DeLeye’s 21 Kills Push No. 15 Kentucky Past Alabama, 3-0
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Behind a match-high 21 kills from sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye, the No. 15 Kentucky Volleyball team swept Alabama on the road in Tuscaloosa 3-0 (25-22, 29-27, 25-15) in three sets Sunday afternoon to win its second-straight match.
Kentucky hit .583 in the third set alone and .280 for the match, with Emma Grome leading the UK offense to the tune of 43 assists on 54 of Kentucky’s team kills in the match. Sunday was another balanced scoring day offensively for the Wildcats with Asia Thigpen, Jordyn Dailey, Brooke Bultema and Megan Wilson all tallying seven or more kills in the match Sunday in addition to DeLeye’s 21 terminations.
Defensively, Brooke Bultema set a new career high with six blocks including a solo stuff in the second set as the RS-freshman from Cincinnati logged eight kills on just 14 swings with a .429 attacking percentage and a half dozen blocks to go alongside. Molly Tuozzo recorded her 15th-straight match with double-figure digs Sunday afternoon as she had 11 in the match as she and the Kentucky defense kept Alabama to just a .105 hitting percentage for the match and 18 hitting errors for the Tide.
Kentucky with Sunday’s win improves to 11-7 on the season and now sits 5-2 in Southeastern Conference play. The Wildcats will next play its third match of five in a row on the road Sunday, Oct. 27 after a week off at Ole Miss in Oxford at 3 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcasted live on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app.
Set One
It was Alabama that created the first degree of separation in the first set as the Crimson Tide ran off four points in a row to gather a 14-10 lead after things were equal at 10 all before the Wildcats needed to call their first timeout, down by four. Out of the halt, UK won four-straight points and were buoyed by Brooklyn DeLeye, who had five early kills as Kentucky squared the set to make things 14-14. After Kentucky took an 18-15 lead on DeLeye’s seventh kill of the set, Alabama requested its first timeout of the set. Following the timeout, Kentucky grew its lead to five after back-to-back Tide attack errors and with Kentucky leading 21-16, Alabama called its second and final timeout of the set. Kentucky arrived at set point with a 24-19 lead and closed out the set on 25-22 to take a 1-0 lead in the match, hitting .244 with DeLeye leading the way on nine kills.
Set Two
Alabama tracked out to a four-point lead 12-8 early in the second set, its largest lead of the set and tying its largest lead of the match to that point following an attack error by the Wildcats. Asia Thigpen then tallied a block and a blocking error boosted Kentucky’s momentum in the set as Kentucky rallied to tie the frame at 13-13 and Alabama called its first timeout. Alabama went on a 3-0 scoring run as it took a 19-15 lead and down four points, Kentucky called its first timeout with the Crimson Tide six points from evening the match. After Kentucky tied things up at 21-21, Bama rolled to a 3-0 run thanks to back-to-back blocks on the right pin and UK called its final timeout down three. A Megan Wilson and Brooke Bultema termination stuffed the Tide on its second set point and Alabama chose to take its final timeout before set point number three, leading 24-23 to talk things over. Kentucky again re-tied things up again on a block at 24-24 and was then unable to take advantage of an overpass to take its first lead of the set. A kill by Bultema gave the Wildcats their first lead of the set, 27-26 and UK immediately picked up its first set point, which was thwarted off by the Tide on a kill from Sophie Agee. On set point, Brooklyn DeLeye ended the frame with a back-row attack as UK led 2-0 in the match.
Set Three
Kentucky out of the gates came out firing, as it took a 10-6 lead and pushed Alabama into an early timeout in the action with Bama needing to win the set to extend the match. The Wildcats got three-straight out of the timeout and leading 14-7, Asia Thigpen sent her eighth kill to the floor as the UK offense was clicking at a .714 clip and leading 15-7. It was smooth sailing to the finish line as Kentucky closed out its second sweep in SEC play, winning set three, 25-15.
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