Wildcats close Kentucky Invitational with 3-0 sweep of Ball State
Following a tough loss to open the Kentucky Invitational a couple of days ago, the Wildcats closed the weekend in style.
No. 9 Kentucky (5-2) swept the Ball State Cardinals 3-0 on Sunday afternoon in Memorial Coliseum, one day after the ‘Cats did the same to James Madison. It wasn’t a perfect stretch of play though, as Kentucky saw a 2-0 lead against No. 7 Penn State on Friday disappear into a 3-2 loss. But the ‘Cats followed that up by winning six consecutive sets to close out the Invitational ahead of a five-day break in action.
Over 1,900 fans showed up in support on Sunday. Kentucky is now 5-0 on the season (with only one dropped set) against unranked opponents but 0-2 in Top 10 matchups against Nebraska and Penn State.
Much like Saturday’s sweeping of James Madison, Kentucky had little issue with Ball State. Craig Skinner’s squad won the first set 25-17, the second set 25-21, and the third set 25-13. The Wildcats even started the third set with a 12-0 lead before the Cardinals finally added a point to the board.
Sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye, who hit .435 against Ball State, registered a game-high 12 kills en route to the Kentucky win. As a team, UK hit a season-high .412, logging 42 kills to only nine hitting errors. Senior outside hitter Erin Lamb registered a career-high six aces.
Sophomore libero Molly Tuozzo led the way on defense with a game-high (and new career-high) 22 digs. Senior outside hitter Megan Wilson went for her season-best in blocks with four while senior setter Emma Grome recorded 37 assists.
Kentucky will return to the court on Friday when they head to Dallas, TX to take on the SMU Mustangs, which is receiving votes in the national rankings. That match will begin at 8:00 p.m. EST. It will be the first of two games that weekend, with the second game on Saturday coming against either No. 8 Purdue or Houston, another team receiving votes in the polls.
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