No. 13 Kentucky volleyball (8-6) took down Oklahoma (7-4) in a five-set thriller on Wednesday.
The first set went back-and-forth as Kentucky held a one-point lead heading into the media timeout up 15-14.
The Sooners then went on a 4-0 run to take the lead late in the first set 20-18, but the Cats answered on a 7-1 run of their own to take set one 25-21.
With both senior Erin Lamb and freshman Asia Thigpen out, Kentucky needed someone outside of star sophomore Brooklyn DeLeye to step up and, against Oklahoma, that was redshirt freshman Jordyn Dailey, who had five kills in the first set.
“I think Emma (Grome) and I have been working really hard in practice on our connection, and it’s definitely showing in the game,” Dailey said.
Set two was just like the first one as neither team would take a big lead and Kentucky went into the media timeout again up 15-14.
The difference in set two was the Sooners going on a run but holding the lead, taking the second set 25-23.
Set three was a set of runs with Kentucky going on a 7-1 stretch, forcing a Sooners timeout, and Oklahoma responded right away with an 8-1 run of its own.
The set came down to the wire with the score being 24-23 Oklahoma before a great pancake save by the Sooners set up a kill for Alexis Shelton, winning Oklahoma the set 25-23.
Just like set three, both teams went on big runs in set four. Oklahoma took the early lead, going on a 5-1 run, but this time it was Kentucky that answered back on a 5-0 run, making the score 11-8 with the Cats in the lead.
Sophomore Molly Tuozzo capped off the fourth set with three-straight aces, getting the crowd involved. Ultimately, Kentucky took the fourth set 25-18.
“I think it fired everyone up,” Tuozzo said. “You know, I went back there and knew that I had one job, and that was to put pressure on them from the service line. I didn’t really want to lose that set at all, so I kind of took that momentum and put everything I had into those serves.”
The final set was back-and-forth again with Kentucky getting the lead and Oklahoma answering right back, but when the Cats needed their star the most, DeLeye stepped up big time.
The dependable star had the Cats’ last six points as she became unstoppable in the final set and helped Kentucky take set five 15-13.
The stars for Kentucky were DeLeye, who has had 20 or more kills in all three SEC games and had 25 against OU. Tuozzo was also great again at libero, having 20 digs and a season-high four aces. The surprise was Dailey, who had nine kills on a team-high .471 clip.
Kentucky will next be in action Sunday at 1 p.m. ET against Missouri at Historic Memorial Coliseum. The match will be aired on SEC Network.
