Senior outside hitter Lauren O’Connor led UK volleyball to a 3-1 win against South Carolina on Sunday. O’Connor had a career-high 22 kills and a career-best .667 attacking percentage.

The Cats improved 12-2 overall and 2-0 in the SEC and the Gamecocks dropped to 11-3 overall and 1-1 in SEC play.

Junior outside hitter Shelby Workman notched 14 kills and seven digs and junior middle blocker Sara Schwarzwalder reached double figures in the kills column with 10 swings.

UK opened the set with a 6-5 lead with two kills from O’Connor and a solo block from Schwarzwalder. The Cats went on a 7-0 run and which brought the score to 13-7. Workman finished the set with a kill and UK won the first set 25-14.

The second set began with both teams exchanging points, and the Gamecocks kept the margin within two points for most of the set. Senior libero Jackie Napper added two serving aces to put the Cats within one point of taking the second set, but South Carolina scored the next three points. It was enough room for the Gamecocks to take the set 25-21.

The Cats raced to a 5-1 lead in the third set. Freshman middle blocker Kaz Brown had a kill and shut down the Gamecocks offense with a block.

Schwarzwalder stretched the lead with a kill to give UK a 12-6 advantage. The Cats capitalized on the quick start and took the third set 25-17.

It was a back-and-forth battle to open the fourth frame, but O’Connor led the Cats to take the lead at 16-15. An ace from sophomore outside hitter Anni Thomasson gave UK momentum for O’Connor to notch her 20th kill of the game. The Cats forced the Gamecocks into a hitting error, and O’Connor hammered two more kills to end the set and the match 25-21.

UK had a .316 hitting percentage while the Gamecocks hit .228.

The Cats will have their Southeastern Conference home opener against Alabama at 7p.m ET on Friday at Memorial Coliseum.

Staff Report