UK volleyball prepares for final nonconference matches of the season
September 18, 2014
By Madison Tinder
UK Volleyball (8-2) returns home to Memorial Coliseum this week to face Lipscomb (6-4) on Thursday and Xavier (6-4) on Saturday, with both matches starting at 7 p.m.
The Cats are coming off a 2-1 weekend at the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C., defeating Georgia Southern and VCU but losing to No. 17 North Carolina.
Junior outside hitter Shelby Workman and sophomore outside hitter Anni Thomasson lead the Cats in offensive attacks, averaging three per set.
Thomasson and Workman were an offensive force during the Carolina Classic, dishing out a combined 72 kills during the three-match tournament.
Senior libero Jackie Napper was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week and led UK with 80 digs in four matches. She matched a career-high 26 digs against North Carolina and a perfect 31 attempts on the serve-receive line.
The middle blockers helped the Cats’ success this past weekend as well. Freshmen Emily Franklin had a career-high eight blocks against Georgia Southern along with seven kills. Junior Sara Schwarzwalder also had a season-high 10 kills. hitting .533 percent.
UK’s previous losses have been against top- ranked teams, including No. 6 Southern California at home and the five-set loss against North Carolina on the road.
Lipscomb is coming into Lexington after losing against Utah on Saturday.
The Bisons beat No. 22 Kansas in a five-set match in their second game of the season. Atlantic Sun All-Conference senior outside hitter Lauren Ford leads Lipscomb in kills, averaging over nine per game.
Xavier moves into the weekend coming off two five-set losses against Ohio State and Dayton.
Sophomore outside hitter Abbey Bessler is leading Xavier’s offense with 141 total kill attempts and averaging under four per set.
Bessler is also the Musketeers’ mainstay on defense, leading the team with 101 digs this season.
UK is 2-0 all-time against Lipscomb, but has not faced Xavier in program history.
The two matches this weekend are the last nonconference games on the schedule before the Cats begin SEC play with a road match against LSU in eight days.
