By Connor Link, UK AthleticsAfter losing the second set of Friday’s match to Georgia, allowing the Bulldogs to tie the Wildcats 1-1, No. 17 Kentucky headed to the locker room in desperate need of adjustment. By the time the ball was served to begin set three, they did just that.”I feel like as a team, the first and second game were one mentality,” said senior Lauren O’Conner. “We came in at the break and just changed everything.”Allowing four team blocks from UGA to UK’s zero in set two, Kentucky flipped the script in the third set and blocked four Georgia shots without giving up one of their own. The Cats’ hitting percentage rose from a dreary .239 to a dominating .480, while the Dogs’ attack dropped all the way down to .156 in set three.”We challenged our team to be better defensively in sets three and four,” said head coach Craig Skinner. “Obviously, our defense and blocking were a big difference in those sets. I’m just proud of the mentality we had to close out the match.”After a 25-16 win in set three, Kentucky (21-4, 10-2 SEC) cruised to a 25-13 victory in the fourth and final set. O’Conner proved to be the offensive catalyst the Cats needed, posting 21 kills by herself, just one shy of her career high, and not a single error.”I feel like (the adjustment in the third set) just helped me step up even more, because my team was just fighting,” said O’Conner. “I wanted to step up and make the plays so we could come out on top.”O’Conner, one of only three seniors on the Kentucky roster, has been playing some of the best volleyball of her career just as it comes to an end. With only three home games remaining before the NCAA Tournament, the Taylor Mill, Ky. native’s playing days are glaringly numbered.”(O’Conner) is playing with a ton of confidence,” said Skinner. “She knows what shot to hit at the right time, and sees the block and the court really well.”Earning All-SEC Freshman team honors in 2011, O’Conner saw action in 97 of 98 matches–recording 67 total starts–during her first three seasons in Lexington. Fast-forward through her illustrious career to 2014, and O’Conner still finds a way to impress her coach with each passing game.”Before, she had a cross-court shot, and now she has every shot in the book,” said Skinner. “Her cross-court off-speed is doing a really nice job.”Looking ahead to Sunday’s match with the defending SEC champion Missouri Tigers, O’Conner chooses not to revel in her spectacular 21-kill performance or her .512 hitting percentage.”Just take it as any other game,” said O’Conner. “(I) just try to do the best that I can on that night, and (take) the opportunities that are given to me.”No. 17 Kentucky will face Mizzou (15-12, 6-6 SEC) Sunday at noon at Memorial Coliseum. The match will be televised live on ESPN’s SEC Network.