Asia Thigpen (Vicky Graff Photo)
In the first start of freshman Asia Thigpen’s career, she delivered the goods for No. 15 Kentucky as Thigpen launched 15 kills to just one error, hitting .583 on the night with eight digs to pair as the Wildcats downed the Tennessee Lady Vols three sets to one (25-21, 14-25, 25-22, 25-21) Wednesday night at the Food City Center in Thompson-Boling Arena.
Thigpen was nothing short of extraordinary in the match, not only playing Wednesday night in her first-career start, but playing all six rotations in the affair. The 5’11” outside hitter from Pittsboro, North Carolina launched her 15 kills on just 24 total attacks as part of her impressive night alongside an assist, a block and eight digs.
The Wildcats hit .340 for the match and .370 in the fourth set alone to the tune of 63 kills and only 12 hitting errors on the night. UK’s star setter, Emma Grome, had 50 assists on the night along with 10 digs for her fourth double-double of the match. Kentucky had three aces on the night as a team and Molly Tuozzo’s 16 digs led the way defensively for the Wildcats, who held UT to .289 offensively. Brooke Bultema joined DeLeye and Thigpen with 10+ kills on the night as the freshman Cincinnatian had 14 kills and hit .458 on the night.
Kentucky will next play at Alabama on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. ET in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at Foster Auditorium. The match will be broadcasted live on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app. With Wednesday night’s win, UK improves to 10-7 on the year and 4-2 in the SEC.
