Four Cats Reach Double Figures as No. 12 UK Beats Texas A&M in Four

Four Wildcats totaled at least 12 kills and junior Emma Grome dished out 55 assists as No. 12 Kentucky downed Texas A&M in four sets (25-17, 25-20, 24-26, 25-12) Thursday night inside Rupp Arena.

Heading into Thursday’s match, Grome led the entire country in assists per set, averaging an impressive 12.00 assists every frame. Against the Aggies, that trend continued, as she recorded 55 assists and directed the Kentucky attack to a .360 clip against the best blocking team in the Southeastern Conference.

UK head coach Craig Skinner was pleased with his team’s fearlessness against A&M’s block and ability to respond after some solid defensive plays by the Aggies.

“With a block like that, you have to be balanced,” Skinner said. “You’ve got to get the middles involved and you’ve got to stretch to the edges of the net and the court. We were able to do that. And they had some nice blocks, but we had some nice responses. We didn’t shy away from it on our next opportunities to swing and kill the ball.”

Led by freshman Brooklyn DeLeye, four Cats finished the evening with at least 12 kills and all hit .268 or better. DeLeye totaled a match-high 18 kills, Elise Goetzinger had 13, Erin Lamb had 12, and Azhani Tealer had 12 on a sweltering .688 clip.

Eleanor Beavin continued to make her case to win SEC Libero of the Year as she picked up 20 digs to lead all players. Sophomore Audrey Whitworth added 12 digs of her own, Molly Tuozzo had nine, DeLeye had eight, and Grome had six.

Tealer led the defensive charge at the net, totaling 3.0 rejections on the evening. Reagan Rutherford added 2.0 despite only playing two sets due to injury, and Grome, Goetzinger, and Megan Wilson each added one.

With the victory, Kentucky captures its 13th-straight win, the second-longest active winning streak in the country. They improve to 16-7 on the year and 14-1 in the SEC and remain in first place atop the league. Next up, the Cats will take on the Missouri Tigers inside Rupp Arena on Sunday as they prepare for the final week of the regular season. First serve against Missouri is set for 1:30 pm E.T. and will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.