Julie Hay
Limestone Sports Network
The No. 7 ranked University of Kentucky Volleyball Team took on the University of Georgia at Memorial Coliseum Wednesday night. The Cats were looking to bounce back on their home court after their first SEC loss of the season last week at South Carolina. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Kentucky did just that in the 25-10, 25-14, 25-18 rout that took under an hour to play.
The 17-4 (10-1) team started strong, going on a 4-0 run to start the match with an opening kill by Opposite Reagan Rutherford then 3 by Outside Hitter Alli Stumler. The Cats continued to roll behind strong serving, including 2 aces. They stayed “in system” consistently, which lead to a .481 hitting percentage with Stumler (6) and Azhani Tealer (4) leading the way offensively. Georgia, on the other hand, had difficulty with passing and averaged a negative total hitting percentage for the set (-.032).
The Cats continued their dominance over the Dawgs in set 2, which started with a service ace by Defensive Specialist, Rhia Walker, team leader in this category averaging 0.23 / match. Outside Hitter, Madi Skinner, and Middle Blocker, Bella Bell, began to show their power, which was sparked by the great defensive play of Lauren Tharp.
Set 3 was much of the same as UGA continued to struggle. Meanwhile UK added 18 more kills to their match total of 49.
Kacie Evans had 9 kills for the Bulldogs, but also commited 6 errors on 30 swings for a .100 hitting percentage (team average .111). Bailey Cox had 11 digs. Mallory Downing and Clara Brower had 13 and 12 assists, respectively.
Kentucky was well-balanced on both offense and defense, but senior Alli Stumler showed why the fans why she is an All-American with 15 kills, while committing no hitting errors on the night. She also had 13 digs and 2 block assists to round out her statistics.
Alli Stumler with the kill 
Emma Grome sets the ball
Offensively, Setter, Emma Grome, had 39 of the team’s 45 assists, resulting in kills by Stumler, Skinner (13), Tealer (9), Rutherford (6), Bell (3). Grome also added 3 kills to the total on deceptive setter “dump” plays. Defensively Lauren Tharp lead the team in digs with 14, while Azhani Tealer and Bella Bell had 4 block assists each.
The Cats are back in action this weekend, taking on the Texas A&M Aggies on both Saturday (4 pm on SEC+) and Sunday (2 PM on SEC Network).
