Oct. 25, 2012
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky volleyball team will hit the road for a two-match road swing that begins at Tennessee on Friday night in Thompson-Boling Arena. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. ET with a live blog provided by UKahtletics.com.
The road swing ends a four-match home stand for Kentucky (13-8, 7-4 Southeastern Conference). The Cats earned a 3-1 record during the stretch. UK captured a 3-0 win over LSU in its last action. The Blue and White utilized a 16-6 run to close out the third set in a come-from-behind win to clinch the sweep of the Tigers.
Junior Whitney Billings was masterful with her 23rd career double-double effort. She had team-highs in kills (16), digs (14) and blocks (5) to lead the way. Billings has 10 double-double efforts on the season which ranks as the most in one season in the third-year player’s career.
Senior setter Christine Hartmann also utilized a double-double in guiding the Cats to a win on Sunday. Hartmann had 40 assists, the most in a three-set match this season, to couple with 13 scoops.
Kentucky heads into Knoxville, Tenn., Friday night looking to sweep the season series with the Lady Vols (14-5, 7-3 SEC) for the first time since 2007 after defeating UT in straight sets in Lexington, Ky., earlier this season.
Behind unbelievable defense and brilliant offensive execution which saw Kentucky hit at a .320 clip, UK swept then ranked No. 25 Tennessee Lady Volunteers, 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-20) for the first time since 1995 in the team’s previous meeting.UK was led by dynamic performances from Billings and Alexandra Morgan. The two combined for 19 kills without committing a single error. Billings also registered team highs in digs (16) and blocks (4).
Sophomore Lauren O’Conner notched a team-best 11 kills, with freshman Sara Schwarzwalder contributing six. Hartmann passed out 35 assists while also adding a team-high four rejections. Senior libero Stephanie Klefot logged 13 digs with junior Jessi Greenberg and sophomore Jackie Napper both adding seven in that victory.
For the Lady Vols, outside hitter Kelsey Robinson leads the way for UT with 294 kills (4.45 K/S) with fellow outside hitter Tiffany Baker tallying 241 kills (3.17 K/Set) during the 2012 season.
Defensively, Ellen Mullins has made 323 digs (4.25 D/Set) from the libero position, while DeeDee Harrison is averaging 1.08 blocks per set.
Tennessee will provide fans with free live video of the match. The feed can be found here: http://www.utsports.com/allaccess/?media=336557
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.
