The two-headed monster of Eva Hudson and Brooklyn DeLeye helped push the Kentucky Volleyball team, ranked No. 7 in the nation, past Lipscomb on Saturday afternoon 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-23) as the Wildcats won their season opener for the first time since 2021, knocking off the Bisons on their home floor.
DeLeye led all players in the match with 18 kills on 35 swings with no errors through two sets and a .429 hitting percentage and Eva Hudson in her first match as a Wildcat hit .267 with 10 kills on 30 swings with seven digs and a block, as well. Lizzie Carr had six kills and one error Saturday afternoon as the Wildcats put three players over five kills in the match for the afternoon.
Defensively, Kennedy Washington and Asia Thigpen both had four blocks with Carr adding in three more to boot as the Wildcats ended up with eight total blocks as a team, including three in the third set alone. Molly Tuozzo, who is in her second season as the Wildcats libero, had 10 digs in the match to lead all UK players as the junior helped the Wildcats sideout at a 72 percent clip for the afternoon.
Ava Sarafa was terrific for Kentucky on Saturday afternoon, logging a new career-high 33 assists in the match as she earned her first career start at the setting position and threw in seven digs and a block for the match in her first full-time starting role for UK. Sarafa helped run the Kentucky offense to the tune of a .275 hitting percentage for the match and 41 kills to just 11 errors.
The attention of the volleyball world now shifts to downtown Nashville, Tennessee where on Sunday, Kentucky and No. 1 Nebraska will play the first-ever NCAA Volleyball match televised on ABC inside Bridgestone Arena at Noon ET. Over 10,000 tickets have been sold to the Sprouts Farmers Market Broadway Block Party as Courtney Lyle, Holly McPeak, Katie George and Madison Fitzpatrick will have the call from Music City.
Courtesy: UK Athletics
