The last three sets between Minnesota and Kentucky on Friday night were such a dogfight, so closely contested, that one couldn’t help afterward but go back to the first one.
In the second round of the NCAA tournament at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky, the host Wildcats came out roaring from the start, dominating the sixth-seeded Gophers from start to finish in a 25-11 victory.
It’s hard not to wonder what might have been had Minnesota not needed a set to get its legs. They rallied to win the second set, and it was nip and tuck the rest of the way, but it’s third-seeded Kentucky moving on to the Sweet 16 after a 25-11, 23-25, 25-22, 26-24 victory.
“If you lose, you’re done,” Kentucky’s Brooklyn Deleye told ESPN afterward. “You have to play with that mentality.”
A 6-foot-2 sophomore, Deleye made three straight kills to erase a 22-21 deficit in the final set, the last giving the Wildcats a 24-23 lead. But Lydia Grote tied it with a sharp kill off a defender’s hand.
Kentucky won the next two points on a kill by Stewartville, Minnesota, native Erin Lamb and a block by Jordyn Dailey to finish the match.
Deleye had match highs of 22 kills and 49 attack points for the Wildcats (22-7), who advanced to face the winner of Friday’s late match between No. 2 seed Southern Methodist and No. 7 seed Missouri next Thursday in Pittsburgh.
The Gophers (21-11) bowed out in the second round for the second straight season. Julia Hanson led the team with 15 kills and 39 attack points, and added 10 digs and four blocks.
Grote finished with 13 kills and 30 attacks.
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