DeLeye’s 24 Kills Lead No. 12 Kentucky Past No.15 Florida

Following Friday night’s frustrating loss to Auburn courtesy of a reverse sweep, No. 12 Kentucky was desperately searching for a marquee win to build some positive momentum. And thanks in large part to sophomore sensation Brooklyn DeLeye, the Cats found just what they were looking for on Sunday afternoon as they downed No. 15 Florida in four (25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 30-28) in Gainesville. 

As she has for much of the year, DeLeye shined under the bright lights once again as she recorded a team-high 24 kills with only four errors on a sweltering .370 clip. The sophomore also finished the match with three assists, eight digs, three blocks, and a pair of service aces, one of which came on match point that dropped along the back line to give the Cats the 30-28 set four win. In the fourth set alone, DeLeye recorded a whopping ten kills to help Kentucky seal the victory. 

Offensively, Kentucky played one of its most complete matches of the season as five Wildcats tallied four or more kills. Redshirt freshman Brooke Bultema continued to impress out of the middle as she found the floor with 13 kills on a .524 attacking clip. Megan Wilson added nine kills, Haley Melby had eight, and Jordyn Dailey finished with four. 

Senior setter Emma Grome directed the Kentucky attack to 61 total kills and only 12 errors, good for a .358 hitting percentage. She dished out a match-high 46 assists to go along with 11 digs and a service ace. 

On the back line, sophomore Molly Tuozzo led the way with 16 digs. Eleanor Beavin added seven, Wilson had four, and Dailey had three.

At the net, Dailey and company recorded 9.0 team blocks and held the Gators to a .242 clip. Dailey finished with a match-high five rejections, Wilson had four, and Bultema had two. 

With the win, Kentucky snaps a four-game losing streak and picks up its first ranked win of the year. They improve to 7-6 on the season and 1-1 in the SEC. Next up, they’ll return home to Lexington for their SEC home opener against Oklahoma on Wednesday night. First serve against the Sooners is set for 8:00 pm and will be broadcast live on the SEC Network.