LEXINGTON, Ky. – Sophomore Leah Edmond had 21 kills and 13 digs, and freshman Avery Skinner had a career-high 20 kills as Kentucky rallied for a 20-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-18, 15-9 win over BYU in the round of 16 of the 2017 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament on Friday at Memorial Coliseum.

BYU (30-3) was led by Veronica Jones-Perry, who had a match-high 24 kills, while Lacy Haddock added 12 kills. Setter Lyndie Haddock had 52 assists and libero Mary Lake had a match-best 19 digs for the Cougars.

BYU started quickly in the first set, building a 10-5 lead. The Cougars would extend the lead to 16-8 before Kentucky ran off four straight points to cut the advantage to 16-12. The Wildcats would cut the lead to 20-18, but BYU would hold on to win the first set 25-20. Jones-Perry led BYU with six kills in the set, and the Cougars hit .367 as a team.

The second set was tight early before Kentucky assembled a 5-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. Edmond had three kills during the run for UK. Kentucky would extend the lead later in the period and eventually win the set 25-17. Avery Skinner had seven kills in the set for the Wildcats, who hit .444 as a team in the set.

Much like the second set, the third set was tight early before Kentucky won three straight points to take a 14-11 advantage. The Wildcats led 19-16 before BYU mounted a furious rally to take a 22-21 lead on an ace by Lacy Haddock. The Cougars would finish it off, winning the set 25-22 and taking a 2-1 advantage in the match. Jones-Perry had five kills in the set, while Cosy Burnett added four, as BYU hit .353 as a team in the set.

Kentucky scored the first three points of the fourth set and rattled off four in a row to lead 7-2. But BYU answered by scoring the next four to cut UK’s lead to 7-6. But the Wildcats put together another run to stretch the lead to 14-8, forcing a BYU timeout. After Kentucky built the lead to 20-13, BYU rallied again, scoring three in a row to cut the lead to 20-16. But the Cougars would get no closer, as Kentucky won the set 25-18.

BYU scored the first two points in the fifth and deciding set and quickly built a 5-1 lead. But the Wildcats would score 12 of the next 15 points to take a 13-8 lead. And Kentucky finished it off on a kill by Skinner to win the set 15-9.

Kentucky moves on to Saturday’s regional final, where they will meet the winner of Friday’s second match between Nebraska and Colorado.