DeLeye Goes for a Career-High 26 Kills as No. 9 UK Tops WKU
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye set a new career high Saturday night as the No. 9 Kentucky Volleyball team topped Western Kentucky 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-16, 25-16) inside Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Kentucky won sets one, three and four to stake claim to the win thanks to efficient offense to the tune of .293 hitting buoyed by DeLeye’s 26 terminations on the night. The Wildcats had three players reach double figures in scoring with RS-freshman Brooke Bultema and senior outside hitter Erin Lamb both tallying 11 kills in the match.
Sophomore DS/Libero Molly Tuozzo dawned the libero jersey Saturday night for the first time in her career, logging a team-high 15 digs and helping to hold the Toppers to just .178 hitting in the match. Eleanor Beavin had five digs and a pair of assists with Emma Grome tagging for 44 assists on the night and 12 digs to pair alongside a pair of service aces.
The 2024 Bluegrass Battle will close Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET as No. 9 Kentucky plays host to the Morehead State Eagles inside Historic Memorial Coliseum. The match will be streamed live on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
Set One
Kentucky raced out to an early lead behind the back-row attacking of Brooklyn DeLeye who with her second kill of the match pushed the UK lead to four at 10-6 and prompted WKU into an early timeout. Out of the break, Erin Lamb collected her second termination of the match and the Wildcats were off to the races. The lead grew to 10 at 22-12 on an attack from Megan Wilson and Kentucky closed out the opening set comfortably with a 25-18 victory hitting .286 on the set with five kills each from DeLeye and Lamb as Molly Tuozzo, who dawned the libero jersey for the first time in her career, led the Wildcats with six early digs.
Set Two
Set two was much different as Western Kentucky controlled things from start to finish as the Wildcats never led in the set and hit under .100 as the Hilltoppers found their offense and hit over .300 from wire to wire. Kentucky had double-digit hitting errors as WKU evened the match at one set all with a 25-19 second set win.
Set Three
Kentucky started much brighter in the third set, jumping out to a 10-6 lead and pushing the Toppers into an early timeout as DeLeye’s offense and Bultema’s defense began to overpower WKU. After a run of great serves from libero Molly Tuozzo coupled with a pair of incredible terminations from Brooklyn DeLeye and Erin Lamb, the lead for Kentucky opened up to six points at 15-9 and the Hilltoppers called their final timeout of the set down half a dozen, its largest deficit of the set to that point. The clinical serving of Tuozzo combined with the offense from Bultema down the stretch guided Kentucky to a two set to one lead by collecting set four, 25-16.
Set Four
It was back and forth to start the fourth set as neither team was able to garner any sort of an offensive rhythm as both teams hit under .100 for the opening 20 points before back-to-back aces from the service line from DeLeye opened up the first multi-point lead of the set for either team and Kentucky’s offense took off like a rocket ship led by DeLeye and Bultema, who logged her 11th kill of the match to balloon the UK lead to 13-10 and it forced WKU into calling its first timeout. The Wildcats lead grew to a then-set-high seven following Bultema’s team-leading fourth block of the night with Kentucky closing to within five points and a seven-point buffer at 20-13. Kentucky closed things out from there with a kill from Jordyn Dailey to end the match.
2024 Bluegrass Battle Standings
As of: 8pm ET, Saturday
- Kentucky 2-0 (6 sets won)
- Western Kentucky 2-1 (7 sets won)
- Morehead State 0-1 (1 set won) // Northern Kentucky 0-1 (1 set won)
For the latest on UK Volleyball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @KentuckyVB.
