BY: Sterling Hohman
“The practice she had on Sunday and Monday were as good of Brooklyn DeLeye I’ve seen.”
Craig Skinner has high hopes for his already-decorated senior outside hitter, Brooklyn DeLeye.
“It’s very rare for an outside hitter to be multiple First Team All-American and still have plenty of time left in her career,” said Skinner in a Wednesday press conference. “The motivation you see, the drive, the intensity, the expectation for herself is still burning all the time. That’s all you can ask for an athlete and a leader who has already accomplished so much.”
That’s scary news for any Kentucky volleyball opponent this season, as they’ll prepare for a Cats squad that has not just DeLeye, but three other players on the AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List (Morgan Gaerte, Kassie O’Brien and Molly Tuozzo) — the most of any team in the country.
“I think that’s just a good problem to have,” DeLeye recently said on her team’s talent. “We’re doing our job every day in the gym to make it so hard for him [Skinner] to make that big time decision.”
That talent is not just noticed in Lexington, but across the country, as UK volleyball earned its highest preseason ranking ever, at No. 3.
DeLeye, the two-time All-American, recorded a career-high 545 kills in 2025. She has logged 1,467 kills in her career, increasing her output each season. With 512 kills to go on Kentucky volleyball’s all-time leaderboard, it’s safe to say she has a good shot at snagging the record.
“Her volleyball IQ is just insane,” fellow outside hitter Morgan Gaerte said of DeLeye. “She can find a lot of different ways to score, so that’s something I’ve been learning from her.”
Furthermore, DeLeye is fully healed from a torn meniscus she played on for most of last season, as she’ll need all the energy she can for a blockbuster opening weekend of volleyball.
In UK’s second game of the 2025 campaign, DeLeye tore her left meniscus versus Nebraska, pushing off surgery until after the season. The news was revealed by her parents ahead of the national championship game. But she’s back to 100 percent and ready to tackle her senior season.
UK opens its season on Friday at 9:00 p.m. ET against No. 6 Wisconsin as part of the AVCA First Serve in Milwaukee (hosted on ESPN). The Wildcats turn around less than 48 hours later with a battle against an even-higher-ranked No. 4 Pitt program on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET.