Match Results
- #6 Kentucky def. Tennessee 3-0, (25-21, 25-18, 30-28)
- Kentucky improves to 17-2, 8-0 SEC), Tennessee falls to 10-8, 3-6 SEC
- Memorial Coliseum – Lexington, Kentucky
- Attendance: 2,422
- Match Stats
The Kentucky Wildcats have been a tenacious team to watch lately and their three-set sweep over Tennessee has been no different. The win over the Vols was the 12th straight for the Wildcats and 8-0 in SEC play.
On the way to victory, the team had two players break school records in the win – Lead Edmond and Kaz Brown. Edmond slammed down 19 kills in the match to break the school’s three-match kill record in the rally-scoring era – this is a feat that Edmond achieved twice last season alone. Brown broke the solo block record in the rally-scoring era with 56 total in her career after posting two in the win.
The win moves Kentucky to 17-2 overall, which is now the 13th season in a row behind head coach, Craig Skinner, that the team has accomplished the feat and is the longest streak in school history.
12th-straight win! pic.twitter.com/bWq20yYbee
— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) October 22, 2017
In the first set, Kentuck jumped out to a 6-3 lead but the Vols fought that back to tie things at 6-6. It was a back and forth fight for both teams until the Wildcats to a 19-16 lead over the Vols and continued to roll with this. They extended their lead to 22-17 with kills from Emily Franklin and Edmond while Edmond/Brown teamed up for a block. The final point was struck down by Avery Skinner to give the Wildcats a 1-0 match advantage at 25-21.
It was once again a strong start for both teams, trading off points until Kentucky jumped ahead to 12-9 then to 18-11. A kill from Alyssa Andreno stopped the Wildcat run but then a Vols service error brought the ball back into Wildcat territory. This point brought things back to a back and forth trade-off once again until Skinner slammed down the final point at 25-18.
Both teams went on runs of their own in the third set with the Vols going on a 3-0 run early to obtain a 6-5 lead on kills from Andreno, Tessa Grubbs and a block from Andreno/Breana Jeter. The Wildcats fought this back to go up 9-7 but later the Vols went back up at 14-12. This pattern continued until 17-15 (Wildcats) then the back and forth point debacle continued. Late in the set, the teams were tied at 24s then 25s, 26s, 27s and 28s before Brown and Edmonds both slammed down kills to end the set and match at 30-28.
Edmond’s 19 kills came on a .372 hitting percentage along with eight digs while Brown slammed down 13 kills and six total blocks. Setter Madison Lilley dished out an impressive 48 assists in the three-set match along with six digs and two blocks. In the backcourt, Ashley Dusek picked up 15 digs.
For Tennessee, Andreno was the kills leader with eight and five blocks while setter Sedona Hansen dished out 18 assists and 11 digs for a double-double. Brooke Schumacher picked up a team-best 12 digs in the loss.
Press Release
Courtesy of Kentucky Athletics
Behind the offensive spark from sophomore Leah Edmondand senior Kaz Brown, the No. 6 Kentucky volleyball team rolled to a 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 30-28) win over visiting Tennessee to preserve its 12th-consecutive victory in front of 2,422 fans in Memorial Coliseum. Edmond and Brown set records in the process.
Brown became UK’s all-time leading blocker in every category of the 25-point rally-scoring era with six total blocks in today’s match. She had two solo rejections to run her total to 56 in her career and top Becky Pavan’s record of 55. Edmond tied her own program record with the most kills in a three-set match in the rally-scoring era with 19. She also achieved the feat twice last season.
With the win, Kentucky improves to 17-2 overall on the year and 8-0 in Southeastern Conference action. Tennessee falls to 10-8 on the year and 3-6 against league foes. Today’s win also marked the 13th season in which UK has won 17 or more matches under the direction of Craig Skinner. It is the longest such streak in program history.
“I’m glad we came out and got the job done” head coach Craig Skinner said. “I think it was another test for our team to know how you handle coming off of a big victory and then still perform at a level capable of beating a Tennessee team who is very difficult to play against. They provide a lot of challenges. I’m proud of the team for responding.”
