DeLeye’s 21 Kills Hammer No. 3 Kentucky Past Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Thanks to 21 kills from Brooklyn DeLeye and a season-best performance from middle blocker Kennedy Washington, the No. 3 Kentucky Volleyball team knocked off Mississippi State 3-1 (25-13, 18-25, 25-12, 25-18) on Friday night in the Newell-Groissom Volleyball Center in Starkville.

Kentucky won all three of their sets convincingly with MSU not reaching 20 in any of the first, third and fourth sets, but it was Mississippi State’s second set that made the Wildcats sweat a bit before UK put the train back on the tracks to close out the match convincingly with 25-12 and 25-18 third and fourth set wins. UK had three players reach double-figure scoring in the match as Eva Hudson’s 16 kills and Lizzie Carr’s 10 kills helped make the difference in the match for the Wildcats.

UK hit .288 for the match led by Kassie O’Brien’s 46 assists on the night, a new career-high for O’Brien in a three-set match as the freshman guided the Wildcats to 62 kills on 139 swings for the night and pushed four UK scorers to nine-plus kills for the night. Carr had 10 kills, on 16 swings to hit .438 alongside four stuff blocks and two of them being solo roofs.

Defensively, Kentucky held Mississippi State to .128 hitting for the match with 23 hitting errors for the Bulldogs and seven stuffs for the Wildcats led by Carr’s four. Four Kentucky players had 10+ digs led by 17 from Eva Hudson who had yet another double-double and Kassie O’Brien, who dug 15 balls for the match. DeLeye also recorded a double-double with 10 digs to couple her 21 kills.

Kentucky is now 15-2 on the season and remains perfect in the Southeastern Conference with an 8-0 record to hold firm with Texas atop the league standings. UK plays at Alabama Sunday live on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app at 3 p.m. ET.

Set 1

Kentucky cruised to a 1-0 lead in the match thanks to a 25-13 opening-set win over the Bulldogs. Kentucky hit .370 in the set while holding Mississippi State to a .026 hitting percentage with no individual MSU player hitting above .200 for the frame. UK took an 8-3 lead thanks to a successful challenge from Craig Skinner and after a kill from Eva Hudson on the left side for her third termination of the set to that point at 12-5, MSU elected to call its first timeout of the set. UK grew the lead to 10 for the first time after Brooklyn DeLeye put away a long-rally kill followed by a solo stuff from Lizzie Carr, her second of the match, as UK took a 19-9 lead and the Bulldogs called their second timeout of the set. Kentucky’s lead got to a set-high 13 points after Kennedy Washington dumped a ball out of the middle to the floor and UK arrived at set point leading 24-13 before a kill by Brooklyn DeLeye, her third of the set, ended the frame with Kentucky taking the opener, 25-13. Kassie O’Brien had nine assists on 13 Kentucky kills for the set and led UK with four digs, as well.

Set 2

Mississippi State used an 8-1 run midway through the set and a 3-0 run to close it as it evened the score in the match with a 25-18 second set win. MSU had six blocks in the set after no blocks in the first set which turned the tide in the match as Kentucky was held to just .150 hitting for the frame with the Bulldogs cruising at a .286 clip, the highest an SEC team has hit in a single set against the Wildcats this season. Kentucky closed the gap from an 17-11 deficit at one point to four at 19-15, but MSU ran away for the last part of the set and finished out the frame with a 25-18 second-set win as the match started anew at one all.

Set 3

Thanks to some long-rally extinguishments and the serving of Molly Berezowitz, Kentucky jumped out to an early 9-5 lead in the second set and MSU burned a timeout 14 points into the third set with UK holding strong to a four-point lead. Mississippi State lost their second challenge of the match as Kentucky gained a 15-7 lead and the Bulldogs ran into their final timeout of the frame. Kentucky then ran away in the middle stages of the set as Brooklyn DeLeye’s offspeed terminations began to take charge in the match as UK’s lead was 19-8 at one point and then after a kill by Lizzie Carr out of the middle, 20-9 in the favor of the Wildcats. Kentucky cruised to the set win with a 92 percent sideout ratio in the third and hit .581 for the set while holding MSU to .000 for the set with five kills and five errors for the Bulldogs. An attack error by MSU closed the book to the set as Kentucky went up two sets to one in the match with a 25-12 second-set win.

Set 4

Kentucky jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the fourth and never looked back in the fourth set. The Wildcats took a 15-12 lead at the media timeout after relinquishing the lead for one point, but a 3-0 run into the stoppage put Kentucky on the frontfoot halfway through the fourth set. Out of the timeout, Kentucky used Kennedy Washington to run off five of the next seven points to get to a 21-14 lead and Mississippi State called its first timeout. A few points later, MSU needed its final timeout with UK ahead by six and Kentucky ran out the clock on the Bulldogs with a Lizzie Carr solo stuff sealing the match as Kentucky hit .306 in the fourth set to win 25-18 and take the match three sets to one.

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