The No. 21 ranked Kentucky Wildcats (6-7) traveled to Columbia, Missouri, Friday, defeating the unranked Missouri Tigers 3-1 inside the Hearnes Center.
Senior setter Emma Grome netted her 3000th career assist in the contest.
Four Wildcats would finish the game with double digit kill totals with Brooklyn DeLeye leading the charge with 18. Grome would also finish with an impressive 57 assists.
The win marked UK’s fourth in SEC play, putting it at 4-1 on the season against conference opponents.
The Tigers started the first set strong, taking an early 11-6 lead on the Cats and forcing them to call a timeout.
Coming out of the timeout UK would cut the lead to three with a score of 16-13 when momentum shifted entirely.
Jordyn Williams would tie the set 16-16 with a kill when junior Megan Wilson took the lead with a kill of her own. UK didn’t stop there as it continued its assault led by Wilson, going up 20-16 after a 7-0 run.
After Williams helped Kentucky reach set point at 24-19, DeLeye finished Missouri off with a strong kill, winning the set 25-19. Overall, the Cats finished the set on a 13-3 run with DeLeye, Wilson and Azhani Tealer each finishing the set with five kills.
Both teams would be evenly matched to start set two, with Kentucky’s lead never growing to more than two early. Despite that, the Cats would lead 15-12 at the media timeout thanks to a stretch of kills by Elise Goetzinger.
Mizzou would get within one right out of the timeout but would never get any closer than that as the Cats’ domination continued.
DeLeye put Kentucky at set point with her ninth kill of the game, bringing the score to 24-19. The Tigers would try to come back with two scores of their own, but Goetzinger finished the set with a kill, giving Kentucky the win 25-21. The Cats never trailed at any point in the set.
The Cats then found themselves in a similar position to their game against Georgia, leading two sets to nothing before finding themselves trailing in the third by a score of 8-5. Unlike last time, UK took the lead 10-9 after a service ace by Grome and a kill by Wilson.
The Tigers responded quickly, taking a 15-12 lead, which would be the largest by any team for the whole set. A 3-1 run by the Cats would once again tie the game at 16.
The teams went back-and-forth, trading leads before the Tigers found themselves with a 24-22 lead and set point. Unfortunately for the Cats, Mizzou won the set 25-23.
Missouri once again got out to an early lead in the fourth set, inching closer and closer to a comeback win, however that would change when UK landed a flurry of blocks by Wilson, Williams and Grome, taking the lead 15-13 despite trailing the majority of the set.
UK continued its run, stretching the lead out to as much as five with the score at 21-16, before some late theatrics took place.
The Tigers went on a 3-0 run, forcing UK into their first timeout, but they weren’t done, shrinking Kentucky’s lead down to just one before tying the game 23-23 after a back-row miscommunication by the Cats.
Missouri had a chance to escape the clutches of defeat, but committed a service error, giving UK a 24-23 lead.
Despite Mizzou tying the game yet again, UK would overcome Mizzou’s strong run with a service ace by Grome, winning the set 26-24 and the match overall.
With the win Kentucky improved to 6-7 on the season and 4-1 in SEC play. The Cats have a quick break before traveling back home to face the Ole Miss Rebels in Rupp Arena on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET.
