Grome Breaks School Record, Leads 3-Seeded Kentucky Into Sweet Sixteen

Brooklyn DeLeye totaled 22 kills and Emma Grome set a new school record in assists as three-seeded Kentucky downed Minnesota in four sets (25-11, 23-25, 25-22, 26-24) Friday night inside Memorial Coliseum to advance into the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

DeLeye once again carried a heavy load offensively as her 22 terminations led all players in the match. The sophomore hit .327 on the evening and totaled just six errors through 49 total attempts. But the Cats got plenty of contributions elsewhere as well, as four other Wildcats finished the night with eight or more kills. In their final match inside Memorial Coliseum, seniors Erin Lamb and Megan Wilson did a superb job at the net, tallying 13 and 11 kills respectively. Freshman Jordyn Dailey added 9 kills on a .562 clip and Brooke Bultema added eight.

Following the match, UK head coach Craig Skinner was thrilled with his team’s toughness and ability to perform offensively against a defensive team as strong as Minnesota.

“Proud of the group,” Skinner said. “The mental toughness and growth that we’ve had throughout this season is pretty significant, even saw it in that match. In set two we let it slip away, and then tough as nails at the end of the fourth. Proud of our group and to be able to hit .325 on a great defensive team like that is big time.”

Grome dished out a match-high 51 assists and broke the school record for the most assists ever recorded by a Wildcat in the rally-scoring era. The previous record of 4,962 assists was held by former Cat and National Champion Madison Lilley, who led the Wildcats to the program’s first ever National Title during her senior season.

Grome reflected on her four years at Kentucky after the match and how impactful it’s been to see each team’s growth throughout the course of a season.

“It’s been incredible. It really hit me today, I honestly didn’t realize until someone said it to me earlier that today was my last game in Memorial ever and I got kind of emotional, it’s sad. But my four years here have been absolutely incredible. Every year I just feel like our team grows so much and the people here are just so awesome.”

The Cats recorded an impressive 11.0 blocks as a team and limited the Minnesota attack to a hitting clip of .223. In the first set alone, the Kentucky defense limited the Gophers to just 6 kills on a measly .040 slugging percentage. Bultema led all players with a career-high seven blocks, Grome had five, Dailey had four, Wilson had three, and DeLeye finished with a pair.

On the back line, Grome led the way with 12 digs, DeLeye had 11 and a trio of service aces, Eleanor Beavin finished with 10 digs, Tuozzo had 9, and Wilson and Ava Sarafa each recorded five.

With the win, Kentucky punches its ticket into the Sweet Sixteen for the seventh time in the last eight seasons and will take on Missouri with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line. If the seeds hold, the Cats will travel to Pittsburgh as the Panthers hold the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Next weekend’s matches will be played on either Thursday and Saturday or Friday and Sunday, which the NCAA will announce this Sunday once all of the matches from the first weekend are complete.