Kassie O'Brien sets Lizzie Carr for a kill against Florida. (Vicky Graff Photo)
The Kassie O’Brien streak continues.
No. 3 Kentucky volleyball beat Florida 3-2 Sunday for its 11th straight win — and stayed unbeaten in Southeastern Conference play at 7-0 — and freshman Kassie O’Brien won a weekly SEC award for the fifth straight week.
She was named SEC Freshman of the Week after getting 48 assists in a four-set win over Auburn and coming back with 42 assists in the win over Florida. She helped UK hit over .200 combined in the two matches against two of the SEC’s best blocking teams.
O’Brien also does her part on defense as she had nine blocks and 19 digs in the two wins and got her third double-double of the year against Florida with 42 assists and 10 digs.
Coach Craig Skinner took O’Brien out in the third set against Florida and inserted redshirt sophomore Ava Sarafa after UK dropped the second set and trailed in set three. O’Brien returned to lead UK to wins in sets four and five.
“We just weren’t in the flow offensively. That wasn’t all Kassie. It was our ball control and serve-receive and Florida’s block,” Skinner said. “It gave Kassie a chance to kind of reflect on what we’re doing and how to improve, and a chance to talk to (assistant coach) Kyle (Luongo) and smooth out some things.
“Ava did a great job of just keeping the waters calm. Everybody that came off the bench did a heck of a job. But Kassie really came in and did an outstanding job in the fourth and fifth (sets).”
O’Brien’s teammates Eva Hudson and Brooklyn DeLeye, UK’s leaders in kills, were not surprised on how the freshman responded when she came back into the match.
“I think that’s exactly what we expect. Ava came in and set a great set too, and that’s the amazing part of our deep bench. It’s very hard to be a setter, especially a freshman setter, so just taking time on the bench to reset, and then having someone that can come in and do that job while you take a set off is really big,” Hudson said.
DeLeye said she was “super proud” of O’Brien for responding the way she did on a national TV match.
“Coming back in the game after that happened (being taken out), and just completely balled out,” DeLeye said. “It’s just felt like a whole new setter out there. It was really cool to see her confidence just grow even more.”
Molly Tuozzo Honored
Junior libero Molly Trozo was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, her first award this season. She had a SEC-high 19 digs in the win over Florida when the Gators hit only .120 in the match. Tuozz averaged 3.68 digs per set in the wins over Auburn and Florida.
Kentucky currently leads the SEC in opponent hitting percentage largely due to Tuozzo’s floor defense. She has had six-straight matches with 10-plus digs in SEC play.
Kentucky (14-2, 7-0 SEC) plays at Mississippi State Friday night and plays at Alabama on Sunday.
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The Volleyball Cats are tough and gritty. Fun to watch.