Edmond had 19 kills on a .372 hitting clip in the win. Nine of those kills came in a dominating opening set performance. She also added eight digs, a block and an ace in the win. Brown had 13 kills on a .370 clip, while adding the team-high six blocks. She matched Edmond’s effort with nine kills in the decisive third set.
“Madison was giving good balls,” Edmond said. “I just come out and play. That’s a start I would love to have every game.”
Freshman setter Madison Lilley had 48 assists, six digs, two blocks, two kills and an ace in another all-around performance. She directed the UK offense to the tune of 55 kills on a .308 clip. Kentucky matched the three-set rally-scoring era record with 55 kills in today’s win. UK also turned the trick on Oct. 16, 2016 against Ole Miss.
“We run a lot of drills like that in practice, where it’s a really high pressure situation and our backs are against the wall,” Lilley said. “So that’s a good opportunity to kind of get your mind right and then when it comes to game time it’s kind of just natural.”
Senior Ashley Dusek led the charge from the backline defense with a match-high 15 digs. Junior McKenzie Watson and freshman Gabby Curry both contributed seven in the win.
Seniors Darian Mack and Emily Franklin had seven and six kills, respectively. Mack added a pair of blocks, while Franklin chipped in with three and two digs. Freshman Avery Skinner had eight kills and two blocks.
SET RECAPS
Set 1
The Volunteers raced out to a 2-0 lead to open the match, but Edmond’s shot down the line ended the run for the visitors and put UK on the board. A spectacular dig by Watson was utilized as a set for Edmond who tooled the block and knotted the score at three apiece. Brown gave UK its first lead with a solo rejection on the very next play which ignited a Kentucky rally. The Cats scored four in a row to grab a 6-3 edge. Tennessee quickly rebounded with three-consecutive points of its own to tie it at six, but then Edmond rifled a shot into the middle of the defense to quell the spurt. From there the team’s would trade points until an ace from Edmond gave the Wildcats a two-point lead once again at 15-13. A kill from Mack propelled UK to a 19-16 lead and forced the Lady Vols into a timeout. Edmond’s ninth kill of the set, this one off of an overpass, promoted another timeout from the visitors with Kentucky out in front by a 21-17 score. Out of the break, Edmond and Brown teamed up for the third block of the frame to push the lead to five. It was all the room Kentucky would need en route to a 25-21 opening set win. Edmond led the way with nine kills on .368 hitting. Lilley had 15 assists on 18 UK kills. Three players – Curry, Edmond and Dusek had three digs, while Brown paved the way at the net with three rejections.
Set 2
Tennessee opened the scoring, but Edmond quickly fired back with her 10th kill of the day. The teams would exchange points back-and-forth until the visitors managed to score on consecutive plays to take an 8-6 lead. Edmond once again responded with back-to-back kills down to spell that run and knot the score at eight. Mack and Edmond had kills on consecutive plays and then the Volunteers missed long to lift UK to a 12-9 edge and force the Volunteers into a timeout. Franklin and Lilley stuffed an attempt after an extended rally to push the score to 15-11. On the next play, Skinner and Franklin combined for another block. Skinner converted on an overpass and Kentucky grabbed a comfortable 17-11 lead with Tennessee taking its final timeout. Kentucky was not threatened the rest of the way and rolled to a 25-18 win on a kill from Skinner. Edmond once again led the way, this time with seven kills. UK had 17 hammers on a .361 clip with 14 assists coming from the hands of Lilley. Dusek had seven digs in the stanza, while Franklin contributed a pair of blocks.
