Oct. 24, 1999

The University of Kentucky volleyball team dropped its rematch with the Louisville Cardinals on Sunday, 3-0, in front of a boisterous crowd of 2,238 at the Louisville Gardens. The Wildcats had claimed a 3-2 victory in Lexington on Sept. 21.

Megan Weiskircher led the Cats in the match with 14 digs and April Barnhorst added six blocks, but UK was unable to establish any sustained pressure as shown by the team’s .101 hitting percentage in the match. Senior Katie Eiserman was held to a season-low six kills in the match as she hit -.132 with 11 errors.

UK (11-10, 4-5 SEC) fell behind early in game one as the Cards pounded out a 9-0 lead. The Cats broke that drought by reeling off three straight points, but that was all they could muster in the game. Powered by the right arm of Sonja Percan, the Cards took the game 15-3. The U of L freshman totaled 10 kills for the match.

“We played so well against Florida, it was disappointing to see us come out so slow today,” said UK Coach Jona Braden. “We were not clicking well offensively, but give credit to Louisville, they played a great match.”

The hits kept coming for U of L in game two as the Cards hit at a .455 clip. After Louisville (11-9, 8-2 C-USA) jumped out to a 3-1 lead, the teams traded points until the Cards went on a run that put them ahead 8-3. The Cats then made a run of their own to draw within 11-9, but with the score 12-9, U of L’s Kelly McClain put down three aces in a row to close out the game. McClain posted a match-high 13 kills on the day.

UK out-blocked the Cards 10-5 in the match, with most of the damage coming in the third game when the Cats held a 6-1 edge. In the game, the Cats used the block to overcome a 5-1 deficit and grab their first lead of the match at 11-10. Stephenie Taylor, Weiskircher, and Barnhorst combined for three block assists a piece in the game as they temporarily shut down the U of L attack and built a 13-10 lead. But the Cards got untracked and took the next four points for a 14-13 lead. UK staved off one game point but U of L’s McClain ended the game just as she did the previous one. Her sixth ace gave the Cards a 16-14 game three win and a 3-0 sweep.

“We settled in and relaxed in game three and played more like we are capable of playing,” said Braden. “But we let things get away. They took advantage of some mistakes by us. We just couldn’t put the ball down (for kills) today.”

UK returns to its SEC schedule next weekend with a home-and-home series with the Tennessee Lady Vols. The teams play at Kentucky’s Memorial Coliseum on Friday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. before traveling to UT’s Stokely Athletics Center for a 2 p.m. ET match on Sunday, Oct. 31.