Kentucky Volleyball sweeps Texas A&M in dominant fashion
It wasn’t a flawless performance from the 7th-ranked Kentucky Volleyball team (19-4), but it was a controlling victory over a mediocre Texas A&M team (12-11). The ‘Cats won all three sets handily to sweep the first of two weekend matchups with the Aggies.
Here’s how the ‘Cats 19th victory of the season went down.
First Set
Alli Stumler was the engine of Kentucky’s offense early on as three kills by her helped UK establish a quick 7-3 lead. In fact, the ‘Cats lead never dipped below four for the rest of the set following a Madi Skinner kill at 8-4. Behind the two aces on the front line, Stumler and Skinner, UK held the lead around 5-8 for most of the set.
Texas A&M would respond with a small scare late in the set to cut it back to four at 20-16. But a few plays later, Riah Walker aced two straight serves to put Kentucky up 23-16 to eliminate the slim chance the Aggies had a comeback. Then, at set point, it was libero Eleanor Beavin who served an ace to end the first, 25-17.
Second Set
The second set featured a little more back and forth at the beginning as the two sides traded points until the midway point, when a pair of challenges by Craig Skinner turned what would have been a tie game into a 12-8 lead for Kentucky.
Like with the first set, once Kentucky pushed the lead out to four it never sunk under that margin the rest of the way. Shortly after the successful challenges by Skinner, UK blitzed A&M for a 5-1 run capped off by a pair of aces by Beavin to give the ‘Cats a nice eight-point cushion at 17-9.
The Aggies kept fighting, responding with a 3-0 run of their own to keep things somewhat interesting. But they just couldn’t muster enough momentum to really put Kentucky’s lead in jeopardy as the ‘Cats closed it out without much drama, 25-18, to take the 2-0 lead.
Third Set
At the start of the third set, Texas A&M accomplished something it hadn’t all day: a two-point lead. The Aggies took the first two points from Kentucky in the third and kept the two-point lead at 3-1 before a 3-0 UK run a few moments later erased the brief lead for good.
This time, it was a few kills from middle blocker Bella Bell midway through the third set that pushed the ‘Cats out to another four-point cushion. The Aggies fought to keep the lead down to three and four but UK still held the lead firmly throughout.
Kentucky held on easily as they rotated a few reserves in and wound up winning the third by more than the other two at 25-15 to secure the 3-0 win.
Stats & Recap
With the win, Kentucky advances to 19-4 on the season and still with only one blemish on their conference record at 12-1. Although Mississippi State, a team UK handled earlier in the season, isn’t too far behind at 11-2.
For the ‘Cats tonight, Alli Stumler followed up her strong Wednesday showing vs. Georgia by leading UK in kills with 13 while acing three of her serves. Madi Skinner was right behind with 11 kills on efficient .450% hitting as Bella Bell was the third leading attacker with six kills on just 10 swats.
Defensively, Eleanor Beavin was the star tonight. She led the team in digs and recorded a career-high five aces. Excellent play across the board from her.
And lest we forget Emma Grome, who racked up 35 assists and a pair of impressive kills on the night, with one coming off a bad A&M hit where she pulled an Azhani Tealer and just slammed the ball straight into the ground.
After winning SEC Setter of the Week last week and leading two more 3-0 sweeps so far this week, the freshman has found her groove.
Kentucky takes on these same Texas A&M Aggies tomorrow at Memorial Coliseum at 2 p.m. Early arrivals can collect a pair of UK Volleyball socks. Come join the fun!
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