LEXINGTON, Ky. — Off to an unbeaten start to its NCAA title defense season, the No. 2 Kentucky rifle team will travel to face No. 1 TCU, in a matchup of two of the three unbeaten teams remaining in the nation, set for Saturday at the TCU Rifle Range.
Kentucky (8-0, 4-0 Great American Rifle Conference) steps out of league play to face off with TCU, as the match pits the two defending NCAA Champions against each other in a battle of unbeatens. TCU enters the match with a No. 1 national ranking, with the Wildcats checking in at No. 2.
“It was great coming off the road win at Army,” UK head coach Harry Mullins said. “This will be a tremendous test at TCU, which is the No. 1 team in the nation. They are the defending champs from two years ago and they won it (in 2009-10) with a roster mainly made up of freshmen. Now with two years and a national championship under their belts they are a hungry team and one focused on shooting good numbers. We are going to have to bring our ‘A’ game to match up with them.”
The Wildcats are coming off a road win at Army on Saturday, riding a 4693 overall team score to the victory, getting solid scores from Ethan Settlemires and Emily Holsopple.
“You can tell how good TCU is because of their nation-leading winning streak, which is around 25 or 26 matches right now,” Mullins said. “They just don’t lose. They find a way to win and produce points. Last year our only loss, beside the conference championships, came to TCU. They are going to compete strong and they have some strong shooters, in Sarah Beard, Sarah Scherer and Caitlin Morrissey. Scherer already had a 600 this year and their whole team is made up of great shooters. I can’t say enough about their talent.”
UK’s matchup at TCU continues a road swing during the spring semester, as the Wildcats wrapped up its regular season home schedule during the fall semester. The Wildcats will travel to Morgantown, W.Va., to face West Virginia and N.C. State on Feb. 4-5.
“This is a very important match,” Mullins said. “It will be a tough non-conference test. From here on the road gets tough. There are only three unbeaten teams left in the nation and there will only be two at the end of the weekend. We are looking to focus on the numbers we can produce. We obviously have a talented team and its time for us to find our game and be able to go five deep on the roster and get ready for the NCAA Championships.”
