Cats fight off late Georgia rally to hold on for win

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By T.J. Walker

The first set of UK’s volleyball match against Georgia on Sunday afternoon had all the makings of another sweep for the Cats. However, the Bulldogs fought back and made UK work for its seventh straight win.

No. 10 UK (17-1, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) came out firing against the Bulldogs, dominating the first set with a .400 hitting percentage. However, Georgia (11-7, 2-5 SEC) bounced back to challenge the SEC-leading Cats. Ultimately, thanks to junior outside hitter Sarah Mendoza, UK beat the Bulldogs 3-1 (25-14, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23).

“Georgia made bigger plays than we did, even though we won the second one I didn’t feel like we were prepared to make big plays when we needed to and that’s a mental thing,” UK head coach Craig Skinner said.

Without Mendoza it could have been a different outcome for UK. Mendoza had 17 digs to go with a match-high 19 kills.  UK led big in the fourth set before Georgia stormed back, but late kills by Mendoza stopped the Bulldogs.

“She played great, she was consistent in the entire match,” said senior setter Sarah Rumely. “If we didn’t have her focus in there every point of the game, it could have ended differently, but she held us together in that match.”

UK admits to playing lackadaisical at times and losing focus after such a lopsided first set.

“Our team tends to relax sometimes so that shouldn’t happen, we weren’t as focused as we should be,” Mendoza said.

Despite UK winning the second and fourth set, they didn’t play “Kentucky volleyball” for the remainder of the match. Their highest hitting percentage from the first set was remarkably lower the rest of the game and Georgia made them pay in the third set. But UK still overcame sloppy play for the win. Skinner said things will need to change.

“We need to practice better, we have to practice better during the week, good teams in the conference are capable of winning matches,” Skinner said. “If you have success whether it is a set, or match, or practice, you cant be satisfied, and sometimes we get satisfied in practice.”

Luckily for UK, Mendoza never appeared satisfied. While most players cheer and celebrate after a point, on Sunday Mendoza had a serious look on her face throughout the match. One that hinted she didn’t plan on losing.

“I just have a determination that we are not going to lose, that’s not an option,” Mendoza said. “I’m going to try and do everything in my power to not let us lose.”

The Cats are still undefeated in the SEC and are still focused on its goal of winning an SEC title. UK has only lost four sets at home this season, but without the luxury of a home court advantage the Cats will need to continue to grow as a team.

“We got a little over confident,” Rumely said. “We relaxed and if were going to continue to mature as a team we cant let that happen.”