No. 17 Kentucky Defeats Volleyball in Three Sets

HTML STATS | PDF STATS | ARCHIVED BROADCAST

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The No. 17 Kentucky volleyball team hit .449, including .619 in the final set, to register a 25-20, 25-13, 25-13 win over Morehead State on Monday night at Memorial Coliseum.

The Wildcats, who play in the Southeastern Conference, improve to 20-4 on the season.  The Eagles, who compete in the Ohio Valley Conference, slip to 2-25 overall.  UK also moves to 26-13 in the all-time series against MSU.

"I thought we really competed in the first set, but Kentucky showed why it's the No. 17 team in the country during the second and third sets," Head Coach Jaime Gordon said.  "My hats off to the Wildcats.  They played really well."

Kentucky, which entered the match hitting .262 this season, almost doubled its offensive output.  Morehead State was limited to an .094 attack percentage.
Junior setter Morgan Bergren led the Wildcats with 31 assists and four kills, while junior outside hitter Shelby Workman followed with 10 kills and four digs.

Kentucky senior outside hitter Lauren O'Conner recorded a match-high 11 kills, along with a .611 attack percentage and two block assists.

UK tallied 35 digs and eight team blocks, while MSU only collected 23 digs and one team block. Senior defensive specialist Jackie Napper recorded a match-high 13 digs.

Senior middle blocker Laura McDermott, senior setter Colbey Cameron and junior middle blocker Hannah Sigala led the Eagles with six kills apiece.  Cameron also tallied 17 assists.

Sophomore libero Hope Rillema and freshman outside hitter Alli Evans collected six digs for the Eagles, while sophomore middle blocker Sydney Schuler followed with five.

Morehead State kept the first set tight into the 20s, but Kentucky opened the second stanza with six straight points and third period with seven in a row.
The Eagles head to SIU Edwardsville (12-15, 4-8) on Friday and Eastern Illinois (11-14, 5-7) on Saturday. Matches are set for 8 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET.

"We will get back to practice tomorrow and see what we can learn from watching this film," Gordon added.  "I thought our team showed a lot of character tonight, even when the scoreboard wasn't in our favor.  I like our team and know our players will give it everything they have until the end of the season."