No. 13 Kentucky volleyball (15-7, 9-2 SEC) defeated Texas A&M (15-7, 3-5 SEC) 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-22) for their sixth consecutive victory and fifth straight sweep.

Brooklyn DeLeye and Emma Grome helped lead a balanced attack for the Wildcats while Molly Tuozzo anchored the defense. 

DeLeye finished the match with 20 kills, marking her 10th career game with 20+ kills. DeLeye also had a service ace and assisted on three blocks. 

As for Grome, she recorded her 6th double-double of the season with 42 assists and 11 digs. 

Rounding out the trio, Tuozzo recorded 22 digs, matching her career high.

“Molly made numerous great digs in open net situations tonight, and that’s demoralizing,” Head Coach Craig Skinner said, highlighting the excellent defensive play of Tuozzo. 

Both teams came out firing early in set one with 12 of the first 13 rallies ending in a kill. This streak ended when a service ace from Ava Sarafa tied the match 7-7. The Aggies grabbed a 15-12 lead heading into the media timeout.

Following the timeout, Kentucky went on a 7-4 run that evened the match at 19-19. The Wildcats won four of six rallies after the tie, taking a 23-21 lead. This forced Texas A&M to take its first timeout of the set.

Asia Thigpen recorded her seventh kill of the set after the timeout, forcing set point. The Aggies responded with their second timeout of the set.

An error from Emily Hellmuth ended the set by a score of 25-22, which gave the Wildcats a 1-0 match lead. This set victory extended the Wildcats streak of set wins to 15 in a row.

DeLeye led Kentucky with 10 kills, hitting .286% in set one. Thigpen wasn’t far behind as the freshman had seven kills on just 11 attempts for a .545 hitting percentage. Tuozzo was a nuisance for the Aggie offense in set one with 11 digs and a service ace.

Since returning from injury and assuming a starting role, Thigpen has been vitally important for the Wildcats. 

“A lot of people talk me up and do a great job of making me feel confident in myself… My teammates definitely have a big impact on me,” Thigpen said about the success since her return.

Texas A&M played well in the first set, recording 14 kills at a .263% clip. However, it wasn’t enough to keep up with the Wildcats who had a .317% hitting percentage with 18 kills and two service aces.

Set two started similarly to the first on the scoreboard, except this set began plagued with errors rather than kills. A kill from DeLeye evened the set at 12-12 and sparked a 4-0 Kentucky run. This run ended with an Eleanor Beavin service ace that extended the Cats lead to 15-12.

Texas A&M tried and failed to reduce the Wildcats lead, forcing its first timeout of the set trailing 18-15. Kentucky came out of the timeout with a 3-1 run that featured two kills from DeLeye. The Aggies opted to take their second timeout of the set after falling further behind.

Kentucky was unfazed by the timeout, maintaining its lead and forcing set point at 24-18. Texas A&M attempted to rally, going on a 2-0 run, but the Wildcats took the set 25-20 on a kill from Jordyn Dailey, giving Kentucky a 2-0 match lead.

Neither team played well offensively in set two. Kentucky uncharacteristically had just a .119% hitting percentage with 9 errors to 14 kills. The Aggies struggled mightily recording only eight kills with seven errors at a .030% clip.

Set three, like the first two, started with a 4-4 tie. While the first two sets had been back and forth, set three was far from it. Kentucky instead went on one of the most impressive runs of the season. 

The Wildcats put together an 11-0 run spanning over both Texas A&M timeouts. This run was manufactured by two service aces from Beavin, kills from DeLeye and Grome, four total blocks and seven Aggie errors.

The Wildcats were dominating, taking full advantage of the poor play of Texas A&M. Kentucky held a 15-4 lead, and the Aggies were unable to erase the large deficit as Kentucky won set three 25-14 and the match 3-0.

Kentucky was in complete control in set three as the Aggies had seven errors and only five kills leaving them with an awful -.071 hitting percentage.

“We’ve really smothered teams with our serve blocking… and a lot of great individual defensive plays,” Skinner said.

With the win, Kentucky remains atop the conference standings by half a match. 

The Wildcats return to action on Nov. 10, when they will host LSU with first serve scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at Historic Memorial Coliseum. The game will air live on SEC Network.