Vicky Graff Photo
This has not been the kind of volleyball season Kentucky and coach Craig Skinner have been used to as the Cats are only 5-7 overall.
However, all the losses but one have been to ranked teams and Kentucky is still 3-1 in Southeastern Conference play after beating Georgia and Alabama over the weekend.
Even better news for Kentucky volleyball is that freshman Brooklyn DeLeye is emerging as a star. Not ready to project her for star status like Madison Lilley, Allie Stumler or Leah Edmond have shown in recent years but DeLeye is showing how special she can be.
She was named the SEC Player of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week, her first two honors, after helping UK win twice over the weekend.
She had a career-high 25 kills against Georgia in a five-set win only to come back with another 25 kills against Alabama. She’s the first UK freshman to have 20 or more kills in two straight matches since Edmond, a SEC player of the year and all-American, did it in 2016.
DeLeye had her 50 kills on 113 tries with just 12 errors and averaged 5.56 kills per set. However, she also showed her versatility with 12 digs against Georgia and 10 against Alabama for her first two double-doubles at UK.
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Junior Emma Grome had a season-high 58 assists in the win over Alabama and was named SEC Setter of the Week. She also had 53 assists against Georgia.
Grome has 50 or more assists in three of the four SEC matches this year.
