No. 7 Penn State Reverse Sweeps No. 9 Kentucky Inside Memorial Coliseum

Despite winning the first two sets to take a 2-0 lead in the match, the No. 9 Kentucky volleyball team fell in a heartbreaker to No. 7 Penn State Friday night inside Memorial Coliseum, as the Nittany Lions pulled off the reverse sweep (25-19, 25-23, 24-26, 22-25, 8-15) to hand the Cats their second loss of the season. 

Kentucky took the early lead in the match behind some tremendous service pressure, something the Cats have shown glimpses of all season long. But as the Nittany Lions settled into the match, the Cats lost some of their focus from behind the service line, something that UK head coach Craig Skinner lamented following the loss. 

“Penn State obviously puts a lot of pressure on you but it’s something we’ve got to do a better job in practice- sustaining concentration and intensity for longer periods of time,” Skinner said. “That was evident in the end of the third set and the fourth set.”

Sophomore Molly Tuozzo got the start in the libero jersey for the third-straight match and anchored the back line with a match-high 19 digs. Eleanor Beavin added 13 digs and a trio of service aces, Brooklyn DeLeye had seven digs, and Emma Grome and Erin Lamb each added five. 

At the net, Freshman Brooke Bultema continued to be a force defensively, as she sent back a team-high 6.0 rejections. Grome added five and Lamb and Megan Wilson each had a pair.

Offensively, Kentucky struggled to find the floor consistently all night long as the Penn State defense picked up 69 team digs and 14.0 rejections. The Cats hit just .189 and were forced into 24 hitting errors. DeLeye led all Wildcats with 20 kills on a .167 clip, Lamb had 14 terminations, and Wilson added 10. 

Following the match, Skinner cited the importance for his team to generate more kills on the right pin to alleviate some of the load off DeLeye’s shoulders and open the court up a bit more for the sophomore. 

“We’ve got to attack behind the setter and middle third. Megan (Wilson) got a lot of swings tonight- 28 swings and 10 kills. Got to get more swings to the middles. Brooke (Bultema) had 17, we need a couple more there. And either Kennedy (Washington) or Jordyn (Dailey) just got to get more terminal offensively in that position to help alleviate that. And then there’s also the back row with Asia (Thigpen). So there’s a few things that we’ve got to do to loosen up the block on the other side for sure.”

With the loss, Kentucky falls to 3-2 on the season. Next up, the Cats will take on James Madison inside Memorial for match two of the Kentucky Invitational on Saturday night. First serve is set for 7:30 pm and will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.