Volleyball Cats Don't Allow History to Repeat by Beating Missouri
Last season, the Kentucky volleyball team advanced to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament. There, they faced Arkansas, a team the Cats had beaten twice during the regular season.
The familiar sports adage “it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season” came true, as the Hogs pulled the upset, ending Kentucky’s season.
On Thursday, the 2024 Cats found themselves in a nearly identical situation. UK was playing in the regional semifinals against Missouri, a team that Kentucky had already beaten twice this season.
This time around, things were much different as the Cats beat the Tigers in four sets to advance to the regional finals on Saturday. Sophomore Brooklyn DeLeye, the Southeastern Conference and AVCA Regional Player of the Year, led UK with 22 kills while hitting .419. DeLeye knew that she was not going to let history repeat itself on Thursday.
“We really wanted this game and it really showed,” DeLeye told ESPN following the match. “Experiencing what we did last year, we didn’t want that to happen.”
Kentucky won the first two sets by identical 25-20 scores. However, Missouri dominated the third set, winning 25-16 and forcing a fourth set. DeLeye knew her team would respond because they had been in that situation with the Tigers just a couple of weeks ago.
“That happened the last time we played them,” DeLeye said. “The third set was not what we wanted obviously. I think we responded and played our own game.”
DeLeye had plenty of offensive support in Thursday’s win. Kentucky hit .347 as a team in the match. Megan Wilson had 13 kills and hit .375. Brooke Bultema had 10 kills and hit .438. All of that offense was directed by senior setter Emma Grome, who had 50 assists and 10 digs in the match.
Kentucky is in the regional final for the first time since winning the national championship in 2020. The Cats will face the winner of Thursday’s match between top-seeded Pittsburgh and fourth-seeded Oregon. What will the Cats need to do to get past that match?
“We’ve just got to clean up the little things,” DeLeye said. “I think we’re ready for it.”
Saturday’s regional final in Pittsburgh begins at 5 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN2.
