Dec. 18, 2012

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After advancing to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the second-consecutive season the Kentucky volleyball team has been ranked No. 20 in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association top-25 poll it was announced on Tuesday afternoon.

With the No. 20 ranking this year, UK has now finished ranked among the top 25 nine times in program history including four of the last five seasons under the direction of head coach Craig Skinner. In the three seasons Skinner has led the Blue and White to the Sweet 16 the Wildcats have finished ranked in the top 20 including this year’s run.

Only one other school from the Southeastern Conference (Florida at No. 10) finished the year ranked. Both Tennessee and Texas A&M were in the receiving votes category. In addition to the final ranking,

Kentucky also closed out the season among the nation’s leaders in several statistical categories. UK finished the season as the 34th best team in the nation in aces per set with an average of 1.45. Kentucky’s 2.53 blocks per set was ranked as the 44th best in the country. UK owned a hitting percentage of .250 which was the 36th best mark in the country.

Two players ranked among the top 135 in the country in three different categories. Setter Christine Hartmann’s average of 10.83 assists per set was the 50th highest in the country. Junior Alexandra Morgan ranked 68th in the nation with a .347 hitting percentage which also ranked as the seventh best in a single-season in school history. Her 1.07 blocks per set ranked as the 131st highest total in the nation.

Finally, Kentucky’s Memorial Coliseum ranked among the nation’s leaders for the fifth-consecutive season with an average of 1,727 fans per match. That total was good for the 22nd highest average attendance in the nation.

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.

Final 2012 National Rankings

1. Texas
2. Oregon
3. Penn State
4. Stanford
5. Michigan
6. Southern Cal
7. Nebraska
8. Minnesota
9. Washington
10. Florida
11. Hawai’i
12. BYU
13. UCLA
14. Iowa State
15. Purdue
16. Michigan State
17. Louisville
18. Florida State
19. Dayton
20. Kentucky
21. Western Kentucky
22. Ohio State
23. Wichita State
24. Creighton
25. Kansas