Vicky Graff Photo
Junior setter Emma Grome knows what lies ahead for Kentucky this week with a match at No. 9 Arkansas Wednesday and then a regular-season ending match with Florida Saturday in Rupp Arena.
If the Cats win one match, they are no worse than SEC co-champions to give coach Craig Skinner his seventh straight conference title. If they win both matches, they are sole champions.
Kentucky has won 14 straight matches but the Cats want more.
“We have had a good win streak that we would love to keep going and finish the SEC strong and go for the SEC championship again,” said Grome. “We want to keep working and make a run in the (NCAA) tournament. I really believe we can make it far as long as we just keep doing what we do best.”
Grome does a lot of things well. She was the 2022 SEC Player of the Year and was named SEC Setter of the Week Monday.
She leads the NCAA with 12 assists per set and averaged 12.88 assists per set last week in wins over Texas A&M and Missouri. She also had six digs in each win.
Grome has had 50 or more assists in 10 matches this season.
Teammate Brooklyn DeLeye averaged 4.75 kills per set in last week’s two wins to earn her league-leading fourth SEC Freshman of the Week award. She is the first freshman since Leah Edmond in 2016 to have three 20-plus kill performances in her freshman season.
DeLeye had18 kills and eight digs against Texas A&M and 20 kills versus Missouri.
Kentucky is 17-7 overall and 15-1 in SEC play with a one-match lead over Arkansas and Tennessee.
