No. 9 Kentucky Sweeps Ball State to Close Out Homestand
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Behind 12 kills from outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye, who hit .435 on Sunday afternoon, the No. 9 Kentucky Volleyball team swept Ball State 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-13) en route to its fifth win of the season as the Wildcats improved to 5-2 on the year in front of over 1,900 fans inside Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Kentucky hit a season-high .412 on the afternoon with 42 kills and just nine hitting errors, but it was the serving that was the difference in the match as Kentucky had 12 aces, including a new career-high six from senior outside hitter Erin Lamb. The Wildcats found offensive production from several areas including seven different players with DeLeye being the leader, who logged 12 terminations, the only player in the match for either side to reach double digits.
The Wildcats with the win move to 5-2 on the season as they closed out a six-match homestand to re-open Historic Memorial Coliseum the last two weekends in Lexington. Kentucky will now travel to the Lone Star State next weekend to compete in a tournament hosted by Southern Methodist University in the heart of Dallas. UK will play the hosts Friday night and either Purdue or Houston on Saturday afternoon. The winners of Friday’s matches will play Saturday as will the losers.
On the defensive side of things for UK, Molly Tuozzo had a stand-out performance with 22 digs in the match, a new career high as she also netted a trio of assists on the afternoon. Megan Wilson tallied a season-high four blocks which led all players in the match for both teams as she joined Brooke Bultema and Kennedy Washington with multiple blocks in the contest for the Cats.
Senior setter Emma Grome continued her hot start to the season, collecting 37 assists on Kentucky’s 42 terminations Sunday afternoon.
Set One
With the help of a 4-0 service run by Brooklyn DeLeye which included a pair of kills from freshman Kennedy Washington and a DeLeye ace, the Wildcats raced out to a 9-3 lead just 12 points into the match and pushed the Cardinals into an early stoppage in play down six. Kennedy Washington terminated her third ball on three swings in the first that pushed Kentucky’s lead to 17-11 after the Cardinals had cut the lead to as few as three at 13-10 and once Washington’s ball hit the floor for her third kill, BSU requested its final timeout of the set. Megan Wilson hammered home her second kill of the set as Kentucky got on the doorstep of the opening set and that gave UK set point at 24-17. The set ended on Ball State’s fifth attack error of the match as UK took the opener, 25-17. Kentucky hit .444 in the frame with DeLeye’s four kills leading the way offensively for the Wildcats and seven digs from sophomore libero Molly Tuozzo.
Set Two
It was Ball State who came out firing on all cylinders in the early parts of the second set as the Cardinals were clinical offensively and led by as many as three at 6-3 and 12-9 before Kentucky began to close the gap and tighten the score. UK took a 15-14 lead into the media timeout after a net violation was called against BSU but after the timeout, BSU went on a 3-0 run thanks to service errors by the Wildcats and trailing 17-15, Kentucky called its first timeout. An extended rally termination by Washington gave Kentucky its first lead of the set at 21-20 and Ball State took a timeout to try and stop a 3-1 Kentucky run, its first stoppage of the set. A 6-1 run closed the set for the Wildcats who took a two sets to none lead after a 25-21 second set victory.
Set Three
Erin Lamb had four aces in a 12-0 service run to start the opening set as the Wildcats scored the first 12 points of the frame and jetted out to the early lead in the third set. Ava Sarafa gave the Wildcats a point on her service for the second night in a row that grew the UK lead back to double digits at 18-8 after the Cardinals had cut it to eight at one point earlier in the set. It was all Kentucky down the stretch as the Wildcats took a decisive set, 25-XX to claim the sweep.
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