Brooklyn DeLeye overcame uncharacteristic offensive performance with impactful defense

Brooklyn DeLeye, one of Kentucky volleyball’s four All-Americans this season, did not have her best offensive performance in the Final Four on Thursday night.

The junior outside hitter still found a way to land 15 kills, second-most for the Wildcats behind only Eva Hudson’s 29, but it was far from a perfect showing. She finished with a .160 hitting percentage (she’s currently .284 for the entire season) while posting a team-high seven errors. Those numbers are well short of what she’s been doing on a match-by-match and set-by-set basis this season.

But DeLeye didn’t let those struggles bother her. With her hits not consistently landing, she leaned on being a playmaker in other areas.

“She…