Indiana Rallies in Fourth and Fifth to Down No. 15 Kentucky
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Indiana Hoosiers got wins in sets two, four and five to drop the No. 15 Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.
With the loss, UK falls to 6-3 on the season, and finishes 2-1 for the third-straight weekend of non-conference action.
Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET against Purdue at Memorial Coliseum. The match will be shown live on the SEC Network, ESPN3 and the ESPN app.
Leah Meyer and Kendyl Paris were named to the Bluegrass Battle All-Tournament Team.
Set One
Kentucky went on a 4-0 run in the early stanzas of the set thanks to three-straight blocks at the net by the Kentucky defense headed by Caitlin Cooper. Cooper, Alli Stumler and Leah Meyer each recorded two blocks inside of the first nine points of the match for UK. The Wildcats extended their lead on Meyer’s third block of the match, which put UK up 12-7 and forced the Hoosiers into a timeout, holding IU to just -.267 hitting at the time of the halted action. The set finished 25-16 with UK maybe playing its best defensive set of the season, holding IU to -.121 hitting in the frame. The Wildcats finished with 5.5 team blocks as over five players recorded one in the set.
Set Two
The Wildcats got off to a strong start in the second set, leading 4-0 and 13-10 at different points in the frame, but a slight hitch in the offense led to the Hoosiers to climb back into the set. The Wildcats fell 25-22, suffering a -.029 hitting percentage in the set and committed seven attacking errors. UK’s defense continued to hold strong, as Indiana hit .086, but it was enough to take the second set.
Set Three
Meyer continued to make noise at the net in the third, as her fifth block of the match was enough to force the Hoosiers into two timeouts on successive points to give the Wildcats a 15-9 lead. A pair of Avery Skinner kills bookended the timeout and Kentucky was on cruise control up 16-9. Meyer’s swing from the right side put Kentucky up 18-9, its largest lead of the match in any set to that point. An attack error punctuated a 10-0 UK run to put the Wildcats up 21-9 before a blocking error put an end to it. In the third set, UK upped its hitting percentage to .344 and Madison Lilley clinched another double-double with 10 digs and 30 assists through the first three sets.
Set Four
It was a tight start to the fourth set before Indiana took the first lead of note at 9-6 and forced the Wildcats into a timeout. It was all Hoosiers from there, as IU took as big of a lead as 18-11 and 22-14 to force a fifth set, the first all season for UK.
Set Five
Leah Meyer and Kendyl Paris started the fifth with a block at the net to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Indiana then won the next three points to take a 3-1 lead. After Kentucky tied the set at three all, the Hoosiers ripped off six points in a row to take a 9-3 lead and force the Wildcats into a timeout. Kentucky found itself down 11-4 and used its second timeout. UK then rattled off four points in a row inbetween an IU timeout to claw back to within 11-8, but an overruled challenge stymied the momentum and Indiana took the final set. From there, Indiana coasted to the win and handed the Wildcats their third loss of the season.
Follow along with the Wildcats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
