Kentucky Welcomes BYU For Regional Semifinal Match
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 4 seeded Kentucky volleyball continues postseason play with the round of 16 on Friday at noon against BYU inside Memorial Coliseum. The winner of Friday’s match will take either Nebraska or Colorado Saturday at 4 p.m.
UK’s match with BYU will be shown live on ESPNU with Tiffany Greene and Missy Whittemore on the call. Saturday’s regional final match will be shown on ESPNU as well.
Tickets for the match can be found at UKathletics.com/NCAATickets. General admission seating is $13 for all-sessions and $9 for a single match.
Scouting the Opponent – BYU
BYU is 30-2 overall, and beat American and Oregon to advance to the round of 16. The Cougars are currently on a nine-match winning streak. BYU and UK have met once before, with BYU sweeping the Wildcats in 1990. The Cougars are 11th in the nation in blocks per set at 2.92, and led the West Coast Conference in that category. They are led by Cosy Burnett and Kennedy Redding, who average 1.33 and 1.27 blocks per set, respectively. On offense, BYU is paced by Veronica Jones-Perry, who is fifth in the nation in kills per set at 4.82. She’s recorded a team-high 58 aces as well.
Scouting the Opponent – Nebraska
Nebraska is 28-4 and finished the season 19-1 in the Big Ten. The Huskers took down Stony Brook and Washington State to advance to the round of 16. Nebraska is sixth in the nation in opponent hitting percentage at .149. Defensively, the Huskers are led by Briana Holman and Lauren Stivrins, who average 1.13 and 1.00 blocks per set, respectively. Mikaela Foecke leads the team in kills per set at 3.46 kills per set.
Scouting the Opponent – Colorado
Colorado is 24-9 this season and finished PAC-12 play 12-8. The Buffaloes are in the top 50 in blocks per set and kills per set in the nation, at 2.44 and 13.74, respectively. CU is led by Naghede Abu in blocks per set at 1.22 and hitting percentage at .350. Alexa Smith is seventh in the Pac-12 in kills per set at 3.99.
Comeback Cats
Kentucky was down 2-0 and 17-16 in the third set, but mounted a comeback to advance to the round of 16. Leah Edmond recorded 22 kills in the win, a team high, while Kaz Brown had 14 kills on an impressive .722 attacking clip, and also a match-high nine blocks. Avery Skinner matched her first-round output with 14 kills.
First Round Sweep
Kentucky earned a first round sweep of East Tennessee State University behind the help of two freshmen. Avery Skinner led the way with a match-high 14 kills on a .407 attacking clip. Freshman Madison Lilley dished out 39 assists and helped UK record 45 kills and hit .337 in the sweep.
Impressive Kill Output
Leah Edmond was sensational on offense for the Wildcats in the five-set win over WKU. She boasted 22 kills, eight digs, four blocks, two assists and one ace in the victory. The 22 kills are the most for any player under Craig Skinner in an NCAA Tournament match. Also under Skinner, she is the first player to have two career matches of 20 or more kills during the postseason.
All-Region
Five Wildcats – seniors Kaz Brown, Ashley Dusek and Emily Franklin, sophomore Leah Edmond and freshman Madison Lilley – were named All-Region by the AVCA. Brown and Dusek have been All-Region three times in their career, Edmond twice, and Lilley and Franklin appear for the first time.
Chasing 1,000
Two Wildcats – Kaz Brown and Leah Edmond – are closing in on the 1,000 kill mark. Kaz Brown is just four away with 996 in her career, while Edmond is 52 away, with 948. If Brown reaches the milestone, she’ll be the fifth middle blocker in school history to reach the mark.
Region Player of the Year
After winning AVCA Freshman of the Year last year, Leah Edmond was named AVCA All-Region Player of the Year this year. Edmond is averaging 4.53 kills per set, which is No. 14 in the nation, and Edmond’s 498 kills this season is the second-best single-season kill mark in the 25-point rally scoring era.
Region Freshman of the Year
Madison Lilley was named the Southeast region’s AVCA Freshman of the Year. Kentucky has now won that award for the second-straight year, as Leah Edmond won it last season. Lilley averaged a league-best 12.09 assists per set and is the only Wildcat in the 25-point rally scoring era with 65 or more assists in a match.
300+ Wins
Head coach Craig Skinner picked up his 300th win of his career in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Skinner is the winningest coach in program history, and is currently 301-112.
Brown is On Fire
Over the last eight matches, senior Kaz Brown has not hit below .300. She’s hit .500 or better in four of the matches, and has improved her season attacking clip to .418.
What a Season
Leah Edmond’s 498 kills this season are already the second-best single-season kill mark in the 25-point rally scoring era. Her .318 season attack average is the sixth best in a single season.
Madison Lilley’s 1,330 assists this season are the second most in a single season in the 25-point rally scoring era.
Kentucky in the National and SEC Rankings
Freshman Madison Lilley is No. 3 in the nation in assists per set at 12.09. She leads the SEC and is the highest-ranking freshman in the country.
Leah Edmond is currently No. 14 in the nation in kills per set at 4.53 and second in the SEC, behind Pilar Victoria of Arkansas.
Kaz Brown is No. 8 in the nation in attacking percentage at .418, while Emily Franklin is No. 13 at .407.
As a team, Kentucky is third in the nation in hitting percentage at .321. UK is the highest-rated SEC team in that category. UK sits at No. 4 in kills per set at 15.01, also the best among the league.
Chasing Records
Kaz Brown is climbing the 25-point rally scoring era record book in multiple categories. The Waterloo, Iowa, native is currently in first in solo blocks (63), block assists (499) and total blocks (562). The senior is also third in kills at 996 and ninth in attack attempts at 2,009.
Emily Franklin is currently ninth in block solos with 32, third in blocks assists at 350 and third in total blocks at 382. Franklin also has the fourth-highest attacking percentage in the rally scoring era at .336. In points, she is ninth at 950.0.
Darian Mack is moving up the 25-point rally scoring era record book in kills and points. Mack is 9th all-time with 802 kills and seventh in attacks with 2,134.
Ashley Dusek is currently second in the rally scoring era with 1,542 digs and eighth in assists at 255.
Leah Edmond is sixth all-time in kills at 948 and seventh in points with 1073.0.
Follow along with the Cats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
