If you attend tonight’s volleyball match between Kentucky and Ole Miss at 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum, trying closing your eyes and simply listen. You’ll hear the squeaking of sneakers, communication between players and coaches, and the cheers of fans, but above all else you’ll probably hear one sound that’s distinctly volleyball: the kill. The sound a volleyball makes when cleanly hit by a powerful attacker can’t quite be duplicated, but at UK’s matches, there’s one player whose strike is unique from the others. The ball just sounds a little different when it comes off Ashley Frazier’s hand.Craig Skinner’s team boasts a balanced attack that features six players who are averaging more than two kills per set on the season. Each of the six adds something different to the mix, but the impact of Frazier and her high-velocity hitting on her team and the opponent is unmistakable.”She’s a very physical fast-twitch athlete,” Skinner said of the junior outside hitter. “It’s a very fast, heavy ball that comes off her hand and opponents definitely have to prepare for her because if they only have one block it’s going to be very difficult to dig it. She adds a different dimension so if people load up on her, we’re able to get it to other people and they have one block.”Frazier, who played her first two seasons at the University of Alabama, sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Without her, UK advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth season in a row, but Skinner knew coming into the 2011 season that the addition of Frazier to a talented crop of returners opened up the possibility for the kind of balanced attack UK has shown most of the year.”I knew we probably had more capability of terminating the ball in a lot of different places in front of the net than we’ve had in the past,” Skinner said.Immediately, Frazier showed why Skinner was so excited about her becoming part of the team. She tallied 15 kills in UK’s best win of the early season over No. 23 Tulsa at a .500 hitting clip but was a little inconsistent out of the gate, like the team as a whole. The Wildcats started the season 2-2 and Frazier managed just nine total kills in the two losses. As the season has worn on, Frazier and the Cats have kicked it into high gear, winning 12 of 13 matches. Frazier has played at a high level throughout and has been central to UK’s 14-3 start to the season.”I know she’s someone you can feed off in terms of what she does on the court,” Skinner said. “The other nice thing about her is she’s starting to get a little more consistent and little things don’t bother her as much as they used to. When she plays with a confident, challenging demeanor, it definitely raises our level of play.”Looking at the statistics, there’s no question the Wildcats are at their best when Frazier is playing well. UK is a perfect 13-0 when she tallies 10 or more points and just 1-3 when she does not. However, Frazier says her high level of play is as much a credit to the balance of the team as anything else.”I’ve been on teams before where I’ve had to carry a large load and it’s definitely more stressful,” Frazier said. “With us, you have to prepare for every single attacker. That doesn’t allow our opponents to focus on me or anybody else. I’m more successful because of my teammates and I know my teammates can get it done.”Frazier said the redshirt year she spent with the team allowed her to acclimate to her new teammates and coaches, but there is no substitute for actually taking the floor and playing. Now that she’s had half a season under her belt, she has adjusted to the demands of playing for Skinner at UK.”She’s in a program and around athletes who have really high expectations,” Skinner said. “We aren’t O.K. with taking practices off or games off. That’s a different mentality if you haven’t been in that environment before and I think she is really embracing that now and understanding that if you want to be great, you have to do it every day.”When Frazier was looking for a new school, she wanted to find a place that would bring the best out of her. Kentucky was a program emerging in the SEC and on a national level and she wanted to be a part of it. Once she set foot on campus for a visit, she knew the school, team and staff were right for her.”The program was up-and-coming and on the rise,” Frazier said. “I really liked the coaching staff. One of my main focuses was I wanted to be able to get along with my coaches and my team. When I came here, it just seemed like a really good fit.”Frazier learned about how demanding playing at UK is as soon as she made the decision to become a part of UK. Stephanie Tracey-Simmons of UK’s strength and conditioning program immediately put her on a strenuous weight-training regimen and her work has paid dividends.”I’ve hit the ball hard my whole life, but coming here and getting in the weight room has made me a lot stronger,” Frazier said. “I’m jumping higher and hitting harder.”The impact of Frazier’s power isn’t limited to spikes. On serve, Frazier leads the team with 30 aces. Knowing the damage she can do, Skinner and the coaching staff give her free reign to serve as she pleases.”She has a chance to score each time she serves it,” Skinner said. “Because she hits it hard and the ball moves and has a lot of topspin, it’s hard to pass. We want to give her the freedom to go for it serving because if you can score with a serve, it’s a big momentum changer.”This weekend, Frazier will have a chance to test out that serve against a team that knows her well. Following UK’s game against Ole Miss on Friday, Frazier’s former team will travel to Lexington, Ky., to take on the Cats. Facing off against them for the first time is an experience Frazier looks forward to.”I’m really excited,” Frazier said. “I played with them for two years and they’ve become some of my really good friends. It will definitely be interesting to be on the other side of the net.”More importantly, Frazier hopes the fans in Memorial will see the improvement she believes the team continues to make.”I think we improve every week,” Frazier said. “I think we’ve done better in blocking and defense because that’s been our focus the last couple of weeks in practice. Hopefully they’ll see that this weekend.”