Balanced Afternoon Leads No. 9 Kentucky to Third-Straight Win

A balanced afternoon inside Memorial Coliseum Sunday led to an efficient 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-13, 25- ) for the No. 9 Kentucky volleyball team over Morehead State as the Cats captured a third win in three days to win the Bluegrass Battle outright.

Every active player on Kentucky’s roster saw action against the Eagles as UK head coach Craig Skinner tinkered with lineups at the start of every set. As a result, 11 Wildcats recorded a kill, led by junior Haley Melby who finished with 6. Megan Wilson, Brooke Bultema, Brooklyn DeLeye, and Asia Thigpen each had five, Delaney Hogan, Jordyn Dailey, and Kennedy Washington all totaled three, Emma Grome and Erin Lamb both had two, and Eleanor Beavin picked up one.

Emma Grome had another efficient day directing the offense as she dished out a match-high 27 assists and paced the Cats to a .369  clip.

Kentucky continued to impress on the defensive end as they limited the Eagles to only 17 total kills on a -.051 hitting percentage. Wilson led the defensive charge at the net with 4.0 blocks, Bultema, Hogan, and Washington each had 3.0 rejections, and Grome added 2.0

Following the match, UK head coach Craig Skinner was pleased with his team’s defensive effort and the identity they’ve started to form on that side of the court.

“Really pleased with the defensive effort to hold another team to a negative hitting percentage, so two on the weekend I believe if I’m not mistaken from Friday,” Skinner said. “Just put a lot of pressure on them with our serve after we got going in the first set. And our block was very involved today as well.”

Sophomore Molly Tuozzo got the start at libero for the second-straight game and totaled a match-high 16 digs. Grome added nine, Thigpen had four, and Lane Jenkins, DeLeye, and Melby had two.

With the win, Kentucky improves to 3-1 on the season and a perfect 3-0 inside Memorial Coliseum. Next up, the Cats will host No. 7 Penn State on Friday as they attempt to pick up their first ranked win of the young season. First serve against the Nittony Lions is set for 7:00 pm and will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.

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