1 Splash:2-Media Info.qxp.qxd - University of Kentucky Athletics

since 2000 with a 3-0 victory over the Razorbacks.
Two days later, No. 18 LSU used a powerful
blocking attack that out-blocked UK
18-4 as the Tigers recorded a 3-1 win against
the Wildcats.
Kentucky then hit the road for the Magnolia
State for a pair of matches against Mississippi
State and Ole Miss. The Wildcats dropped
their opening game against the Bulldogs before
rebounding for a 3-1 victory. Despite a matchhigh
23 kills to go along with 13 digs and five
blocks from Britenriker, Kentucky fell 3-1 to
Ole Miss in the Sunday match.
The Wildcats closed out September with
an epic match against No. 10 Florida. Kentucky
took the perennial-power Gators to five
games for the first time since 1988 before
falling 3-2 in front of the fifth-largest crowd
in school history with 3,150 fans. Nzenwa
notched a double-double with 16 kills and 10
blocks The Cats, who hit a season-low .100
for the match, used heart and perseverance to
weather a rough hitting night and take the
SEC leader to five frames.
Kentucky dropped a 3-2 match at Auburn
before reeling off three consecutive wins over
Georgia, South Carolina and No. 18 Tennessee
back home in Memorial Coliseum.
The Cats' win over Tennessee was UK's first
victory over a ranked opponent since 1993 and
its first in 66 previous attempts since that time.
In the final game, Kentucky broke a 12-all tie
with three consecutive points. A resounding
block by sophomore Tess Edwards and Nzenwa
for the final point sent the Wildcats into a
feverish celebration on the court, much to the
delight of a raucous crowd.
Kentucky struggled in its next three
matches, falling to Alabama, LSU and
Arkansas in a three-match road swing. The
Wildcats returned home for re-matches
against Ole Miss and Mississippi State looking
to get back on the winning track.
Against the Rebels, freshman Heather
Hausfeld registered 16 kills on a career-best
.351 hitting percentage and also tied a careerhigh
with four blocks to lead the Wildcats to a
3-1 win. Kentucky then recorded its 16th
consecutive win against Mississippi State with
a 3-0 sweep thanks to 16 kills on .440 hitting
by Britenriker.
The Cats opened the month of November
on a strong note by taking down Tennessee in
Knoxville's Stokely Athletics Center with a 3-1
mid-week win. Nzenwa had 19 kills on .457
hitting to lead Kentucky.
The Wildcats then won three of their next
four matches with the only loss coming in a
five-game thriller at South Carolina. Senior
Melissa Popp capped off her career with a
strong performance on Senior Night. Popp
had a career-high-tying 21 kills in a 3-2 win
over Auburn.
Kentucky dropped road matches to Florida
and Cincinnati to conclude the regular season
before earning their second consecutive berth
to the NCAA Tournament. On a Sunday afternoon
in Wildcat Den, the Wildcats watched as
their name was again put on the board to participate
in volleyball's version of the "Big
Dance" in West Lafayette, Ind.
Kentucky played a hard-fought match
against No. 20 Ohio and topped the Bobcats in
five games to earn their first NCAA Tournament
victory since defeating Duke 3-1 in the
opening round in 1992. Nzenwa, an All-SEC
second-team selection turned in her fourth 20-
plus kill effort of the season and her second in
as many matches with 23 to lead the way for
UK. After dropping game four, the Wildcats
opened the fifth frame on a 5-1 tear and rolled
to a 15-9 victory to clinch the match.
On the next night, the Wildcats dropped a 3-
0 decision to Purdue in the second round of the
NCAA Tournament. Despite failing to advance
to the Sweet Sixteen, the Wildcats returned to
Lexington knowing that they had continued to
lay the groundwork to put Kentucky among the
nation's elite.
2006 Final Statistics
RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL
ALL MATCHES 19-12 13-2 4-9 2-1
CONFERENCE 11-9 8-2 3-7 0-0
NON-CONFERENCE 8-3 5-0 1-2 2-1
|––––––––ATTACK––––––––| |–––Set–––| |––––SERVE–––| |–––DIG––––| |—–—BLOCKING ––––|
No. Player G K K/Game E TA Pct A A/Game SA SE SA/Gm RE DIG Dig/G BS BA Total B/G BE BHE Points
1 Melissa Popp 89 250 2.81 115 750 .180 5 0.06 24 36 0.27 6 98 1.10 2 12 14 0.16 1 1 282.0
2 Kathleen Bowler 5 0 0.00 0 0 .000 0 0.00 0 1 0.00 0 2 0.40 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.0
3 Heather Hausfeld 70 148 2.11 81 509 .132 2 0.03 5 16 0.07 3 43 0.61 7 26 33 0.47 2 1 173.0
4 Tess Edwards 107 144 1.35 80 434 .147 39 0.36 8 14 0.07 2 42 0.39 7 86 93 0.87 2 3 202.0
5 Julie Gagnon 116 10 0.09 13 47 -.064 40 0.34 18 23 0.16 22 222 1.91 0 0 0 0.00 0 1 28.0
6 Natalie Marsh 11 7 0.64 9 28 -.071 1 0.09 0 0 0.00 0 2 0.18 0 3 3 0.27 1 0 8.5
7 Sarah Rumely 120 160 1.33 35 420 .298 1488 12.40 54 75 0.45 3 206 1.72 7 74 81 0.68 11 50 258.0
9 Ashlee Fisher 106 343 3.24 174 872 .194 2 0.02 9 13 0.08 0 43 0.41 4 38 42 0.40 5 1 375.0
10 Jenni Casper 120 6 0.05 7 45 -.022 64 0.53 16 38 0.13 38 563 4.69 0 0 0 0.00 0 3 22.0
11 Alisa Pierce 81 0 0.00 4 18 -.222 28 0.35 17 35 0.21 16 178 2.20 0 0 0 0.00 0 2 17.0
12 Erin Turner 20 9 0.45 8 31 .032 1 0.05 1 1 0.05 0 2 0.10 0 7 7 0.35 3 0 13.5
17 BriAnne Sauer 58 0 0.00 3 4 -.750 19 0.33 10 10 0.17 9 133 2.29 0 0 0 0.00 0 1 10.0
20 Queen Nzenwa 120 381 3.17 107 804 .341 7 0.06 0 1 0.00 4 26 0.22 11 137 148 1.23 19 6 460.5
21 Nicole Britenriker 120 434 3.62 202 916 .253 35 0.29 13 35 0.11 19 317 2.64 13 107 120 1.00 25 10 513.5
TEAM 5
KENTUCKY............120 1892 15.77 838 4878 .216 1731 14.43 175 298 1.46 127 1877 15.64 51 490 296.0 2.47 69 79 2363.0
Opponents........... 120 1693 14.11 761 4678 .199 1554 12.95 127 257 1.06 175 1806 15.05 80 470 315.0 2.62 64 78 2135.0
2 0 0 6 S e a s o n i n R e v i e w
65