Oct. 29, 1999
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The UK volleyball team shook off a bad start against the
Tennessee Lady Vols to beat the third place team in the SEC, 3-2, in front of
an exuberant Memorial Coliseum crowd. Game scores were 0-15, 15-13, 15-7, 8-15
and 15-12.
Senior Katie Eiserman led UK (12-10, 5-5 SEC) with 15 kills while Megan
Weiskircher stabilized the back row all night with 13 digs. For the first time
all-season, UK won a match despite hitting below .100 (.099). UT hit .149 for
the match.
"You can summarize our effort in three words: heart, fight and courage," UK
Coach Jona Braden said. "That first game will go down in history looking bad,
but we put it right out of our minds and focused on what we had to do to win."
The outcome looked bleak for the Cats after that first game as Tennessee
cruised to a 15-0 victory, marking the first time that the Cats had been
shutout in a game all season. UT out-hit the Cats in the game by an incredible
advantage of .556 to -.227.
UK came to play in game two though, building an early 5-0 lead. UT
evened the game at 8-8, but the Cats fought back to reach game point at 14-10.
UK had to weather another comeback by the Vols (16-10, 6-4 SEC) before putting
away the game at 15-13.
Runs by each team marked game three as the Cats opened up a 4-1 lead
before dropping six straight. Trailing 7-6, UK got its block going to record
four total blocks and grab the next 11 points for a 15-7 win and improbable 2-1
lead in games.
In game four, a determined Tennessee team came out to claim leads
of 6-0
and 12-4 en route to forcing the deciding game five with a 15-8 win. Any
momentum gained by the Vols in staving off elimination in game four was quickly
lost in the fifth game as the Cats jumped out to a 7-1 lead. Refusing to give
in to the Cats’ charge, the Vols evened the score at 7-7 and grabbed the lead
at 10-9. But they would not lead again as Kentucky won six of the next eight
points to escape with a 15-12 win.
UK is now 4-2 in five-game matches this season. Tennessee had won the last
three meeting against Kentucky. Early in game one, Eiserman, a senior, recorded
the 3,500th attack attempt of her distinguished career. Only two players in
school history have recorded that many attempts.
The Cats will attempt to make it two in a row against the Vols when the two
teams hoop-up again on Sunday at UT’s Stokely Athletics Center. Match time is
scheduled for 2 p.m.
AGATE
Memorial Coliseum 7 p.m.
Attendance: 246
