Volleyball team set to open season
By Jay G. Tate
Staff Writer
UK head volleyball coach Fran Ralston-Flory unveiled her latest 'magnum opus' Monday night at the annual Blue-White scrimmage.
The game provided a glimpse of the new talent that Ralston-Flory has brought in during the offseason. Although the head coach has not arrived at a final starting lineup for Friday's season opener against Miami (Ohio), several freshmen seem poised to make significant contributions.Freshman Jaclyn Homan had a particularly good scrimmage, racking up eight kills, 11 digs and eight blocks - the latter two being team highs. The performance likely secured Homan a starting spot at middle blocker.
Freshmen Terri Crabb and Katie Eiserman also showed promise. Crabb notched 37 assists, but seemed tentative in her first match. Eiserman played well, hitting .367 with 13 kills.
Also turning in a solid performance was junior Tracy Thompson, who hit .555 with 11 kills.
Ralston-Flory went into the game considering several players to fill the other middle blocker position alongside Homan. The coach liked what she saw with Thompson.
"At this point, Tracy Thompson will start at middle blocker," said Ralston-Flory. "She had a really, really good night."
Coming as no surprise, senior outside hitter Gina Heustis had another day at the office, smashing 13 kills - several of them measuring on the Richter scale. However, the second part of the probable outside hitter tandem, junior Cynthia Dozier was off her game and seemed frustrated throughout.
"Cynthia had a bad game," conceded Ralston-Flory. "She needs to bounce back this week and get in a groove."
The season begins
The team will be hosting the Kentucky Invitational this weekend. In addition to UK, University of Cincinnati, Miami (OH) and Georgia Tech will be competing in the tournament.
In keeping with their tradition of playing difficult schedules, UK starts the season playing strong talent - each of the other three tournament teams received votes in the preseason NCAA volleyball polls.
UK starts out with Miami on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Although not stacked with top talent, Ralston-Flory says that the Redskins are a team to watch out for.
"Miami, while not among the elite, is still a strong team," Ralston-Flory explained. "They have a lot of tradition there and they will fight all the way."
The Cats then play Cincinnati at noon on Saturday. During the offseason, the Bearcats lost head coach Mike Lingenfelter and all-conference setter Anne Kordes, who transferred to rival Louisville. Those changes make Cincinnati somewhat of an enigma.
"Cincinnati lost some key people," Ralston-Flory said. "But they will play with a lot of emotion, which can be dangerous for an opponent."
UK concludes the Kentucky Invitational against 16th ranked Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon. The 1995 Atlantic Coast Conference champions come to Lexington hungry after a second-round loss in last year's NCAA tournament. Their talent and sheer fire power is going to force UK to play their best volleyball in order to win.
"Georgia Tech is going to be a test for us," Ralston-Flory said. "If we are able to play on a level with them, then we will be able to hang in there against anyone."
Note:
tUK's match is one of two on Friday. Cincinnati will play No. 16-ranked Georgia Tech at 5:30 in the Invitational's first match. On Saturday, four matches will be played. It begins with Georgia Tech vs. Miami at 10:30;UK vs. Cincinnati at noon; UK vs. Georgia Tech at 5:00; and Miami vs. Cincinnati at 7:00. Ticket prices are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children. UK students enter free.
Photo: SET TO START Ainsley Grimes and the volleyball team open up the season tonight in the UK Invitational. The tourney ends tomorrow. File photo
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