DeLeye and Wilson Notch Double-Digits Kills as UK Sweeps Mizzou
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 13 Kentucky Volleyball team got 12 kills from sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye and 10 terminations from senior Megan Wilson en route to a 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-21) sweep over the Missouri Tigers on Sunday afternoon inside Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington.
Kentucky hit .303 in the match, its first time this season hitting above .300 in Southeastern Conference play this season as Emma Grome sprinkled in 32 assists on 39 of Kentucky kills Sunday afternoon. Kentucky only had 12 hitting errors in the match, hitting with a much higher efficiency than the Tigers, who attacked at a .103 clip with 21 errors on offense.
With Sunday’s result, Kentucky improves to 9-6 on the season and is 3-1 in SEC play this season. The Tigers fall to 9-5 on the year overall and sit 1-2 in conference play. Kentucky will play host to No. 8 Texas on Sunday afternoon in Historic Memorial Coliseum at 1 p.m. ET after a bye in the midweek. The match next Sunday will be televised by ESPN and tickets are available at UKathletics.com/tickets.
Defensively for the Wildcats, Molly Tuozzo had 12 digs with a pair of assists and an ace for the Kentucky floor defense that held Mizzou to just 30 kills in the three sets played. Eleanor Beavin had half a dozen digs Sunday with Emma Grome adding four to the tally. Kentucky outserved the Tigers, with seven aces to Mizzou’s three.
Megan Wilson and Brooke Bultema had four blocks each to lead Kentucky’s ariel defense as there were four players who had multi-block efforts for the Wildcats in the match. DeLeye and Jordyn Dailey each had a pair of blocks as Dailey also threw in half a dozen kills to the Wildcats cause.
Set One
Kentucky controlled the tempo of the match to start things off as a Brooklyn DeLeye in-system kill from the left pin overpowered the Tiger block which was followed by an ace from DeLeye to give Kentucky a three-point cushion at 8-5. A Jordyn Dailey quick attack for her second kill of the match put UK up 15-10 at the first media timeout of the match with the five-point cushion being UK’s largest of the set to that point in the opening frame. Back-to-back kills by DeLeye and Brooke Bultema off a slide brought the Kentucky lead to six at 18-12 and Mizzou called its first timeout trailing by half a dozen. A service error by the Wildcats led to a 3-0 run for the Tigers, who cut the lead in half to 19-16 and Kentucky called its first timeout of the set. Asia Thigpen returned to the lineup from her knee injury suffered last month late in the set and helped push Kentucky to a 2-0 run punctuated by an Emma Grome ace, her second of the set, as Kentucky took a 22-18 lead and Mizzou called its second timeout down four and Kentucky three points from the finish line to the opener. DeLeye’s fourth kill put Kentucky at set point on a back-row attack and Megan Wilson finished off the set, 25-18 as Kentucky took the 1-0 lead in the match.
Set Two
A Molly Tuozzo service run pushed Kentucky to a three-point lead at 14-11 going into the media timeout of the second set as both Brooke Bultema and Megan Wilson each recorded consecutive blocks out of the middle of the court to give the Wildcats the lead by a trio of points. A Mizzou service error, its fifth of the match and first of the second set got Kentucky to 15 as play was stopped for a timeout. A series of Mizzou hitting errors and an ace by Ava Sarafa pushed Kentucky’s lead to 18-15 and Missouri called a timeout down three in the set. Sarafa’s second ace of the match gave Kentucky a set-high five-point lead at 20-15 and with UK on a 4-0 scoring run, the Tigers called their second and final halt to play. An attack error by the Tigers gave Kentucky the second set, 25-20 with Kentucky just under. 300 hitting for the match and the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead in the match.
Set Three
Mizzou won the opening two points of the third set, marking the first time all match that the Tigers had a lead in any set of the match to that point. After an unsuccessful challenge, UK’s defense shined as a Bultema and Wilson combination block on the right pin gave Kentucky the lead again as the Wildcats went on a 4-0 run to grab a 5-3 advantage in the third. Kentucky ran the lead to three on a kill by Haley Melby, her third of the match, and with a 4-0 run floating the way of the Wildcats, Mizzou called its first timeout of the set. Eleanor Beavin made an incredible one-arm stab save to her right that was eventually transitioned into DeLeye’s 11th kill of the match as Kentucky grabbed a 16-11 lead and pushed the Tigers on the brink. Missouri used a combination of a service error by UK and a block with two kills to pull to within a pair at 18-16 and with the set as close as it had been since it was 7-5, Kentucky called a timeout. UK took a 22-16 lead with a 2-0 run out of its timeout and the Wildcats pushed the Tigers into a final timeout. In the set that became a set of runs, Mizzou ran off four in a row out of its timeout and crept to within a pair at 22-20 as the Wildcats called their final timeout. Kentucky closed out the match winning the final three points to close out its first sweep in Southeastern Conference play this season, three sets to love.
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