Vicky Graff Photo
Senior outside hitter Eva Hudson clubbed 25 kills Wednesday night as No. 3 Kentucky beat Auburn 3-1 (25-20, 18-25, 25-22, 25-16) inside Historic Memorial Coliseum as UK won its 10th match in a row and remained perfect in the Southeastern Conference with a sixth league win.
Kentucky had 14 blocks in the match with seven coming from Cincinnati, Ohio native Brooke Bultema who also had three kills and two digs on the night. UK held Auburn’s offense to .146 hitting with three players for the Tigers hitting in the negative for the match. Hudson led UK’s offense with 25 kills, as Brooklyn DeLeye had 19 terminations on the night with an over .200 hitting percentage and eight digs, two shy of her second-straight double-double.
Kassie O’Brien had 48 assists Wednesday night, her fourth-straight 40-plus assist match for the Wildcats as she also threw in five stuff blocks, trailing only Bultema in that category. Molly Tuozzo and Molly Berezowitz helped keep the Tigers off the perch offensively with 15 digs each, with Berezowitz’s 15 digs coming as a new season night and Kentucky career high for the junior DS from Burlington, Wisconsin.
Kentucky is now a season-high 11 games over the .500 mark at 13-2 and sits in first place in the SEC with a 6-0 overall record in league play as one of only two remaining unbeaten teams. Auburn falls to 13-5 on the season and is now 4-3 in the SEC.
UK will play Florida on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET live on ESPN and the ESPN app for its next match inside Historic Memorial Coliseum. Sam Gore, Missy Whittemore and Leah Edmond will have the call for ESPN. Tickets are available at UKathletics.com/tickets.
Set 1
Thanks to two early kills from Brooklyn DeLeye, and an impressive early hitting efficiency, the Wildcats jumped out to a 14-8 lead as Auburn was forced into its first timeout of the set once Molly Berezowitz dropped an ace in front of right back. The Wildcats grew their lead to a set-high six points at 16-10 before Auburn ran off six of the next seven points to pull within one and Kentucky then staged a timeout to try and stop the momentum. Out of the break, Brooklyn DeLeye took over with a back-row kill, her second of the set to that point, and AU burned its final timeout with Kentucky ahead 20-17 and five points from the opening set. UK grew things to a 22-18 lead before two hitting errors for the Wildcats drew the Tigers back into things at 22-20 and Lizzie Carr extinguished the threat with a quick attack out of the middle, making things 23-20. Jordyn Dailey housed a ball at the net for a block to end the opening set as Kentucky took a 25-20 first set with 4-0 run to close out the set. UK hit .256 in the set with five kills each for Lizzie Carr, Brooklyn DeLeye and Eva Hudson. Kassie O’Brien had 12 assists and Molly Tuozzo had five digs to lead UK, who held Auburn to .079 hitting in the first set.
Set 2
Auburn took the second set, 25-18 as Kentucky was blocked 8.5 times in the set for 10 hitting errors and a season-low .073 hitting percentage in the frame. Kentucky went on a 4-0 run thanks to Molly Berezowitz, who was able to push UK back into the set at 17-17 after trailing by five, but Auburn ran away and hid in the later parts of the set to close on a 4-0 run and even the match at one set all, 25-18.
Set 3
Set three was back and forth with momentum switches but Kentucky never relinquished control of the lead as UK led from wire to wire in the third to take a two sets to one lead in the match. UK used the tough float serve of Brooklyn DeLeye to make things 7-3 in favor of the Wildcats early before the Tigers called their first timeout. UK increased its lead to a set-high six points for the first time at 13-7 but AU then began to crawl back into it with a 5-0 run as they pulled to within 14-12 and Kentucky called for time. UK responded well out of the timeout to make things 18-13 as AU burned its final timeout. After Kentucky had a 22-16 lead, Auburn pulled off five in a row to make UK’s lead only one point and with things 22-21, the Wildcats called their final timeout. Brooke Bultema had a solo block on set point as UK reached the finish line with a 24-22 lead and Bultema’s sixth block of the match closed the book on the third set.
Set 4
Kentucky played its best volleyball in the fourth set to close out the match with a 25-16 victory. The Wildcats hit .419 as a team on the night with 16 kills to only three hitting errors in the frame as UK cruised to the end with a 3-0 scoring run to close the match. Auburn and UK exchanged leads in the opening stanza of the set before an Ava Sarafa run ripped off four in a row for the Wildcats, who took a 14-10 lead and Auburn called its first timeout. AU then found itself down five points at 18-13 following a kill from Brooklyn DeLeye on the left pin to make things tilt into the Cats favor before putting the petal to the floor to close out the match.
Kentucky-Auburn Volleyball
Photos by Vicky Graff
