No Gaerte, No Problem: No. 3 Kentucky VB sweeps No. 7 Texas

Everything is bigger in the Bluegrass. Without Morgan Gaerte due to an eye injury, No. 3 Kentucky volleyball swept the No. 7 Texas Longhorns (25-23, 25-20, 25-21) on Sunday afternoon in front of 6,147 BBN faithful in Historic Memorial Coliseum — the program’s fourth-highest attendance mark. Brooklyn DeLeye didn’t need an All-American performance, with only 11 kills to seven attack errors. So where was the solution? Enter Asia Thigpen — a season-high 15 kills on a .303 hit rate, with some momentum-gaining terminations from the back row. To aid in Gaerte’s absence, Lizzie Carr looked like her early-season self with an efficient eight terminations and five blocks. Georgia Watson scored nine kills and a pair of blocks off the bench in critical moments, also hitting .438. In the opening set, the Longhorns stampede the Cats to a 4-0 lead with three blocks. Kentucky settled in for a 6-1 run to take a 10-9 lead, as their service pressure was dialed in to prevent Texas from settling into their offense. Kentucky met its match with power though, as Texas fired balls into the back row, forcing the Cats to dive all over the floor for digs. The heavyweights traded blows, until Asia Thigpen’s right arm clinched it for the Cats 25-23. She scored the last three terminations for UK, on her way to a team-high six kills (.364 hit rate). Both teams surrendered six attack errors, and Texas picked up four service errors. In round two, the score stayed tight until the Cats went on a 6-0 run that survived timeouts from Texas and the media to take a 16-11 lead. From there, UK fought off a Longhorn charge winning the set 25-20. Kentucky cleaned up on offense, hitting .406 in the set to Texas’ .222 figure. In the final frame, Kentucky opened up a step behind, with Thigpen and Watson keeping the Cats competitive with early terminations. Down 15-13 into the technical timeout, UK heated up for a 5-0 run to take an 18-15 lead. Despite a Texas 3-0 run to tie it back up at 19, the Cats proved too powerful as they have all game, closing out the sweep with a 6-2 run, and a 25-21 set victory. In both the first (.250 hit rate) and third (.175) sets, UK hit at below their season-average of .283, but their defense stepped-up, playing cleaner, more efficient in each set, holding the Longhorns to a .188 percentage, including .108 in the third set. Texas’ leading two attackers — Torrey Stafford and Cari Spears — were limited to a combined 23 kills on .137 hit rate. Kentucky looks ahead to a Friday night battle against Auburn on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. Horns down.