UK volleyball dispatches Tigers on the road

Sophomore+Madison+Lilley+and+senior+Brooke+Morgan+celebrate+a+point+during+the+game+against+Tennessee+on+Thursday%2C+Oct.+10%2C+2018+at+Memorial+Coliseum+in+Lexington%2C+Ky.+Kentucky+won+3+sets+to+1.+Photo+by+Jordan+Prather+%7C+Staff

Sophomore Madison Lilley and senior Brooke Morgan celebrate a point during the game against Tennessee on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2018 at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky. Kentucky won 3 sets to 1. Photo by Jordan Prather | Staff

Hailey Peters

The Kentucky volleyball team increased its record to 13-4 (7-0 in SEC) with the Cats’ win against the LSU Tigers on Friday evening. This is the 10th straight victory for the Cats and their seventh sweep of the season.

LSU was not enough to beat the Cats, who remain undefeated in the SEC. The Wildcats managed to win the match in only three sets, despite being challenged by the long-winded Tigers.

Kentucky took a strong lead early in the first set, with a scoring streak of six points within the first few minutes. LSU struggled against the power of the Cats’ two service aces and five of their own service errors, to go along with Brooke Morgan’s six kills in the set.

LSU fought back, benefiting from longer rallies and some errors from Kentucky. After LSU called a timeout to address an injury to Taylor Bannister, the Tigers managed a slight comeback. However, they didn’t come close to Kentucky, who won the first set 25-14.

The Tigers fought back in the second set, scoring the first three points. The Wildcats responded and the lead shifted between the two teams, eventually landing with Kentucky. At the media-directed timeout, Kentucky led the set 15-9 and LSU’s hitting had gone down by 5.3 percent.

LSU continued to benefit from errors by UK, but the Cats had doubled the Tigers’ score at one point in the set. The Tigers took their final timeout and tried to make a comeback, but fell short to the Wildcats with 16 points scored in the set.

The Cats began the third set confidently, going into it hitting 41 percent. The Tigers once again had a strong start with two back-to-back kills. The score quickly tied with a surprise kill by Leah Edmond on what likely should have been the Tigers’ third hit. The longer rallies tended to favor LSU, but their struggle with the shorter rallies kept them trailing the Cats through most of the set.

Kentucky’s blocking and killing abilities kept them in the lead, eventually giving them the sweep as LSU scored 21 points, the highest they scored in any set of the evening.

UK’s Edmond and Morgan led the match with 10 kills each, followed by LSU’s Bannister. Gabby Curry led the game in digs, netting 21 total. UK had twice as many blocks as the Tigers, and the hit percentage for the Cats was .327 as compared to LSU’s .090.

The Wildcats continue their road journey in College Station, Texas, where they are set to face the Texas A&M Aggies on Sunday, Oct. 21, at 3 p.m.