the Bayou Bengals including winning the last four meetings between the teams.
With two road matches this weekend, Kentucky (8-8, 2-4) has had to endure three road matches in its first eight SEC matches after facing one of the most daunting preseason schedules under head coach Craig Skinner.
The Wildcats have been led by senior Lauren Rapp who leads the SEC with a .435 hitting clip in conference matches. Rapp posted 17 kills on a .577 hitting percentage in UK’s last match against Ole Miss. The senior has already charted her 1,000th career kill this season to become the 14th member in school history to achieve the feat. She has also risen up the charts and sits third all-time with 375 career block assists.
Kentucky has had six members of its team chart a double-double this season. Seniors Rapp and Blaire Hiler, junior Ann Armes, sophomore Christine Hartmann and freshmen Whitney Billings and Elizabeth Koberstein have all totaled at least one match with double-figures in kills, assists or digs. In 2009, Kentucky had just three players earn a double-double effort during the season.
LSU is the reigning SEC Champions and have began the year with a 14-1 overall record and a 5-1 mark in conference action. LSU’s lone loss came in a four-set match with No. 2 Florida on Oct. 1. The Tigers chart 14.58 kills per set on .287 hitting as a unit. Angela Bensend leads the way with 4.40 kills per stanza.
The Wildcats have won the last four meetings between the two squads including a thrilling five-set victory in late October in 2009.
In a match that featured 32 ties and 13 lead changes, the then seventh-ranked Kentucky Wildcats overcame a one-set deficit to claw back and defeat No. 20 LSU in five gut-wrenching sets (25-23, 19-25, 16-25, 25-15, 15-12) in the last meeting between the two squads.
Kentucky trailed two sets to one and mounted a thrilling comeback to overcome the hot-hitting LSU Tigers to earn its third consecutive season with 20 or more victories. With their backs against the wall, the Wildcats needed to capture a fourth-set victory and the Blue and White used a top-notch performance from the entire squad to secure a 25-15 fourth set win.
Three UK players tallied over 10 kills. Hiler posted 13 and Gretchen Giesler matched a career-high with 11 hammers.
Follow along all season long with the Wildcats at UKathletics.com.
