Kassie O’Brien, Molly Tuozzo Earn SEC Weekly Honors

LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the fourth week in a row and a fifth time this season, Kentucky freshman setter Kassie O’Brien won a weekly award from the Southeastern Conference, as she was named the SEC Freshman of the Week, and junior libero Molly Tuozzo earned her first SEC award of the season as she was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week by the league office.

O’Brien kept rolling this weekend with two more 40-plus assist performances as the Katy, Texas native logged a 48-assist four-set match Wednesday vs. Auburn and followed it up with a 42-assist match against Florida on Sunday. She pushed Kentucky to hit over .200 for the week against two of the best blocking teams in the SEC as O’Brien had three different hitters have 20-plus kill matches on the week. O’Brien also got in on the defensive effort with nine blocks for the week and 19 digs, including 10 against Florida on Sunday for her third double-double of the season and second in SEC play.

Tuozzo helped Kenthcky’s opponents hit a combined .132 this week as she continued her great play this season with 3.78 digs per set. Tuozzo had an SEC-high 19 digs Sunday in Kentucky’s win over Florida as she led the UK defense to hold the Gators to .120 hitting for the match, including -.130 in the fifth frame. Kentucky currently leads the SEC in opponent hitting percentage largely due to Tuozzo’s floor defense, which also had 15 digs vs. Auburn on Wednesday night as she now has six-straight matches with 10-plus digs dating back to UK’s win at Ole Miss on Oct. 3.

Kentucky is now 14-2 overall and sits 7-0 in SEC play las league action hits the midway point this week. The Wildcats will play two matches on the road this week, with a Friday night showdown at Mississippi State followed by a 3 p.m. ET match vs. Alabama on Sunday afternoon in Tuscaloosa.

SEC Players of the Week – Week 9

For the latest on UK Volleyball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @KentuckyVB.