By Madison Tinder

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UK volleyball defeated Lipscomb 3-1 (21-25, 25-16, 25-15, 25-17) in front of a season-high crowd of 2,150 on Thursday night at Memorial Coliseum.

The Cats improved to 9-2 on the season in front of a crowd who was helped by the Big Blue Madness campers who surrounded Memorial Coliseum awaiting Saturday’s ticket distribution.

The Cats were led by junior outside hitter Shelby Workman, who tallied 15 kills, while senior outside hitter Lauren O’Conner added 14 kills during the four-set win.

“This season we have been really focusing on the next point and the next play,” O’Connor said. “We just try to challenge ourselves, focus on this point right now and be in the moment.”

The Cats struggled in the first set after not being able to convert kills while fighting an inconsistent serve. Lipscomb came out of the gate fast and maintained the momentum throughout the first set, which the Bisons took 25-21.

“We had to change the tempo of our serve and throw in some short balls.” UK head coach Craig Skinner said. “We kept the gas pedal down in set four and responded well.”

In the second set, UK came out of its first-set funk and  used O’Connor’s four straight kills to take its largest lead of the set at 11-7. UK took control with its offense and ended the set 25-16 with a Workman kill.

During the third set, UK jumped to a quick 8-3 lead behind attack errors from Lipscomb. Workman and O’Connor notched back-to-back kills during an offensive run that put the Cats ahead for good.

The solid play continued for the Cats in the fourth set as UK jumped out to a quick 6-4 lead. The Cats maintained a substantial lead throughout the early part of the set until Lipscomb recovered with back-to-back kills to cut UK’s lead to three points.

But consecutive blocks from freshman middle blocker Emily Franklin halted any Lipscomb rally and UK pulled away to a 25-17 match victory.

Junior setter Morgan Bergren dished out 40 assists and senior defensive specialist Jackie Napper had 20 digs. Workman and O’Connor both hit better than .400. Lipscomb sophomore outside hitter Lauren Ford had 14 kills but five errors in 35 total attempts.

The victory was the third straight for UK, who host Xavier at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Memorial Coliseum.