No. 12 Kentucky Falls in Five to Auburn in SEC Opener

Four Wildcats finished with ten or more kills and the Cats raced out to a 2-0 lead in the match, but it wasn’t enough as No. 12 Kentucky fell in a five-set heartbreaker to Auburn (25-21, 25-18, 16-25, 20-25, 16-18) in its Southeastern Conference opener Friday night inside Neville Arena. 

Senior setter Emma Grome dished out 50 assists and directed the Kentucky attack to a .224 clip. Every Kentucky hitter recorded at least seven kills on the evening thanks in large part to Grome’s emphasis on spreading the offense around.

Brooklyn DeLeye had one of the best matches of her sophomore campaign against the Tigers as she found the floor with 21 kills on a .212 clip. The outside hitter also recorded four service aces and ten digs. 

Megan Wilson added 12 kills, Haley Melby and Brooke Bultema each finished with 10, and Jordyn Dailey totaled seven. 

The difference in the match, however, proved to be the Tigers’ physical play at the net as they recorded 15.0 blocks as a team and held Kentucky to a .224 clip. In the fifth set alone, Auburn picked up 4.0 blocks and forced the Cats into 6 hitting errors. 

The Cats did a terrific job on the back line, out-digging Auburn 56-49. Sophomore Molly Tuozzo picked up 18 digs, DeLeye finished with 10, Grome had nine, Wilson added eight, and Bultema and Eleanor Beavin each had four. 

With the loss, Kentucky falls to 6-6 on the year and 0-1 in SEC play. Next up, they’ll travel to Gainesville, Fla for a clash with No. 15 Florida. First serve against the Gators is set for 1:00 pm and will be broadcast live on ESPN.