UK Athletics Photo
When the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association named 16 quarterfinalists for its National Player of the Year watch list it did not include Kentucky sophomore Brooklyn DeLeye.
Kentucky faced a terrific non-conference schedule and did not hit its peak until Southeastern Conference play started. DeLeye was the catalyst for UK in conference play and led the Cats to not only an eighth straight SEC regular-season championship but also 15 straight wins that got UK into the Elite Eight before it lost to No. 1 Pittsburgh.
AVCA members obviously paid attention to what DeLeye and Kentucky did because Tuesday the talented UK sophomore was voted as one of four finalists for the National Player of the Year.
This is the same award that current Kentucky assistant coach Madison Lilley won for her play in Kentucky’s 2020 national championship season.
DeLeye has already been named the AVCA South Region Player of the Year and Southeastern Conference Player of the Year after averaging a team-high 4.87 kills per set. She had 531 kills in 31 matches and hit .487. She also had a team-high 56 service aces and 179 digs.
Other finalists are Olivia Babcock of Pittsburgh, Sarah Franklin of Wisconsin and Lexi Rodriguez of Nebraska.
The winner of the AVCA National Player of the Year award will be announced Friday at the AVCA’s All-America banquet as part of the AVCA convention in Louisville, site of the Final Four with Pitt, Nebraska, Penn State and host Louisville. Kentucky played all four Final Four participants this season.
