No. 9 Kentucky Sweeps Morehead State to Claim Bluegrass Battle

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Kentucky Volleyball team capped off a 3-0 weekend Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-8) sweep of Morehead State inside Historic Memorial Coliseum to close out the 2024 Bluegrass Battle in Lexington.

Eleven different Wildcats found the scoresheet Sunday afternoon in the kills department as Haley Melby led the way with six kills and no errors on 17 swings. The Wildcats had seven service aces Sunday afternoon and only nine attack errors the entire afternoon with five of those coming inside the first 17 points of the match in the first set.

Molly Tuozzo again dawned the libero jersey Sunday afternoon, digging up a team-high 16 balls to go along with six set assists and an ace. Eleanor Beavin recorded a kill in addition to a pair of aces, assists and a dig to go along with it.

Emma Grome was named to the Bluegrass Battle All-Tournament Team and was also named the MVP with 27 assists, nine digs and two blocks.

With Kentucky sweeping the weekend, the Wildcats are now 3-1 on the season and are winners of the 2024 Bluegrass Battle. Morehead State falls to 0-3 with the result and finishes the weekend in fourth place of the four teams. Western Kentucky, who went 2-1, finished second with Northern Kentucky’s 1-3 record good for third place in the season-opening weekend event hosted by the Wildcats.

Kentucky will next play No. 6 Penn State inside Historic Memorial Coliseum on Friday evening at 7 p.m. ET live on SEC Network and the ESPN app. Tickets for the match are available at UKathletics.com/tickets.

Set One

There was little separating the sides in the opening set’s early stages until Kentucky’s Brooklyn DeLeye went on a 7-0 scoring run which included an ace to push the Wildcats lead to 20-13, its largest of the set to that point. Encompassing the set was a pair of Brooke Bultema and Emma Grome block assists that kept the run going as Morehead needed to call timeout hitting just .063 and the UK offense clicking at a .542 hitting efficiency. A service error ended the set as Kentucky took the opener, 25-19 with 14 assists from senior setter Emma Grome.

Set Two

Morehead held an early lead in the second set, but it again was a terrific service run which included a pair of aces by Brooklyn DeLeye to give Kentucky a 9-5 lead after four points in a row and that prompted Morehead State into a timeout, their first of the set trailing. After a huge kill by freshman Asia Thigpen, the Wildcats kept the gas pedal down and ballooned their lead to a set-high six points at 16-10 thanks to a Megan Wilson block and two-straight attack errors committed by the Eagles. After the lead grew one more, MSU called its final timeout of the set to try and stop the Wildcats’ momentum. Kentucky closed the set on a 6-0 run and took the second set, 25-13.

Set Three

Kentucky started the third set the best of the three played Sunday afternoon as the Wildcats bolted out to an 8-1 lead early in the proceedings and put the set out of reach for the Eagles with efficient attacking and terrific floor defense paced by libero Molly Tuozzo and the rest of the back line. Kentucky then again continued to apply terrific service pressure and grew its lead to eight at 12-4 and Morehead State called its final timeout to try and stop the Kentucky momentum. Kentucky closed out the match with a 25-8 win.

2024 Bluegrass Battle Standings

1. Kentucky 3-0 (9 sets won)
2. Western Kentucky 2-1 (7 sets won)
3. Northern Kentucky 1-2 (4 sets won)
4. Morehead State 0-3 (2 sets won)

2024 Bluegrass Battle All-Tournament Team

Emma Grome, Kentucky (MVP)

Brooke Bultema, Kentucky

Brooklyn DeLeye, Kentucky

Izzy Van De Wiele, Western Kentucky

Alivia Skidmore, Western Kentucky

Allison Risley, Northern Kentucky

Peighton Isley, Morehead State

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