Aug. 30, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 10th-ranked Kentucky volleyball team will look to rebound from its first loss of the season on Wednesday with a round-robin tournament on the campus of Ohio University this weekend. UK is set to take on the host Bobcats, No. 17 Oregon and Western Carolina in the Baymont Invitational beginning Friday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. ET. UK will face Ohio in its first match of the round-robin tournament.
Kentucky (3-1) dropped a heartbreaking match to instate rival Louisville on Wednesday, despite getting a third consecutive double-double effort from junior Whitney Billings. The Helena, Ala., native totaled 12 kills and 13 digs for the Blue and White. Senior Christine Hartmann also tallied her second double-double effort of the early stages of the season with 44 assists and 10 scoops.
Senior libero Stephanie Klefot notched her first 20-dig performance of the season with a match-high 22 digs, while junior Jessi Greenberg totaled a season-best 10 digs.
Ohio enters the weekend with a 0-3 record after dropping contests to Dayton, Pepperdine and Illinois in the opening weekend of action. Kelly Lambert led the attack with 3.27 kills per set, while Chelsea Bilger added 3.09. The Bobcats charted 12.55 kills per set as a team on .155 hitting. Meredith Ashy anchored the back row to the tune of 5.09 digs per set with Serena Werener leading the way at the net wtih 1.55 blocks per frame.
The meeting will mark the seventh in the history of the series. UK leads the overall matchups with a 5-1 record. The last meeting came in 2011 as UK earned a 3-0 sweep.
Oregon enters the weekend with a 3-0 record and a No. 17 national ranking. Last weekend in Columbus, Ohio, Oregon won its 13th tourney title in 15 tries under eighth-year head coach Jim Moore. UO opened the season with sweeps of Toledo and Houston, then rallied from an 0-2 deficit at No. 24 Ohio State for a 3-2 win. Alaina Bergsma leads the way for the Ducks with 4.22 kills per set on .363 hitting.
UK leads the all-time series with a 2-0 record against Oregon. The last meeting came in 2009 during the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Lauren Rapp had 10 blocks to lead UK to a 3-0 sweep en route to advancing to the first Sweet 16 under coach Craig Skinner.
Western Carolina opened the 2012 season with a 2-1 weekend at home. The Catamounts topped North Carolina A&T and Saint Peter’s before dropping the final match of the weekend to Northern Kentucky. Caitlin Piechota led the way on offense with 4.60 kills per set on an impressive .364 hitting. Morgan Cochran is averaging 5.40 digs per set, while the unit also averages 1.60 blocks per stanza.
Kentucky is a perfect 5-0 in the series with the Catamounts. UK earned 3-0 sweeps in three-consecutive seasons in 2007, 2008 and 2009 in the most recent matchups.
Visit UKathletics.com for the most up-to-date information on the UK volleyball team. For additional coverage of the volleyball squad be sure and check out CatScratchesBlog.com/volleyball.
