LEX 18 — A special season has come to an end in the Sweet 16, as the Kentucky volleyball team fell to the University of San Diego in the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinals. The 2-seed Toreros swept the 3-seed Wildcats 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-18) in Palo Alto, California Thursday evening.
It was a battle of conference champions. Kentucky claimed a share of the SEC championship for the sixth consecutive season this year, while San Diego finished West Coast Conference play undefeated (18-0) to earn a conference championship of its own.
The Toreros excelled all season, and had the WCC Coach of the Year, the WCC Player of the Year, the WCC Setter of the Year and the WCC Libero of the Year on their side of the net, in addition to four All-WCC First Team selections, two All-WCC Second Team selections, and an All-WCC Honorable Mention.
The Wildcats had the SEC player of the year in setter Emma Grome, to compliment three additional All-SEC players in Azhani Tealer, Reagan Rutherford and Adanna Rollins.
It was an uncharacteristic night for the Wildcats, who finished the match below their season average in kills, yet above their season average in errors. That inconsistency ultimately made the difference. Kentucky finished three sets with 35 total kills and 22 errors. Rollins led the attack with 11 of those kills, but also added ten errors against USD.
Comparatively, the Toreros finished the night with 47 kills and 15 errors.
A look at the final stats ⬇
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Both teams hit the court with an palpable energy, exchanging points freely throughout the first few minutes. The Cats and the Toreros were tied at 11 points apiece, but USD went on a 4-1 run that the Cats struggled to come back from throughout the duration of the set. San Diego claimed the opener, 25-22.
UK's longest run of the first two sets came mid-way through the second, when the Wildcats were able to string together three consecutive points. However, the Cats were unable to settle into an offensive rhythm from there, and the Toreros earned a 25-19 win in the second set.
Trailing two sets to none with the season on the line, the Cats were facing a steep hill to climb. Tealer helped the Cats secure three consecutive points early in the set, but generally, the Toreros were able to keep the Cats out of system and thus control the momentum. San Diego completed the sweep with a 25-18 win in the third and final set.
The loss ended Kentucky's season, and the Cats finished the year with a 22-8 record, 15-3 in the SEC.
