Kentucky volleyball picked up its second win of conference play at Alabama on Sunday, winning 3-1 (25-21,2, 25-14, 19-25, 25-16).
The Wildcats improved to 3-1 in SEC play, moving their overall record to 5-7. The Crimson Tide finds itself winless with a record of 0-3 in conference play, moving their overall record to 10-4 on the season.
Brooklyn DeLeye led the Cats to victory, picking up 25 kills, tying her career-high set on Friday, followed by Megan Wilson, who added 20 of her own. It marked the first time this season that two Wildcats had gathered 20+ kills in a single match.
The Kentucky defense led Bama to only hit .188, hitting under .100 in half of the sets. Grome, DeLeye and Eleanor Beavin had 10+ digs, leading to the UK’s defensive success.
In the first set, DeLeye set the pace for the team, tallying five kills. Kentucky had momentum on its side with Alabama only overtaking the Cats once, 5-4, before that was quickly shut down by the Wildcat offense putting together a 3-0 run following that.
An ace served by Audrey Whitworth brought Kentucky’s lead to 17-10 and then improved to 19-0 following two blocks by Azhani Tealer and Brooklyn DeLeye.
Alabama gained some momentum, dropping the UK lead to 23-20, but the Cats won two points back-to-back, securing the first set with a score of 25-21.
Kentucky continued the second set with an early lead of 8-1. Back-to-back aces were scored by freshman Molly Tuozzo, continuing the momentum for the Cats.
Unfortunately for the Cats, the Crimson Tide once again returned just as fast as it did in the previous set, cutting the lead to 12-7 after securing points in two extended rallies.
DeLeye recorded two kills, which were followed by an ace from Emma Grome, leading the Cats on a 3-0 run.
The Wildcats found themselves up 16-8 and continued their strong playing style to take the second set with a score of 25-14, setting them up to have their first sweep of the season.
In the third set, Alabama seemed to finally gather its momentum. UK led the set 2-1, but the Wildcats did not see a lead again after that.
The Wildcat defense struggled against the Bama offense, which took the lead to 20-15. The Cats never seemed to find a rhythm, which led them to fall 25-19 in the set.
The fourth set started with the Cats down 3-0 but, after an ace by Beavin, the team ran the score up to 7-6. The defense came up clutch the Wildcats before blocks by Megan Wilson and Jordyn Williams brought the lead up to 18-13.
The Tide was unable to gain any momentum back, failing to score following that point. Before long Tealer led the Wildcats to win with a kill, finaling the set score to 25-16.
With the win the Cats look to extend their winning streak to three matches on Friday, Oct. 6, to face the Missouri Tigers on the road in Columbia, Missouri, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
