Vicky Graff Photo
Molly Tuozzo didn’t have any trouble sharing her thoughts about Kentucky reaching the Southeastern Conference Volleyball Tournament title game with a four-set win over Tennessee Monday night in Savannah, Ga.
“We are ready to win. We are ready to take it all. We don’t want to lose,” said Tuozzo during the postgame interview on the SEC Network.
The junior libero certainly played like a player who never wants to lose. She had a career-high 25 digs and was all over the back line diving and leaping to keep balls alive. She also had eight assists including many when she had to roam a long distance to get to the ball.
“You can trust her with everything. She is so good and so overlooked,” Brooklyn DeLeye, who had 22 kills and 10 digs, said. “I think she is the best libero in the country.”
Tuozzo and her teammates had to show their resiliency to hold off Tennessee 20-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-23
“I feel like we came out and did what we had to do,” Tuozzo, a second-team all-SEC selection, said.
Former Florida coach Mary Wise, now a SEC Network analyst, loved what she saw from Tuozzo.
“Almost a double-double by a libero does not happen very often at all,” Wise said. “The offense did not come easy for Kentucky so they had to rely on their defense and their defense stepped up. Tennessee was that close to a big-time upset but credit Kentucky’s defense.”
Kentucky had 70 digs in the match. Defensive specialist Molly Berezowitz had 13 digs and setter Kassie O’Brien, who had 46 assists, had eight digs. Six other players also had digs.
Tuozzo credited her big night with digs to a “mindset” the team has.
“I felt like we came out and did what we had to do,” the UK junior said. “It’s just a mindset of not wanting any ball to drop on the floor. We are huge on defense. It clearly showed tonight. If I was Tennessee I would be frustrated trying to get the ball down.”
Tennessee took UK to four sets in Lexington in a regular-season match when it also won the opening set. The Vols started hot again behind the play of Hayden Kubik, who had 25 kills and 17 digs. However, the longer the match went, the more UK’s defense took over even though the Vols came close in sets two and four.
SEC Player of the Year Eva Hudson had 18 kills and Lizzie Carr had nine. However, Kentucky got key plays from reserves Jordyn Dailey (four kills, two digs, two blocks), Brooke Bultema (three kills, two blocks) and Kennedy Washington (three kills, two blocks).
“We knew they were going to come hard. It was just a fun day of volleyball,” DeLeye said. “We had to match their energy and we did that. If we play at our peak, not a lot can stop us.”
Kentucky will face Texas in the title game tonight at 7 EST.
Kentucky-Tennessee Volleyball
Photos by Vicky Graff
