Thanks to 12 service aces including three from senior setter Emma Grome, the No. 14 Kentucky Volleyball team won its fourth match in a row on its five-match Southeastern Conference road trip Friday night as it swept South Carolina 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-22) inside the Carolina Volleyball Center.
Kentucky out-aced USC 12-1 on the night with six Kentucky players each recording an ace in the match and five of the six Wildcats tallying multiple aces. Emma Grome led the way with three aces to go alongside her 34 assists as Kentucky’s offense clicked to the tune of a .228 hitting percentage on the night.
It was the UK defense that carried the day for the Wildcats on Friday, however, as UK held South Carolina to a .128 hitting percentage for the match, and a .028 percentage in the second set alone thanks to the lethal back-row play of Molly Tuozzo who logged 16 digs in just three sets Friday night. Tuozzo teamed with Emma Grome and Asia Thigpen who both joined Tuozzo in double figure digs with Gome and Thigpen both recording 10. Grome’s 10 digs alongside her 34 assists gives the senior from Loveland, Ohio her sixth double-double of the season.
Thigpen continued to tear defenses apart as she carried a .200 hitting percentage on the night with nine kills on 20 swings, 10 digs, a career-high two aces and a solo stuff that pushed the Gamecocks into their first timeout of the third set as Kentucky pushed its way to a win.
Kentucky closes out its three-week, five-match road trip Sunday afternoon in the Classic City as the Wildcats will face the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens at 2 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast live on SEC Network+ and the ESPN app with coverage starting at 2 p.m.
Credit: UK Athletics
