AUBURN, Ala. – Junior libero Gabby Curry had 18 digs and senior outside hitter Leah Edmond registered 13 kills as the No. 18 Kentucky Wildcats cruised past the Auburn Tigers on Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-17) sweep.
With Sunday’s win, Kentucky improves to 18-6 on the season and is now 11-2 in Southeastern Conference play, one game back of the SEC lead. Auburn falls to 0-12 in the SEC and is now 6-17 on the season.
“Auburn is a difficult team to prepare for because they have so many difference schemes,” UK head coach Craig Skinner said. “I thought our team did a really good job of solving those schemes and finishing each set. Really good floor defense by a lot of people today, and a great offensive spark by Azhani.”
Curry’s 18 digs mark the 22nd time this season the UK’s libero has 10-plus digs in a match. Curry helped hold the Auburn offense to .048 hitting in the match, with the Tigers never buoying over the .150 mark at any point in the match offensively. Four UK players had double-digit digs, with Curry leading the way with 18. Additionally, Lilley had 16, Edmond had 11 and Stumler had 10. Edmond, Stumler and Lilley all had double-doubles in the match.
UK had two players in double-digit kills with Edmond’s 13 leading the way, followed by Alli Stumler with 10. Freshman Azhani Tealer had nine kills on Sunday, just two off of her career high set vs. Ole Miss two weeks ago.
Madison Lilley continued her torrid run of late, scoring 31 assists on the day and leading the Wildcats to a .242 hitting percentage in the match.
Kentucky will continue its four-match road stretch on Friday night in Columbia, South Carolina as the Wildcats and Gamecocks will tangle at 7 p.m. ET.
