Lexington, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky volleyball team's 2004 season opened with a disappointing 3-0 loss at the hands of Kentucky on Wednesday night at Memorial Coliseum, despite a 14-kill, 18-dig double-double from senior Lesley Aldridge. The Wildcats (1-0) tallied 14 total team blocks and had four players post double-digits in kills in the win.

Aldridge led the EKU offense with 14 kills, followed by seven a piece from junior Liz Guard and sophomore Jessica Sabath. Sophomore Kasha Brozek chipped in six kills and hit a team-best .462 in the losing effort. Freshman libero Brittany Nobilio had a strong outing in her first collegiate match, tallying a team-high 20 digs.

The Wildcats took a 2-0 lead at the start of game one and never looked back, leading the whole way en route to a 30-23 win. The Colonels feel behind seven points, 15-8, at the midway point, but fought back to pull within four, 21-17, following a solo block by Guard. UK then responded with four unanswered points to put the game away for good. Aldridge did most of the damage for the EKU offense, tallying seven kills on 17 swings. Kentucky benefited from a balanced attack in game one, as four players tallied four-or-more kills to help UK outhit EKU .405 to .167.

The Colonels built a 9-7 advantage from the onset of game two before the Wildcats rattled off four-straight points, including back-to-back aces by Jenni Casper, to go ahead 11-9. Eastern knotted the score at 15-all after a kill by sophomore Kelly Jennings, but fell behind 23-16 after Kentucky put together an 8-1 run. UK's Amy Kaplan put the finishing touches on the game, as her kill gave the Cats a 30-21 victory. The Colonels did a better job against Kentucky's attack in game two, lowering their opponent's hitting percentage to .268, thanks in part to 10 digs from Nobilio. Aldridge continued her strong play for Eastern, reaching a double-double (10 kills, 11 digs) after the completion of the second game.

Eastern trailed 9-7 through the early goings, but back-to-back kills by Aldridge and Sabath put the Colonels on top 13-12. The two squads went back and forth, with EKU pulling within one, 20-19, after a service ace by Guard. The Colonels tied the game at 21-all moments later after Brozek and Jennings teamed up on a block. UK called a timeout to regroup and came out of the play stoppage with consecutive kills to take a 23-21 lead. A kill by Aldridge pulled Eastern back within a point, but the Colonels were unable to get any closer as UK swept the match with a 30-24 win.

Danielle Wallace led the Wildcats with 15 kills, while Sarah Spinner chipped in a 13-kill, 10-dig double-double. UK's Leigh Marcum led all players with 46 assists, while Eastern's Jennings tallied 30, as well as four kills and seven digs. Guard led all players with two solo blocks.

EKU returns to action this weekend when it heads to Pittsburgh, Pa., to compete in the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational (Sept. 3-4). After that, the Colonels return to Richmond to open their home schedule against Marshall on Tuesday, Sept. 7.