No. 20 UK volleyball wins eight in a row

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By Lamar Smith

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The No. 20 Cats are still on a roll after besting Alabama. UK took on No. 22 Arkansas and vanquished the Razorbacks (25-23, 25-12, 25-21) to win its eighth consecutive match.

Despite the Razorbacks’ best efforts, UK was the sharper team in all facets of the top-25 matchup, as six players posted five or more kills. The Cats have now won eight in a row and remain undefeated in the SEC.

Head coach Craig Skinner was impressed with the poise of his team over the last few weeks, including the team’s poise on defense.

“We were disciplined with our blocking and disciplined fundamentally with our floor defense. We’re always positioning ourselves in places where the offense is going to come at us and prevent them from killing the ball,” Skinner said. “Force the other team into errors as oppose to us giving them some points.”

The Cats were down most of the first set before a pair of blocks by sophomore middle blocker Kaz Brown sparked a five point run to end the set. UK was also down five points early in the third set before a pair of kills by junior outside hitter Anni Thomasson gave UK a 12-11 lead and momentum for the rest of the match.

Brown lead the defensive effort with seven of UK’s eight blocks, limiting Arkansas to a .128 hitting clip.

“It was definitely a blue collar effort tonight,” Skinner said. “Arkansas is a very athletic and physical team, and we expected the match to go like the first and third sets did. I’m proud of this team’s composure and ability to really commit to focusing on each point.”

Thomasson followed up her double-double against Alabama with another near double-double with 11 digs and 9 kills. Senior setter Morgan Bergren had 32 assists, 11 digs and 5 kills as well.

NoThomasson talked about the importance of winning versus a top-25 team.

“I think it was a really good win over a ranked team, that’s a good team that will win a lot of games,” Thomasson said.

Bergren talked about how important she feels being a leader is on her team.

“Well just communication is huge for this team so, just trying to keep them rallying the whole time. It’s been a fun ride so far and we just hope to keep what we have going,” Bergren said.

Looking to win their ninth consecutive match, the Cats will hit the road to face Auburn on Oct. 16.