Kentucky volleyball climbs up rankings, racks up honors

The Kentucky volleyball team took over the No. 1 ranking in the latest NCAA Women’s Volleyball RPI and racked up another couple of Southeastern Conference weekly awards Monday.

The Cats (24-3, 15-1) moved up one spot over Florida on the NCAA’s RPI list this week after sweeps of SEC foes Mississippi and Georgia.

Kentucky remained No. 6 in the AVCA coaches’ poll behind No. 1 Penn State, followed by Texas, Florida, Stanford and Nebraska.

The Cats remain the only team to have defeated Florida (23-1, 15-1) this season. With wins this week on the road against Arkansas and Georgia, UK could at least share its first SEC title in Craig Skinner’s 13 seasons as head coach. It last won an SEC crown in 1988.

Kaz Brown won SEC player and offensive player of the week honors. The 6-foot-4 senior has won three weekly honors this season. She was co-defensive player of the week Oct. 23. The Waterloo, Iowa, native racked up an impressive 28 kills in just six sets, including 18 in the sweep of Ole Miss, two shy of her personal record. Brown has a season hitting percentage of .410, third in the SEC and No. 14 the nation. She’s fifth in the conference in blocks per set at 1.19.

Meanwhile, Madison Lilley won SEC setter of the week for the second week in a row. The 5-11 freshman has won or shared the top setter honor eight times this season out of a possible 13 weeks. She also has been named SEC player of the week three times.

Lilley recorded 47 assists in the win over Ole Miss on Sunday, a three-set record for an individual at UK. And she helped the Cats set a 25-point rally scoring era team record with 58 kills against the Rebels. The Overland Park, Kan., native is now averaging 12.04 assists per set, which leads the SEC and is fifth in the nation. Lilley has helped Kentucky hit .319 this season, which is the conference’s best mark and third in the nation.

The awards mark the ninth week Kentucky players have taken at least one SEC honor. Leah Edmond has two player of the week and five offensive player of the week awards. Ashley Dusek won player of the week and defensive player of the week on Nov. 13.

This story was originally published November 20, 2017 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Kentucky volleyball climbs up rankings, racks up honors."