After being swept at home by Texas, Kentucky volleyball geared up for a five-match SEC road trip.

The Kentucky road trip included stops in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia.

The UK volleyball team has been an SEC powerhouse, winning the conference in seven consecutive seasons, however, the loss to Texas dropped them out of first place, meaning it was crucial that the Wildcats took care of business on this road trip.

That’s just what they did, winning all five matches with the last four being sweeps.

The trip started on Wednesday, Oct. 16, when Kentucky traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee, to face Tennessee. The Wildcats won their first match of the trip 3-1 (25-21, 14-25, 25-22, 25-21).

Wildcat freshman Asia Thigpen made her first career start in the match and didn’t disappoint, recording 15 kills, eight digs and a block, hitting at a .583% clip.

Brooklyn DeLeye was also a standout, leading the Kentucky attack with 23 kills and 10 digs. Emma Grome also recorded 50 assists, tying her season high, and 11 digs.

Tennessee’s Nina Cajic did everything in her power to win, logging 11 kills and four service aces, but it wasn’t enough.

The Wildcats played well as a group, hitting.340% with 63 total kills. The Volunteers played a good match, with a .289% hitting percentage and seven service aces, but they were simply outmatched by Kentucky.

After the win over Tennessee, Kentucky had a match with Alabama.

Continuing the road trip with a stop in Tuscaloosa on Sunday, Oct. 20, the Wildcats won in a 3-0 sweep (25-22, 29-27, 25-15), making them 2-0 on their trip.

The Wildcats put together a great team effort with five players having more than seven kills, but DeLeye and Grome really shined.

DeLeye recorded 21 kills, marking back-to-back matches with 20+ kills for just her second time this season. Grome, herself, assisted on 43 of the Wildcats’ 54 kills while also getting nine digs.

Kentucky struggled with errors, however, recording 21 over three sets, but were able to overcome it thanks to a .280% hitting percentage and 54 kills. The Wildcats also capitalized on the sloppy play of Alabama, which recorded 18 errors of its own and hit just .105%.

Another all-around effort allowed for a Wildcat victory as they remained undefeated on the road trip.

Kentucky followed up the win at Alabama with a stop in Oxford, Mississippi, on Oct. 27. The Wildcats defeated Ole Miss 3-0 (25-18, 26-24, 25-13) for its second straight sweep and third consecutive victory.

DeLeye led the Wildcats’ offensive attack with 17 kills at a .316% hitting percentage. She also had a service ace. Grome was strong in all areas, assisting on 38 of 43 kills while also having nine digs and two solo blocks. Thigpen and Megan Wilson also both supplemented the Wildcat offense with nine kills each.

The Rebels struggled to get anything going, hitting just .038% as a team and only recording 20 kills.

Ole Miss was able to record 12 team blocks, but this wasn’t enough to make up for the poor play elsewhere. Kentucky took advantage of these deficiencies, hitting .270% as a team with just 16 errors, allowing for yet another sweep.

After winning the first three matches of the trip, Kentucky stopped in Columbia, South Carolina, to take on the Gamecocks on Nov. 1.

The Wildcats walked away with their third straight sweep after another 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-22) victory. It was the fourth straight victory for Kentucky, remaining unbeaten on its road trip.

Thigpen played one of her best matches yet, recording nine kills and 10 digs. She also got two service aces and a block.

Grome kept up the excellent play, recording a double-double with 34 assists and 10 digs. She led the match in service aces with three.

The Wildcats were great from the service line as a unit, matching their season high of 12 service aces as a team. Kentucky had 40 total kills for the fourth consecutive match, matching its winning streak.

South Carolina was unable to get its attack going and hit just .128% in the match. This poor offensive performance prevented the Gamecocks from keeping up with the prolific offense of Kentucky.

After winning the first four, Kentucky had just one match remaining on its road trip. 

Stopping in Athens, Georgia, to face off with the Bulldogs on Nov. 3, the Wildcats won in yet another 3-0 (26-24, 25-15, 25-16) sweep to extend the winning streak to five and the sweep streak to four.

DeLeye led Kentucky with 16 kills and a season-high .464% hitting percentage. She also recorded two service aces, six digs and a block.

Jordyn Dailey also played a big role in the win with three kills on seven attempts, also recording six blocks.

The win was the best match of the trip for Kentucky as it hit .356% as a team, its highest in conference play this season.

The Wildcats had just 14 errors while also getting nine blocks in a complete domination of Georgia. The Bulldogs struggled mightily, hitting only .087% as a team. Georgia had just 25 kills with 18 errors as it was completely outmatched by Kentucky.

All in all, Kentucky responded to its tough loss against Texas well, going undefeated on its five-match road trip. This winning streak propelled the Wildcats to the top of the SEC standings, holding a half-match lead over second place.

The Wildcats will need to carry this momentum into their upcoming five match homestand as the end of the season draws near.

The Wildcats will kick off their home stand on Nov. 8 when they take on Texas A&M. The match kicks off Alumni Weekend for Kentucky.

First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and the match will be shown live on the SEC Network+.