No. 23 Kentucky volleyball (8-7) handed No. 10 Tennessee its first sweep of the season and avenged itself after the Volunteers swept the Wildcats earlier this season.
With the return of star outside hitter Reagan Rutherford, the game marks Kentucky’s sixth straight win and its first sweep of the season.
After winning freshman of the week, Brooklyn DeLeye would continue to dominate, leading the Cats with 13 kills and eight digs. Rutherford also added eight kills in her return.
The first set would start off relatively even until Elise Goetzinger led an early charge with numerous kills, advancing Kentucky 16-11.
The Lady Vols would then cut the lead down to three with the score at 18-15, after UK’s third service error of the set. Rutherford would extend the lead back to five with two kills, making it 21-16.
Both teams would trade blows, but the Vols failed to take over at any point in the set, with the Cats winning 25-20 off of a kill by Emma Grome.
Rutherford had six kills in the set and a perfect hit percentage.
Tennessee would get off to a scorching hot start in the second set with a 5-0 run. The Cats would answer back however, with a 8-2 run led by Azhani Tealer’s three kills, as well as a kill by DeLeye to claim the lead 8-7.
Kentucky would continue to extend its lead, going into the TV timeout leading 15-12. This lead would get cut to one forcing the Cats into a timeout, with the score at 18-17.
UK would again begin to run away with the game, reaching set point at 24-19.
Despite trailing by six, Tennessee fought back hard and tied the set at 24 on a 6-0 run. With defeat seeming inevitable, the Vols flipped the script and put Kentucky’s back against the wall.
With the set on the line, Tealer would get a kill to reclaim the lead while a net error allowed UK to win the set 26-24.
The third set started similarly to the previous, with Tennessee once again off to an early lead 7-2.
UK would respond with a fierce 6-0 run that gave it the control 8-7. The Cats would fall behind yet again after their ninth service ace of the game.
Out of the TV timeout, UK would rocket to a 17-15 lead after a 4-0 run capped off by a kill from Goetzinger. Despite Tennessee rallying back, the Cats would have a match point at 24-21.
With victory looking almost certain, Tennessee once again mounted an improbable comeback, only this time taking the lead 25-24.
Kentucky would go on to tie with a kill by Tealer and take the lead with a kill from DeLeye.
With just one more point needed to win, Tealer and Rutherford would share a clutch block at the end to seal the game, winning the final set 27-25.
The win puts Kentucky at 8-8 on the season and 6-1 in SEC play.
The Cats will return home next Friday, Oct. 20, to face the Mississippi Bulldogs at 7 p.m. ET inside Rupp Arena.
