Kentucky Volleyball Beats No. 10 SMU, Houston

Kentucky’s defense carried the day as the Wildcats held the Cougars to .083 hitting for the match and forced UH into 20 hitting errors. UK hit .257 for the afternoon as a team with 42 kills paced by Brooklyn DeLeye’s 15 terminations on 28 swings with only one error in the contest. Eva Hudson logged nine kills in the match with two blocks to her name as well, with one solo and one assisted. All in all, UK had 42 kills in the three-setter as the Wildcats completed a perfect weekend with wins over No. 10 SMU and Houston.

UK is now 5-2 on the season with the result. Houston falls to 5-3. The Wildcats will next turn its attention to the 2025 Battle of the Bluegrass as it travels to Louisville to take on the No. 4 Louisville Cardinals at 6 p.m. ET inside the KFC Yum! Center. The match will be broadcasted live on ESPNU and the ESPN app with Kevin Fitzgerald and Jennifer Hoffman on the call from the Derby City.

Set 1

Houston led by two through the first 10 points to take a 6-4 lead and UK called for its first timeout to settle things down. Kentucky responded out of the timeout by the Cougars with an 8-1 run paced by three kills from Eva Hudson as UK took a 12-8 lead and UH called its first timeout. The Wildcats scored back-to-back points on strong service pressure from Kassie O’Brien to make things 19-13 and with a set-high six-point lead, UK began to put its foot down at the midway stanza of the opening set. Eva Hudson’s third kill of the set made things 20-13 as Kentucky got to 21-13 with an eight-point edge. The 5-0 run was capped by a block from Lizzie Carr and O’Brien, who stuffed UH for a 22-13 edge and Houston called for its final timeout down nine. A kill from Asia Thigpen ended the set as Kentucky hit .229 in the opening set 25-16 and held UH to .029.

Set 2

The large block of the second set was played within a two-point window as no team garnered a two-point lead until Kentucky ran off a 3-0 run behind the right arm of All-American Brooklyn DeLeye to take an 18-16 lead as UH called the first timeout of the frame. A wicked pancake by Molly Berezowitz kept an extended rally alive for Kentucky that ended with a Kennedy Washington kill into the middle of the court to hand the Wildcats a 22-18 lead after an unsuccessful UH challenge that pushed the Coogs into their second timeout of the set with Kentucky’s four-point lead at its largest of the set. Houston closed the gap to one at 23-22 after UK had a 23-20 advantage and the Wildcats called for their first timeout of the set with UH on a 3-0 run. Out of the timeout, Houston tied the set at 23-23 on a kill from the right pin but a sideout by Eva Hudson gave Kentucky the first set point at 24-23. Brooke Bultema and Kassie O’Brien stuff blocked a rally ball on the right pin to end the set and Kentucky took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-23 second-set victory.

Set 3

Kentucky ran out of the gates to a 7-1 lead behind the strong swinging and stuff blocking of Kennedy Washington, who had four kills and a pair of blocks through the opening two sets and then absolutely robbed a Cougar at the net with a block, her third of the match, as Kentucky went up 9-2 in the third set and Houston called for time. The lead grew to eight on a block out of freshman setter Kassie O’Brien, her sixth of the match to that point and Kentucky was eyeing the finish line, leading 11-3. Kentucky cruised to the end of the match, taking it 25-13 in the third.