UK volleyball wraps up challenging nonconference schedule with loss at No. 2 Stanford

The No. 11-ranked Kentucky volleyball team closed nonconference play on Saturday night in Palo Alto, California, with a 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 30-28, 25-20) loss to No. 2 Stanford in front of a crowd of 3,824 strong at Maples Pavilion.

The Wildcats have been tested by their tough nonconference schedule. All five of their losses have come against teams ranked in the top 10 and include defeats against then-No. 2 Nebraska (3-1), then-No. 7 Penn State (3-2), then-No. 7 Purdue (3-2) and then-No. 4 Louisville (3-1).

Against Stanford, the Wildcats (6-5) hit .103 in the first set and struggled to keep up following an even 9-9 score early on. UK committed six errors across the frame and, despite three kills from redshirt-freshman middle blocker Brooke Bultema, 14 Stanford kills kept the Wildcats at bay and lifted the Cardinal to take the set 25-19.

The Cardinal (8-1) opened the second set with a bang, jumping out to a 10-3 lead thanks to a 5-0 scoring run on the back of Kentucky errors. Though the Wildcats rallied to pull within three points, Stanford fended off the comeback attempt and won the second set 25-19. Its final point of the set came via a Kentucky service error.

The third set, an extended back-and-forth affair, saw several lead changes before the Wildcats took a 15-12 advantage, their largest of the match up until that point. Though Stanford answered with three straight points, UK regained its three-point lead and forced a Cardinal timeout. The Cardinal wouldn’t go away, and even took a 23-22 lead before Kentucky answered with a two-point swing thanks to sophomore outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye and senior setter Emma Grome. The Wildcats took the set 30-28 as a result of back-to-back Stanford errors, an ace from freshman Ava Sarafa and a Jordyn Dailey stuff.

Stanford opened the fourth set with a 10-3 run, but UK rallied once again to gain a 17-16 advantage after a 4-0 scoring run. Stanford answered with a 3-0 run of its own, and eventually prevailed 25-20 to send the Wildcats home with another loss against a ranked opponent.

The Wildcats hit .263 on the night. DeLeye led UK with 17 kills. She also recorded one ace and an assist. Senior outside hitter Megan Wilson finished with nine kills and seven digs, and Grome finished with four blocks, 40 assists and 13 digs. Elia Rubin led Stanford with 21 kills and a pair of aces, and totaled three assists and eight digs.

Kentucky opens SEC play on the road against the Auburn at 9 p.m. Friday. The match will be broadcast on the SEC Network.

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