Title Defended! No. 10 UK Sweeps No. 9 Arkansas to Win Seventh-Straight SEC Title

Thanks to one of Kentucky’s most balanced team performances of the season, No. 10 Kentucky downed No. 9 Arkansas in straight sets in Fayetteville late Wednesday night (25-19, 25-14, 26-24) to capture the program’s seventh-straight Southeastern Conference Championship. 

As she has for much of the year, freshman Brooklyn DeLeye led the offensive charge for the Cats once again, picking up a match-high 16 kills with only two errors on a .350 clip. Erin Lamb had a superb evening opposite DeLeye, adding 12 kills on a .417 clip. Lamb crushed an overpass on match point to give the Cats the victory and the SEC Title. Reagan Rutherford eclipsed double figures with 10 kills of her own in her first game back from suffering an ankle injury in the match last week against Texas A&M.

Heading into the match, Emma Grome led the entirety of the NCAA in assists per set, a trend that will certainly continue following the contest against the Razorbacks. Grome dished out a match-high 36 assists and directed the Cats to 45 team kills on a .271 clip. against the statistically-best defensive team in the SEC since conference play began.

It wasn’t just the offense that won Kentucky the game, however. Defensively, Kentucky put together one of its most complete performances of the season as the Wildcats totaled a staggering 13.0 blocks through three sets of play. Four Cats finished the match with six or more rejections- Elise Goetzinger led all players with seven and Azhani Tealer, Rutherford, and Grome each added six. 

On the back line, Eleanor Beavin continued to strengthen her case to be named the SEC Libero of the Year, picking up a game-high 19 digs. Beavin dug a hard cross-court shot off the arm of Arkansas outside hitter Taylor Head that eventually led to a kill by Goetzinger that gave the Cats match-point. Molly Tuozzo had 10 digs, Audrey Whitworth and Grome each had seven, DeLeye had six, Lamb had five, Rutherford added three, and Goetzinger had two. 

In the first meeting between these teams, Head and fellow senior Razorback Jill Gillen finished with 24 and 23 kills respectively and each hit well above .200. In Wednesday’s match, Gillen totaled only 10 kills on an .056 clip and Head finished with just eight kills on a .107 clip. The outsides accounted for 13 errors between them, equaling the total amount of errors that Kentucky finished with as a team. 

With the victory, Kentucky extends its winning streak to a season-high 15 victories in a row. The Cats currently sit at 18-7 on the year and 16-1 in the SEC. The win marked a program-record seventh-straight SEC Championship for Kentucky. 

The Cats will wrap up the regular season on Saturday in Lexington against No. 20 Florida on Senior Day inside Rupp Arena. If Kentucky wins the match, they will capture the SEC Championship outright and receive the SEC’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to Rupp to witness the Senior Day festivities as Kentucky honors Azhani Tealer, Riah Walker, Reagan Rutherford, and Elise Goetzinger prior to the match.  

Following Wednesday’s contest, Hunter Mitchell and former Wildcat Leah Edmond broke down the match on Point Kentucky and previewed a huge weekend for the Cats as they wrap up the regular season and prepare for NCAA Tournament play. Click the link below to celebrate the SEC Title and get ready for the final match of the regular season.

First serve Saturday against the Gators is set for 1:00 pm E.T. and will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.