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#15 UK Volleyball hosts #7 Florida: Preview and Game Thread

Fresh off their 3-1 Road Victory over Ole Miss, Skinner's Winners host the top team in the SEC Sunday at noon. What's at stake? SEC title, bragging rights, bracket position as we move into the post-season...you get the idea. Florida is undefeated in SEC play, but the Cats have proven to be able to guard their yard quite well this season. In short: this one is for most if not nearly all the marbles in the SEC.

By jords
Memorial needs every seat filled to help our Kill(er) Kittens Sunday!
Memorial needs every seat filled to help our Kill(er) Kittens Sunday!
Andy Lyons

And now comes the matchup we've been looking forward to since conference play began: the Cats hosting the Gators! Florida is currently 2 matches ahead of UK and looks to be sitting firmly at the top of the SEC standings, but a victory for the Cats in Lex could definitely shake things up.

Like most Kentucky-Florida matchups, this one has A LOT of drama going on. Our seniors will remember all too well how they fell in a five set war to the Gators last season in Memorial. Historically speaking, the Gators dominate the series 48-10. (Yikes) We'll be looking to our very astute seniors to guide this team to victory.

Florida is playing an incredible season. They've only lost 2 sets in conference play, and have swept 12 times. The Cats have dropped 2 series thus far - one to feisty LSU at home, the other to TAMU on the road. Florida's defense is very strong, whereas that's been an area of concern for UK.

Long story short - this is a match you will not want to miss.

Florida players to watch: Frosh phenom Rhamat Alhassan who's currently the second best hitter in the country at .467 and is #35th in the country at blocks per set. Florida also has 3 extremely strong senior defenders in Maddy Monserez, Taylor Unroe and Holly Pole, who are basically trading around the SEC Defensive POW awards this season.

Fortunately for UK, we happen to have a stable of thoroughbreds ourselves! Lauren O'Conner continues to rack up kill after kill in her senior year, and Jackie Napper has been digging us out of quite a few tight spots. Our own frosh phenom Kaz Brown had 8 gorgeous kills and 5 blocks against Ole Miss and has been really trying to set up strong D in the middle. Offensively the Cats have looked quite strong, and Coach Skinner's not been exactly shy in calling out his team when they back off defensively.

Sunday's match up will be tough, but with your support and some Memorial magic from the Big Blue Nation? I like our chances! Join us here at ASoB at noon, and catch all the VB action on the SEC Network.

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