Aug. 24, 2011
In the days leading up to UK's first match of 2011, UKathletics.com will provide tidbits and a breakdown of UK's players by position.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Kentucky coach Craig Skinner has a battery of powerful and athletic outside hitters to deploy in 2011. Senior Ann Armes and 2010 All-SEC Freshman team member Whitney Billings highlight the returners. Junior transfer Ashley Frazier figures to become a prominent fixture in the rotation and freshman Lauren O'Conner provides an additional fold to the pool for Skinner.
"We are going to be able to terminate the ball," Skinner said of his outside hitters. "Scoring points is the name of the game and to get to 25 points, the majority of those points need to be from your kills and I think that's going to be something we will be improved upon from last year."
Ann Armes, senior
• Appeared in 55 matches with an average of 1.92 kills per set
• Notched a career-high 16-kill performance in a match with No. 3 Florida in her junior campaign
• Has tallied 10 or more kills in a match on 10 occasions
• Charted her first career double-double effort in a win over South Carolina a season ago
Whitney Billings, sophomore
• Started 29 matches as a freshman and totaled 2.68 kills per set along with 2.31 digs
• Was the only player to record 20 or more kills in a match a season ago with 23 against Florida State
• Put together seven double-double efforts in 2010
• Posted 17 matches with 10 or more kills
Ashley Frazier, junior • Scored a career-best 20-kill performance as a sophomore at Alabama
• Averaged 2.49 kills per set and 1.55 digs in her two seasons with the Crimson Tide
• Tallied four double-double efforts in her sophomore campaign
• Earned 26 career aces with a powerful jump-serve
Lauren O'Conner, freshman
• Led the team in kills during the Blue-White scrimmage
• First player in Scott High School history to amass 1,000 career kills
• Among the top-35 players in the nation according to PrepVolleyball.com
• Enrolled in the spring and participated in spring practice with the Wildcats