Set 3
Franklin scored set three’s first point and then Brown and Mack teamed up for another rejection. Tennessee would quickly fight back and tie things at three apiece and from there the teams would swap points until the visitors shook free for a two-point lead at 14-12. Brown converted on the slide and then Lilley found Skinner across the court for a kill as UK wasted little time in tying things up. The Lady Vols had a one-point lead at the media timeout. Following the timeout, Brown once again found a spot off of the slide to once again knot things up. Lilley gave UK the lead back after a tremendous defensive rally by both squads when she took a dig from Dusek and smacked a shot to the back row. Tennessee would not go away and tied the score at 18 apiece. The teams would trade points until Brown combined for back-to-back huge plays. On the first play she posted her 10th kill of the night and then set the program record for the most solo blocks in a career with a solo roof to lift UK to a 23-21 advantage. Tennessee opted for a timeout. Following the break, the Lady Vols scored two-straight points to knot the score once again this time at 23 all. After a Kentucky timeout, Brown gave Kentucky match point with yet another conversion on a slide. Kentucky’s service error gave life to UT, but the Lady Vols committed an error of their own. Tennessee came up with a block to save its second match point. A quick set to Mack prompted a third chance for UK to close out the match in three. Tennessee saved yet another set point with a cross-court kill. UT then grabbed a 27-26 lead for a chance to continue the match and Kentucky opted for a timeout. Following the break, Mack tied things yet again. Tennessee quickly earned set point off of a block, but Brown came up with another kill to tie the score at 28. After two terrific defensive plays by the Cats, Brown was able to get a hand on the kill and find a gap in the middle of the defense to lift UK to set point and Edmond tooled the block to give UK the 30-28 win. Brown had nine kills on .533 hitting in the final set and added three more blocks. Lilley had 19 assists on 21 total kills as UK boasted a .327 hitting clip. Dusek ha five digs, while Watson added four.
Follow along with the Wildcats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
Press Release
Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics
Sedona Hansen finished the match with 18 assists and 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the season in a 3-0 (21-25, 18-25, 28-30) road loss to the Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday afternoon at Memorial Coliseum.
There were 37 ties and 10 lead changes in a match that was closer than the sets scores showed. Kentucky (17-2, 8-0 SEC) won the final set 30-28 but it was not an easy one and came down to the wire. There were 20 ties in that set alone with six lead changes between the two teams.
Alyssa Andreno finished the match with eight kills each for Tennessee (10-8, 3-6 SEC) in a tough road loss. Hansen has also had 10 or more assists in every match this season.
The opening set was back and forth with nine ties and three lead changes. Tennessee didn’t give in to the Cats and battled the entire set but came up just short, dropping the set 25-21. Andreno and Madison Coulter each had three kills for the Lady Vols in the opening set. The Wildcats pulled away from the Vols on behind the hot hand of Leah Edmond, who had nine of the Cats’ 18 kills in the opening set.
The Lady Vols took an early lead in the second set despite eight ties early in the set. Kentucky didn’t see its first lead until a kill by Kaz Brown gave the Cats a 9-8 lead but a kill by Tessa Grubbsmade that lead short lived. Kentucky would then go on a 3-0 run to take a 12-9 lead over the Lady Vols. Stephanie Buss would come up with a kill to end that run but the Cats would use a 5-0 run later in the match to take a 18-11 lead on their way to a 25-18 second set win. Andreno led UT with three kills in the second set.
The third set was like the other two sets where both teams would keep it close and tight. There was 20 ties and six lead changes in a tough third set. Kentucky and Tennessee would trade points back and forth up until the 14th tie of the set at 21 all when the Cats took the lead off a kill by Kaz Brown and went on to score the next two points to take a 23-21 lead. A kill by Buss and an attack error by UK’s Kaz Brown tied the match back up at 23 all.No one wanted to give in during the third set as the two teams would battle back and forth but the Wildcats would prevail 30-28 to take the final set.
Leah Edmond led the Cats with 19 kills while Kaz Brown finished with 13 and as a team Kentucky hit .308 and 55 kills on 130 attacks.
Tennessee finished with a .200 hitting percentage, 8.5 blocks and 37 kills. The Lady Vols will be back on the road next week when they travel to Texas A&M on Friday, Oct. 27 and they travel to LSU on the following Sunday.
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