Kentucky volleyball has advanced to the Sweet 16, while enjoying a 13-match winning streak, after celebrating its eighth-straight SEC regular season title. And still, the good news just keeps coming for the Cats.
Sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn Deleye is the 2024 AVCA South Region Player of the Year, and her head coach, Craig Skinner, is the AVCA South Region Coach of the Year.
Both awards were voted on by all head coaches in the south region.
Senior setter Emma Grome and sophomore libero Molly Tuozzo are on the AVCA All-South Region Team, with redshirt freshman middle blocker Brooke Bultema earning an honorable mention nod.
The awards are piling up for Deleye, who has also been named the SEC Player of the Year for her 2024 campaign. The Topeka, Kansas native has logged 487 kills this year with 4.77 coming per set to lead all Wildcats. She is hitting .288 on the season and is coming off of a 22-kill performance as Kentucky knocked off No. 15 Minnesota in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Tournament.
In postseason play, DeLeye is averaging a mammoth 5.29 kills per set and 2.29 digs per set with a trio of aces in each match and has scored 44.5 points for the Wildcats.
She was the AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year in 2023.
Skinner, who is now a three-time AVCA Region Coach of the Year, adds to his award cabinet with Tuesday’s honor. He previously won the title for Region Coach of the Year in 2011 and during Kentucky’s NCAA Championship run in 2020.
Skinner won his 300th Southeastern Conference match against Missouri on Nov. 27, as Kentucky clinched its eighth-straight SEC title under his direction.
He has guided Kentucky to the NCAA Tournament in all 20 of his years in Lexington and, with Friday’s win over Minnesota, advanced to his 10th NCAA Regional Semifinal.
Grome's selection to this year's All-Region team marks her fourth nod in her four-year career with the Wildcats. It's been another stellar season for Kentucky's setter, with Grome breaking Madison Lilley's rally-scoring-era record for total assists. Grome now has 4,963 assists and counting.
"We're just so gritty now. We're so intense. The growth has just been huge"
— BBN Tonight (@BBNTonight) December 10, 2024
Kentucky volleyball is onto the Sweet 16! Emma Grome and Brooklyn Deleye talk about what makes this @KentuckyVB team (and its path to get here) so special ⤵ pic.twitter.com/DSLzyzCWwK
Grome is averaging 11.22 assists per set this season, ranking eighth in the country and first in the SEC.
Tuozzo, who dawned the libero jersey for the Wildcats this season, earns her first AVCA All-Region recognition after averaging 3.92 digs per set this season.
The Cats will face a familiar opponent in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 this Thursday, when they play Missouri for the third time this season. The SEC foes battled in early October and late November, with the Cats winning both matchups.
It's a familiar opponent... And a familiar feeling for Kentucky volleyball 🤔
— BBN Tonight (@BBNTonight) December 10, 2024
Cats vs. Tigers (round 3) set for Thursday at 1 p.m. in Pittsburgh... And this time, it's win or go home: pic.twitter.com/o4I0h5V5bx
First serve is set for Thursday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.
For more on Kentucky volleyball and all of the Wildcats, join us on weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on BBN Tonight.
