Oct. 15, 1999

OXFORD, Miss. - The UK volleyball team jumped out to a quick 2-0 start on Friday at Ole Miss, but were pushed to a deciding game five in an emotionally grueling 3-2 Wildcat victory. Game scores for the match were 15-3, 15-7, 14-16, 8-15, 15-9. UK is now 10-8 overall and 3-4 in SEC play.

The Cats began the match clicking on all cylinders offensively as they cruised to a 15-3 game one win. UK out-hit Ole Miss (8-10, 0-6 SEC) by a decided margin in the game, .348 to -.069. After recording five kills in game one, Katie Eiserman continued to lead the Cats with four kills in game two as UK claimed a 2-0 lead in the match with a 15-7 victory in game two. Eiserman totaled team-highs with 21 kills and 17 digs, recording her 13th double-double of the season.

Focused on putting away the Lady Rebels in game three, the Cats jumped out to a lead of 5-1 in game three. Ole Miss would not go down easily however and went on a seven point run, earning the Rebels an 8-5 lead. The Cats fought back for an 11-9 advantage before the Rebs came back again to gain game point at 14-12. UK showed its resiliency once again though, staving off game point to tie the game at 14-14. Finally Ole Miss won the war of attrition, taking the next two points for a 16-14 win. Ole Miss was led in the match by senior Rebecca Rider who posted a career-high 24 kills.

Seemingly stunned that they weren’t able to put the Rebels away in three straight, the Cats came out flat in game four. The Cats fell behind 5-0 and 8-1 before putting together a couple runs of their own, getting as close as 13-8. But Ole Miss won the game convincingly, 15-8, to push the match to the deciding game five.

Coming to the realization that they could actually lose the match after seeming to have it in their pocket, the Cats drew together in the rally-scored game five to regain control of the match. UK scored the first point of the game on a kill by Kristen Batt and never was tied again though the game did stay close throughout the early going. The Cats held a 7-5 lead when back-to-back kills by Batt and an ace by Terri Crabb put UK in the driver’s seat at 10-5. Eiserman then took the wheel for the Cats and pounded out kills for three of the Cats next five points for a 15-9 UK game five win.

The Cats conclude their tour of Mississippi on Sunday when they play the Lady Bulldogs of Mississippi State at MSU’s Newell-Grissom Building. The match will begin at 1 p.m. CT.