Brooklyn DeLeye and her historic 30 kill performance propelled No. 13 Kentucky volleyball (17-7, 10-2 SEC) to a 3-1 victory over Georgia (10-13, 4-9 SEC).

Kentucky started set one off well as it used a 3-0 run to take a 7-3 lead at the beginning of set one. 

The Bulldogs rallied back after trailing 10-7 with a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the match 11-10. Georgia was the first to fifteen at the media break, leading 15-13 after trailing by as many as four.

Georgia continued to steadily outpace the Cats until a 3-0 run tied the game at 19 all after a Georgia point was overturned in the Wildcat’s favor. Georgia called its first timeout of the set after an attack error gave Kentucky a 21-20 lead.

The lead would be brief as consecutive kills by Georgia allowed it to reclaim the lead at 22-21. 

A kill by Brooke Bultema tied the set at 24-24, and both teams traded timeouts as the set remained tied at 25-25.

The highly intense first set ended in the Bulldogs favor by a score of 27-25, which ended the Wildcats’ 22 set win streak. 

Georgia continued to outpace Kentucky early in the second, as they led 6-4.

A 3-0 run by Kentucky flipped the script briefly, as it took a 7-6 lead after an action-packed rally ended with an Asia Thigpen kill.

Georgia responded with a 4-0 run of its own, forcing Kentucky to call an early timeout trailing 10-7.

Kentucky stormed out of the timeout tying the set 10-10, but found itself trailing 17-12 later in the set, forcing another timeout.

A 3-0 run for Kentucky forced Georgia to use its first timeout leading 18-15. Out of the timeout, Kentucky remained scorching hot with the run extending to 7-0 after a monster kill from DeLeye gave Kentucky its first lead since it was 7-6. 

The Wildcats took their largest lead of the set at 24-22 after Megan Wilson. DeLeye followed up Wilson’s kill with a set icing kill of her own as the Wildcats stormed back to take set two 25-22.

The third set started off with both teams battling for the lead, but neither team completely pulled away. 

Georgia eventually heated up, going on a 4-0 run to take a brief 9-7 lead that was quickly thwarted by the Wildcats who went on a 4-0 run of their own, forcing a Georgia timeout after Bultema gave the Cats an 11-9 lead.

After some adjustments, Georgia reclaimed the lead and forced a Kentucky timeout with the score at 16-15.

The two teams traded leads until the Cats finally pulled away after DeLeye’s 19th kill gave them a 20-18 lead and forced another Georgia timeout.

Kentucky extended its lead to four after a DeLeye’s 23rd kill of the match clinched another set win 25-21.

Much like the prior set, Georgia held a slight lead to start set four, but an assisted block by Kennedy Washington and Emma Grome allowed the Wildcats to take the lead 8-7.

A Kentucky 3-0 run extended its lead to 11-8, which forced a Georgia timeout. Kentucky led 15-11 at the media break.

DeLeye broke her career high for kills in a game with her 27th kill of the game, giving the Cats a 16-12 advantage.

Kentucky seemed like it had the game iced before a 3-0 Georgia run cut the lead down to three and forced a timeout from Coach Craig Skinner.

The Wildcats kept the Bulldogs out of striking distance and DeLeye finished off the match with her 30th kill of the game as the Cats took set four 25-21 and won the match 3-1.

DeLeye became the third player in school history to record 30 or kills in a game, but even more impressive, she’s the first to do it in a four-set match. 

“I had no idea what the record was before this. I was just playing volleyball,” DeLeye said. “Obviously I couldn’t have done it without my teammates out there, and I really think it was a team effort.” 

The Wildcats will return to action on Wednesday, Nov. 20th, against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Historic Memorial Coliseum.