Kentucky Volleyball Stays Perfect in SEC Play with Win over Auburn
Craig Skinner’s Kentucky volleyball program has dominated the SEC for nearly a decade. Despite the addition of perennial powerhouse Texas, the Cats clinched their eighth-straight SEC title a year ago.
What if I told you that this team has actually been even more dominant than its predecessors?
Ahead of tonight’s game, the third-ranked Wildcats played five SEC matches. They only lost one set during that stretch, which means they were 15 of their last 16, and the only loss was on the road against a Top 10 Texas A&M team. According to Corey Price, it tied a program record for the fewest sets lost in the first five SEC matches of a season. Unfortunately, that streak of murderball slowed ever so slightly on Wednesday night.
Auburn took one set off the Wildcats before Kentucky eventually prevailed with a 3-1 win (25-20, 18-25, 25-22, 25-16). The Cats kept a nice cushion between the Tigers for all of set one, before they ended it with an emphatic block from Jordyn Dailey.
Set two wasn’t so comfortable. A couple of early errors gave Auburn an 8-4 lead. Kentucky rallied with four straight points to tie it, beginning a lengthy back-and-forth. The Tigers would grab three or four in a row, then Kentucky would respond. They waited too late for one final response, letting Auburn take set two.
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With the match tied, Kentucky jumped out to an early 8-3 lead to take command in set three. Kentucky eventually built up a six-point advantage that was too much for Auburn to overcome. The Cats put their foot on the gas and absolutely rolled in the final set to take the match in four.
Eva Hudson had one of her best games as a Wildcat with a team-high 25 kills while hitting .388. Brooklyn DeLeye added 19 kills, while Brooke Bultema tallied seven blocks for the Cats.
Kentucky improved to 13-2 overall, 6-0 in SEC play, with its only losses coming at the hands of Pitt and Nebraska. The Wildcats return to Historic Memorial Coliseum with a rivalry match against Florida this Sunday at 3 PM ET. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
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