Wildcats dance on to Friday night’s second round
LEXINGTON – December 5, 2024
Thanks to a .391 team hitting percentage and 15 kills from sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye, the third-seeded Kentucky Volleyball team raced past Cleveland State 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-16) in three sets Thursday night to book a spot into Friday night’s second round of the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship.
DeLeye was one of two Kentucky players to reach double-figures scoring, as she notched 15 kills and Erin Lamb had 10 as the two combined for 25 kills on 45 swings as Emma Grome dished out 33 assists and Jordyn Dailey had a team-high four stuffs in the match. Molly Tuozzo led all Wildcats with 12 digs, the only UK player to record double-digits in the digs department as Kentucky held the Vikings to a .114 hitting percentage for the match.
With Thursday night’s win, [3] Kentucky advances into Friday night’s second round to play [6] Minnesota for a spot in next weekend’s NCAA Regional Semifinals. [6] Minnesota beat Western Kentucky 3-1 in four tight sets during Thursday’s opening match of the Lexington Sub-Regional. Friday night’s match between the Wildcats and Gophers will begin at 7 p.m. ET and shown live on ESPN+. Tickets are available at UKathletics.com/tickets and will be available at the UK Ticket Office all day Friday for pickup, as well.
Thursday night’s win marks the eighth-straight season that Kentucky has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament under head coach Craig Skinner.
Set One
Kentucky came out of the gates roaring, as the Wildcats hit .766 inside the opening 11 points with Brooklyn DeLeye scoring six early points to give UK the 9-2 lead and force the Vikings into an early timeout down seven. Cleveland State put match pressure on Kentucky in the midsection of the frame as the Vikings pulled the Kentucky lead back from nine points to three at 13-10, but a 4-0 service run by Brooklyn DeLeye encompassing an ace and CSU timeout gave Kentucky the 19-11 lead as the Wildcats cruised from there to an easy first-set win, 25-15. In the first set, Kentucky hit .424 with 18 kills as a team and 15 assists from setter Emma Grome. Brooklyn DeLeye led all scorers in the first with six kills and one error on 10 swings to hit .500 and an ace to go alongside. Cleveland State hit .143 in the set with no player registering more than three kills.
Set Two
Cleveland State led through the opening stages of the second set with the Vikings leading 4-2, their first lead of the match before Emma Grome and the UK offense took center stage and commanded the middle part of the set as Kentucky took an 11-10 lead and ballooned it to 17-10 on a 6-0 Eleanor Beavin service run that resulted in Cleveland State taking its first and second timeouts of the set with the Wildcats up seven. A kill by Erin Lamb, her fifth of the match to that point gave Kentucky the second set as the Wildcats took the second set, 25-14. UK hit .419 in the set with 15 kills to just two errors and Emma Grome tacked on another 10 assists to her total on the night for 25 assists through two sets. UK held the Vikings to .088 in the set as Molly Tuozzo notched her 10th dig midway through the second frame as Kentucky took a 24-14 lead to pick up set point.
Set Three
Each of the first five points in the third set went the way of the Wildcats, as Cleveland State burned its opening timeout early on, trailing 5-0 to start off the frame. After Brooklyn DeLeye sent her 14th kill of the night to the floor to put Kentucky ahead of the Vikings 9-2, CSU called its final timeout of the set down seven and its backs against the wall needing to win the set to extend the match. The Wildcats grew their lead to 19-11 on a kill by Erin Lamb, her eighth of the match and got into the red zone with a kill by Lamb again as Kentucky took a 20-13 lead to sit five points from the finish line.
