Eva Hudson, right, already has 504 kills for Kentucky this season. (Vicky Graff Photo)
No surprise that Kentucky outside hitter Eva Hudson is one of four finalists for the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I Women’s Volleyball Player of the Year Award, presented by Nike Volleyball, it was announced on Monday.
Hudson, a Purdue transfer, has already been named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, SEC Newcomer of the Year and First Team All-SEC. The senior outside hitter has 504 kills (4.54/set) this season while hitting .317. She also has 269 digs, 37n blocks and 15 service aces as a six-rotation player.
Hudson is a big reason Kentucky (29-2) will be playing in the national semifinals in Kansas City Thursday night against Wisconsin where she’ll go against Mimi Colyer, an outside hitter who is also a player of the year finalist. Colyer had 566 kills — 5.39 per set — and is hitting .340. She has 13 matches with 20 or more kills and had 27 against Stanford and 23 against Texas in NCAA play. Like Hudson, she also has over 2,000 career kills along with more than 1,000 digs.
The other national player of the year finalists are Pittsburgh’s Olivia Babcock and Nebraska’s Bergen Reilly. Babcock will also be playing in the Final Four against Texas A&M.
Kentucky went unbeaten in SEC regular season play and also won the SEC Volleyball Tournament.
Kentucky teammate Asia Thigpen believes Hudson and All-American Brooklyn DeLeye give UK something other teams do not have.
“They are the best outside duo in the nation. They could probably go down as one of the best duos in the history of NCAA volleyball,” Thigpen said. “I’ve just learned so much from both of them. It has been an awesome experience to have them on the team.”
The announcement of the Player of the Year recipient takes place this Friday, Dec. 19 in Kansas City at the AVCA Awards Banquet.
Final Four Sendoff
Kentucky will have an open public sendoff for the volleyball team’s trip to Kansas City for the Final Four today at 5 p.m. The team will leave from Signature Aviation at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington.
Fans should park on the south side of Airport Road in the grass/gravel parking lot across from Signature. Fans should not park on the paved surfaces of Signature Aviation’s footprint as that parking is needed for team personnel.
The team is expected to arrive around 5:15 p.m and depart with a wheels-up time of 6 p.m. from Blue Grass Airport.
