Kentucky had plenty to celebrate when it won at No. 2 Texas on Sunday to stay unbeaten in SEC play. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Facing No. 2 Texas in front of a packed Gregory Gymnasium crowd of 4,155 fans Sunday in Austin, Texas, presented a difficult matchup for Kentucky.
“That’s a great team and the crowd was electric,” Kentucky senior Eva Hudson said. “They made it really hard on us, so it was really hard to play.”
But not that hard as Kentucky met every challenge the Longhorns presented and won 25-14, 28-26, 27-25. It was the first time Texas had been swept at Gregory Gymnasium since 2013 when Oklahoma did it.
Hudson had 20 kills and only one error on 42 chances to hit .452. She added 10 digs and two blocks. Her dynamic partner, Brooklyn DeLeye, had 18 kills on 36 swings — a .417 hitting percentage — along with nine digs and two blocks.
The win kept Kentucky in solo first place in the Southeastern Conference with a perfect 11-0 mark. Texas A&M, which beat Texas on Friday, is 10-1 and Texas is 10-2 after going into the weekend ranked No. 2 and unbeaten this season.
Kentucky is seeking at least a share of a ninth straight SEC title and hoping to be a top four seed in the NCAA Tournament to secure home-court advantage as long as it wins until the Final Four.
Coach Craig Skinner’s team has won 15 straight matches going into Thursday night’s game at Missouri. The Cats now have five top 10 wins and four of them — Louisville, Texas A&M, Texas and Penn State — have been true road matches.
Skinner got terrific play from a lot of players and mixed lineups well. Kennedy Washington had six kills and hit .556 and Lizzie Carr had four stuff blocks. Setter Kassie O’Brien had 43 assists, 11 digs and two blocks. Libero Molly Tuozzo had six digs, four assists and three service aces.
Kentucky had 52 kills and only 11 attacking errors on 116 swings.
“We’re gritty. We’re going to come out on every point, give it our all,” Hudson said on ESPN after the win. “I’m just really proud of these girls.”
DeLeye felt the same way.
“We all came together. It looked like we were always getting balls up and communicating throughout the whole match. So that’s really what makes it fun,” DeLeye said.
It is no fun for opposing teams to have to deal with DeLeye and Hudson, both national player of the year candidates.
“I think it’s just really hard to scheme against because across the board our offense, you can’t really leave anybody open because everyone’s going to put the ball away. And I think Kassie (O’Brien) does a great job of getting it to us,” DeLeye said on ESPN.
“We just talk to each other about what’s open and it’s really fun to feed off each other’s energy,” Hudson said about her relationship with DeLeye. “It’s hard (on the opponent) because when I go back (row), she’s front row, so we never give them a break.”
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If you want to see some high octane athletes play with speed, skill, and heart, watch the Volleyball Cats. They play like gladiators when they are on the court. They have proven they are Championship material.
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