Sept. 1, 2012
ATHENS, Ohio. – The 10th-ranked Kentucky volleyball suffered a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-16) loss to No. 17 Oregon on Saturday afternoon at the Baymont Invitational on the camps of Ohio University. It marks the first three-set loss for the Blue and White since Oct. 24, 2011.
With the loss, Kentucky falls to 4-2 in the early stages of the season. Oregon improves to 5-0 on the year. Kentucky closes out the Invitational with a matchup against Western Carolina tonight at 8 p.m. ET.
Senior Ashley Frazier was the highlight of the day for the Blue and White. The senior totaled eight kills on a career-high .583 hitting percentage for the Wildcats. Junior Whitney Billings had nine kills and a team-high three blocks.
Oregon used a blistering offensive attack that had three players reach double-figures in the kills’ column and the team combined to hit .500 for the match. Kentucky’s defense had a season lows in blocks (4) and digs (18).
The Ducks jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead in the opening set and never looked back en route to a 25-18 opening set victory. The Ducks totaled 16 kills on .281 hitting, while UK countered with eight kills on a .065 hitting clip. Frazier had three kills to pace the Wildcats.
UK opened the second set by grabbing an early 5-3 lead after Frazier had a trio of hammers in the run. Oregon then mounted a 6-0 run to take a 10-7 lead and the Wildcats could not quell the threat. Oregon finished the set on a 15-7 run for the 25-14 win. Oregon posted a sizzling .818 hitting percentage as the team tossed down 18 kills and did not commit a single error in the stanza.
In the third frame the teams exchanged points back and forth until the Ducks posted consecutive kills and took a 4-2 lead. The 17th-ranked Ducks would not look back from there finishing the set with a 25-16 win. Oregon hit .500 with 17 kills in the final frame. UK had nine on .227 hitting.
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.
