No. 14 Kentucky Totals 12 Aces en Route to Sweep of South Carolina

Thanks to an impressive 12 service aces as a team, the No. 14 Kentucky volleyball team swept their way past South Carolina (25-18, 25-16, 25-22) Friday night in Columbia to pick up a fourth-consecutive road victory.

The Cats came out hot from behind the service line and kept their foot on the gas all night long as six Wildcats finished the match with an ace. Five totaled at least two on the evening, led by Emma Grome who finished with three. Brooklyn DeLeye, Asia Thigpen, Eleanor Beavin, and Molly Tuozzo each finished with two and Ava Sarafa added one.

Offensively the Cats were paced once again by DeLeye’s powerful arm as she racked up a match-high 16 kills on a .289 clip. Thigpen added nine, Jordyn Dailey had six, and Brooke Bultema had five. Grome paced the offense with 34 assists as six Wildcats totaled at least two terminations in the final box score.

Defensively, Kentucky held the Gamecocks to a hitting clip of just .128. Bultema was a big part of that, as she finished the evening with three rejections at the net. Dailey added two of her own and Thigpen, Megan Wilson, Grome, and Kennedy Washington each had one.

On the back line sophomore Molly Tuozzo continued to impress at the libero position as she finished with a match-high 16 digs. Grome and Thigpen each added 10 digs of their own and Eleanor Beavin finished with five.

With the win, Kentucky improves to 13-7 on the season and 7-2 in the Southeastern Conference. Next up, the Cats will travel to Athens, Ga. on Sunday for a matchup with Georgia. First serve against the Bulldogs is set for 2:00 pm and will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.