Cats top Ole Miss for 12th consecutive victory

The+University+of+Kentucky+womens+volleyball+team+celebrates+after+a+scored+point+during+the+match+against+Ole+Miss+on+Sunday%2C+October+16%2C+2016+in+Lexington%2C+Ky.+Photo+by+Hunter+Mitchell+%7C+Staff

The University of Kentucky women’s volleyball team celebrates after a scored point during the match against Ole Miss on Sunday, October 16, 2016 in Lexington, Ky. Photo by Hunter Mitchell | Staff

By Allie Hennard

OlUK Volleyball defeated Ole Miss Sunday afternoon in a 3-0 sweep (25-20, 29-27, 25-19) in front of 1642 fans at Memorial Coliseum improving their record to 15-4 overall and 8-0 in the SEC.

The first set for the Cats was controlled and consistent. Freshman Leah Edmond had six kills in the first set alone and Junior Kaz Brown added four.

The second set was back and forth from the start. The Cats held Ole Miss to .160  hitting percentage which led to their 11-1 run, but Ole Miss came back to tie the set 22-22.

Sophomore Olivia Dailey had 17 assists in the set, helping the cats grab the win 29-27.

“We just keep playing you know, no matter the situation, whether we’re up or down,” Head Coach Craig Skinner said. “Very evident in the second set obviously when they made a run back at us.”

After gaining their commanding lead, the Cats kept their composure up until the last point.

“When our offense starts clicking, it is very difficult to stop and that was obviously very evident in the third set with 20 kills,” Skinner said.

Senior Sharay Barnes had her best performance of the season ending the match with 6 kills and 15 total attacks.

“I’m proud of Sharay, she came in and did a really good job this weekend and starting and several people made contributions throughout the whole match.” Skinner said.

Keeping composure and team motivation is what Barnes says helped gain the win and will be key entering their next game.

“Staying focus and encouraging my team the whole entire time. Just keep pushing each other,” Barnes said. “Honestly, if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have gotten the kills that I got.”

The Cats ended the game with 55 total kills, the most in any 3-set match this season. The team also finished with 11 total blocks, 6 coming from Brown.

Dailey was successful on offense and defense. She ended the match with 46 assists, the most she has had in a 3-set match this season, 6 digs, and 6 block assists.

“Liv does a good job of kind of recognizing who hasn’t gotten the ball lately and tries to get them involved to keep the blockers on their toes so very important piece in playing at an elite level,” Skinner said.

The Cats host the South Carolina Gamecocks this Friday night in Lexington at Memorial Coliseum at 7:00 p.m.