Kentucky Volleyball fends off Arkansas comeback in 3-2 win

The No. 5 Kentucky Volleyball team almost let the Arkansas Razorbacks erase a two-set lead, but the ‘Cats held on in the fifth to win on pink-out night.

Here’s how it went down:

First Set

Kentucky shared the wealth to start the game as five different Wildcats recorded kills en route to an early 8-5 lead. They maintained a short lead for most of the set but the Hogs stormed back to tie the score at 19-19.

The two teams were tied at 20, 21, and 22 as well before a block and kill from Bella Bell ended the set in a ‘Cats victory, 25-22.

Second Set

With Eleanor Beavin serving, Kentucky won the first three points of the set to take a lead they would not relinquish in the second set. Consecutive kills by Alli Stumler put UK ahead 6-1 as they put their foot on Akransas’ throats.

Kentucky continued to extend its lead through most of the set and jumped out to a 20-12 lead. Then the ‘Cats ran off four more points to make it set point, and finish the Hogs off 25-13 a moment later with a Reagan Rutherford kill.

Third Set

Well, it looked like Kentucky was cruising to another SEC victory, keeping their undefeated streak in league play going with ease. And they went on a run to lead the third set midway thru after a 6-2 run broke a 6-6 tie to put Kentucky up 12-8.

Moments later, Kentucky gave all of that momentum back up with a 5-0 Hogs run that put the ‘Cats behind one, 14-13. The two teams exchanged points for the rest of the set, tying the score on several occasions. They even went into extra points after tying the score for a last time at 25.

But back-to-back Hog kills ended the set at 27-25 to put Arkansas back in the game down just one set.

Fourth Set

Kentucky again got on top with a 3-0 run to start the set but immediately let Arkansas usurp the lead at 6-5. The ‘Cats were able to retake the lead and were up by two at 12-10 before allowing another big mid-set run by Arkansas.

The Hogs ran off six straight points to turn that deficit into a 16-12 lead. Kentucky could never cut the lead under three as Arkansas stormed to a sizeable fourth-set win, 25-19, to force a fifth.

Fifth Set

Like in the last few sets, Kentucky jumped on top by three in the early going. This time, they lead 5-2 and pushed it out to 8-3, just five points away from escaping with the win.

This time around, the ‘Cats didn’t give up a run to let Arkansas back into the game and kept their five-point lead the rest of the way. Finally, it was Azhani Tealer who slammed the final kill home to give Kentucky a 15-8 victory in the fifth set and a 3-2 win in their first of two weekend matchups with Arkansas.

Stats & Recap

Madi Skinner had a heck of a match all the way around last night. She hit .342% and led the team with 17 kills and made it a double-double with 15 digs — just a stellar stat line for Kentucky’s outside hitter.

Alli Stumler also recorded a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs but only hit .163%. Azhani Tealer finished with 14 kills on .500% hitting while Reagan Rutherford was the other ‘Cat with double-digit kills with 12. Bella Bell added 5 kills but had a huge defensive game with 10 blocks.

Freshman setter Emma Grome finished with 53 assists and also led the team in digs with 21. Huge outing for her. And fellow freshman Eleanor Beavin finished with 16 digs and seemed to enjoy herself.

We’re all hoping to wake up like Eleanor 🤗🤗🤗#WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/WXd1UIkcbi

— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) October 23, 2021

The fifth-ranked Wildcats advanced to `14-3 on the season and 7-0 in the conference. They’ll take on the Razorbacks again tonight at 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum.