The return home for UK volleyball ended on a sour note Friday night after falling to Marquette Golden Eagles 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 25-18, 25-17). 

The Cats struggled early to find any sort of rhythm and in the process started their weekend in the Bluegrass Battle in the worst way possible. UK can take some positives out the match, but will need to improve in other places if they want to end the weekend on a successful note.

“Just trying, we killed the ball at a high enough rate and (had) plenty of kills to be successful,” Head Coach Craig Skinner said. “Just eliminating some errors on our side of the net and forcing the other team in a tough situation, so that would be the number one thing.” 

One of the positive takeaways would be freshman Leah Edmond. The freshman outside hitter stepped on the court again tallying UK with 17 kills. Edmond continues to be huge for the Cats in that category as this game marks the sixth time in UK’s seven games that she has led the team in kills.

 “It was great, I love playing in Lexington,” Edmond said. “I’ve been waiting to play for the past three years, so it was really exciting getting to play on this court.”

The loss moves UK to 3-4 on the season but the team will have a chance to bounce back right away with a double-header in the Bluegrass Battle tomorrow. 

The Cats take on Virginia tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. followed by Saint Louis tomorrow evening at 7:30 p.m.