Kentucky volleyball is Kansas City bound for the Final Four for only the second time in school history. (Larry Vaught Photo)
Kentucky coach Craig Skinner asked for Big Blue fans to fill Memorial Coliseum Saturday for his team’s Elite Eight matchup with Creighton.
The fans did that with 6,122 showing up and Skinner’s team did its part to entertain them with a dominant 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-18) sweep to advance to only the school’s second Final Four. The first came when Kentucky won the school’s only national championship in the 2020 season that actually ended in the spring of 2021 because of COVID-19 delays.
All-Americans Eva Hudson and Brooklyn DeLeye played like superstars should in a match this important. DeLeye hit .326 with 18 kills on 43 swings and Hudson added 13 kills and 15 digs for another double-double . Asia Thigpen had eight kills for UK with a .429 hitting percentage and only two errors.
“Their outsides were obviously really good, and even when we defended some of the balls, we just couldn’t find a way to win some of those long rallies,” Creighton coach Brian Rosen said.
However, Rosen said it was UK’s defense that dominated the match.
“I just thought their defense tonight was the difference. They covered so well, just kept plays alive long enough for their outsides to terminate eventually,” Rosen said. “I just give them a lot of credit for that. We fought as long as we could and just couldn’t find those stretches late in the first and the third when I thought we had chances.”
Kentucky never trailed by more than two points in any set. Kentucky held Creighton to a .066 hitting percentage in the match while Kentucky hit .263. Kentucky also had 62 digs compared to 47 for Creighton. Libero Molly Tuozzo had 17 digs but DeLeye had 12 and Hudson 15. Setter Kassie O’Brien had 40 assists but also managed to make eight digs. Lizzie Carr led Kentucky’s net defense with five blocks and was one of four UK players with multiple blocks.
Skinner said his team puts a lot of effort into its defensive performance.
“To hold a team like that to .066 is a lot to do with your defense, and you know, it’s a mentality. We have to establish a defensive mentality in practice. We hammer balls at them all the time, they’re flying all over the gym, making plays,” Skinner said.
“We have a couple rules why you don’t go for the ball; that would be out of bounds, hear the whistle, or some sort of danger is in the way. Outside of that, you better go for the ball. You have to set that in practice, and we’ve spent a lot of time this year just hammering that into our team, and it’s fun to watch, too.”
It did not start like a one-side match as the teams were tied 14-14 in set one. However, UK went on a 4-0 run with freshman Trinity Ward serving. That started a surge where the Cats outscored Creighton 36-18 to win sets one and two. Kentucky went on another 5-0 run in set three with Ward serving.
“Both times they had the same server when they went on runs in the first and third sets,” the Creighton coach said. “We never got back into it. Give credit to Kentucky for putting us in tough positions.”
“A big part of our defense is our serving pressure. We have several people who did a good job of that and I am not sure Creighton has felt that in a while,” Skinner said.
Hudson, the SEC player of the year, said Skinner expects them to be relentless and that starts with defense.
“It is so frustrating as a hitter to hit one of your best balls and it be dug up,” Hudson said.
Tuozzo, defensive specialist Molly Berezowitz and Ward all had some incredible digs against Creighton like they have all season. Berezowitz had six digs and Ward four in their limited roles.
Hudson said it is a “big energizer” to watch that trio keep balls alive.
“I see in practice all the hard work they do and see it translate on the court. It is a special thing. It just makes me want to get the kill more. It is a big momentum play and I do not want to let them down,” Hudson said.
Kentucky will play the winner of today’s match between Texas and Wisconsin at the Final Four in Kansas City on Thursday. The Cats swept host Texas during the regular season and then had a reverse sweep to beat Texas in the SEC Tournament title game.
The match time for Thursday’s game will be announced by the NCAA and ESPN tonight.
2 Responses
They are such a great team.
When you watch them gals diving all over the floor after balls, you understand the sacrifice they make for the team. How many times have they practiced that? I think women's sports will become more and more popular. People are tiring of a bunch of self entitled greedy dudes that call themselves ball players.
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