Brooklyn DeLeye joined Kentucky volleyball determined to rise to the top. Now, she’s back near her home state and on the brink of an NCAA championship.
KANSAS CITY, MO — Brooklyn DeLeye learned to be tough from a young age.
Growing up, she was constantly dragged to twin older siblings Macy's and Dalton's practices. They started playing soccer around 5 years old, with Macy soon after branching out into volleyball. Both the twins, 3 years Brooklyn's senior, had coaches in both sports who never hesitated to call on baby sister to fill a roster spot or take a few balls during practice. She was resolved to keep up with the big kids. And did.
"She was not afraid to just hop in there and take on the challenge," her dad, John DeLeye, told The Courier Journal. "... She knew she had to hold her own if she wanted to continue chasing older brother (and) older sister."
Nearly two decades later, Brooklyn's resolution helped bring Kentucky volleyball back to the Final Four. Top-seeded UK took on third-seeded Wisconsin on Thursday night at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri — about an hour from the place DeLeye's volleyball career began. The Topeka, Kansas, native hit 15 kills (four in the decisive fifth set) with 14 digs and five blocks in UK's 3-2 win, as proud parents Janel and John DeLeye looked on at their youngest daughter shining on volleyball's biggest stage.
It wasn't Brooklyn's most dominant match of the season. It took awhile for her offense to get going, as reflected by her .160 hitting percentage. But she found other ways to make an impact while on the court all game. Giving kudos to teammates for their triumphs. "Great pass!" she encouraged starting libero Molly Tuozzo on an assist to middle blocker Lizzie Carr (who ended the night with eight kills). Hyping up fellow outsides Eva Hudson and Asia Thigpen when they notched well-timed kills, combining for 37 total (29 belonging to Hudson). Providing a reassuring nod and smile to all her teammates between rallies.
As a girl at club qualifiers, John said whole teams would gather around Brooklyn to watch her play. Awestruck. Thursday night, an announced crowd of 18,332 people sat inside T-Mobile Center to watch her and Kentucky compete for a spot in the NCAA Championship.
"We always knew," John said of his daughter, "just with her determination and everything, that she was going to rise to the top."
On the bus from the hotel to the arena Wednesday, Brooklyn looked around to see a familiar landscape. She said it felt "surreal" to be so close to home driving through a place she visited often as a child. She and coach Craig Skinner reminisced on the ride over about her recruiting process and the Kansas City tournaments she played in like the Triple Crown Volleyball NIT.
Brooklyn originally wanted to stay close to home for college. John said she was offered a full ride from the Kansas Jayhawks coming out of eighth grade. When June 15 after her sophomore year of high school came around and coaches could contact her directly, Brooklyn had a recruiting notebook to jot down important information about her top 10 schools.
"She did everything herself," John said. "As far as the recruiting process, she probably impressed me more from that standpoint than from her volleyball standpoint, how she handled everything."
The list eventually dwindled from 10 to four then from four to Kentucky and Nebraska. Something about the way UK embraced her, the culture Skinner built and the way he cared about the game and his players enticed her. "I haven't looked back since," she said.
Kentucky's first set against Wisconsin was brutal. By far the Wildcats' worst of the postseason. Brooklyn and Hudson combined for just five kills on 21 attempts in the 25-12 frame. But Brooklyn was the first to talk during vibe check timeouts Skinner called in the opening set.
"Take a deep breath," she told her team. "This could be our last game. We need to play like we know how to play."
She came out all over the court in UK's next set, recording two digs, two blocks and two kills. Hudson notched a team-high six kills. In the middle of Kentucky's 7-1 run to put the set away, DeLeye shrugged her shoulders and exhaled, "Come on."
Brooklyn was a five-sport athlete as a child, playing volleyball, basketball, softball, soccer and golf. She was named Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year for volleyball twice in high school (2021-22 and 2022-23) and was a McDonald's All-American nominee in basketball her senior year.
She could've gone to college for either sport, but volleyball had her heart.
And that heart shows through every time she takes the court for Kentucky. Though not as fiery as her companion outside hitter Hudson, Brooklyn's extreme focus and even-keeled demeanor keeps her teammates grounded in the most emotionally charged moments of any given match.
One of the things she loves most about this Kentucky team, one of the things she thinks sets it apart, is its work ethic. A group after her own heart.
"Every team that we've been on has always had fire, but it just seems different this year," Brooklyn said after UK's first-round sweep of Wofford. "Every day in the gym, everyone's coming to work hard and get better. ... Everybody's had that main goal in mind since the first day we stepped foot in the gym, and I think that's carried out every day throughout the whole season."
The national semifinal match was also hard work. A grind. Not pretty in the beginning, better in the middle, but enough in the end.
Onto the national championship.
Reach college sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus at [email protected] and follow her on X @petitus25. Subscribe to her "Full-court Press" newsletterhere for a behind-the-scenes look at how college sports' biggest stories are impacting Louisville and Kentucky athletics.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky volleyball Final 4 run brings Brooklyn DeLeye back to Kansas
Category: General Sports
