Volleyball Ready to Serve Up Wins

The Kentucky women’s volleyball team is ready to throw the ball in the air for the first serve of the season. Head coach, Craig Skinner’s squad will start the 2008 campaign at Memorial Coliseum in the Kentucky Classic against the Pittsburgh Panthers at 7pm.  They will finish out the three game showcase against Western Carolina and Wisconsin on Saturday at 10am and 7pm, respectively.

The Cats will look to senior middle blocker, Queen Nzenwa, for leadership in 2008.  A preseason All-SEC choice this year, Nzenwa hopes to use her leadership abilities to help the team to an SEC Championship.

Coach Skinner loves what he hears from Nzenwa, and believes that she could be a dominant force throughout the season.

The Cats will also look to their three highly touted freshman, Gretchen Giesler, Becky Pavan and Christine Hartmann.  The class was ranked as the 17th best in the country by PrepVolleyball.com, and will have an opportunity to make an immediate impact in 2008.  Outside of the freshman, Kentucky returns nearly their entire team from last season where they won more than 20 games, a feat they hadn’t accomplished since 1993.  They also won 13 conference games and had nine wins on the road – both school bests.

One of the top returnees, junior setter Sarah Rumely, can’t wait to get back on the court and show not only the school but the whole state what UK volleyball is about.

Despite being voted by the coaches of the SEC to finish the season in third place, the Cats’ top priority is to prove them wrong and finish on top.