No. 11 Kentucky volleyball (6-3) traveled to Palo Alto, California, to play No. 2 Stanford (7-1) and ultimately came up short in four sets.

The Wildcats were outmatched by the Cardinal in their third consecutive match against a top 10 opponent, with the result being the third straight loss.

Set one started off back-and-forth with three lead changes and two ties, resulting in the set being tied at 9-9.

Stanford broke the tie with a 4-0 run and would continue to improve its lead throughout the set, thanks in part to the .103 hitting percentage and six errors from the Wildcats as they lost the set 25-19.

Kentucky had a slow start to set two as 3-0 and 5-0 runs by Stanford saw the Wildcats taking an early 11-4 deficit.

Despite the struggles early in set two, Kentucky continued to fight for the remainder of the set as an ace by Ava Sarafa helped the Wildcats go on a 3-0 run and cut their deficit to three.

After allowing that run, Stanford went on a 5-1 run of its own and held a lead greater than five points for the remainder of set two, ultimately winning the second set 25-19 and taking a 2-0 match lead over Kentucky.

Throughout the first two sets, the Wildcats only held a lead for just one rally early in the first set. Heading into the third set, they would need to improve their .095 hitting percentage and 13 errors through the first two sets to avoid the sweep.

The Wildcats did just that as they took the first lead of the third set and didn’t relinquish it until a 3-0 run by Stanford allowed the Cardinal to take the lead at 10-9.

Kentucky would then go on to even the score and didn’t trail again until two Stanford kills allowed it to force a match point at 26-25.

With their backs against the wall, the Wildcats fought hard to avoid the sweep and were successful, breaking through the Cardinal defense to win the third set 30-28.

A win in the third set can be attributed to a much-improved hitting percentage of .317 with the Cats only committing a match-low of four errors in the third set.

Six kills by Brooklyn DeLeye also headlined an impressive offensive set for the Wildcats as a whole.

The defense played by Kentucky in the third set was also the best of its night and forced seven Stanford turnovers to prevent it from going on a run longer than three points for the entirety of the round.

Although the Wildcats had an impressive showing in the third set, Stanford quickly rebounded with two aces from Taylor Yu and seven kills as a team, all of which allowed the Cardinal an early 10-3 lead.

Despite that, Kentucky continued to prove its resiliency and fought back to take the lead at 17-16.

Unfortunately for the Cats, this would be the last lead Kentucky would hold as Stanford would come out of its timeout with two 3-0 runs only separated by a DeLeye Kill.

These runs gave Stanford a 22-18 lead and the Cardinal was able to hold on for the set victory with a score of 25-20. This was the third set won by Stanford, giving it the overall win over Kentucky 3-1.

The Wildcats showed flashes throughout the night, but their inconsistency against a formidable opponent led to the loss as the Cats had just a .181 hit percentage with seven less kills and two more errors than Stanford.

DeLeye was a notable bright spot for the Wildcats, recording 17 kills, but it wasn’t enough to get the win as the Wildcats were simply outmatched by Stanford in many facets of the game.

Coming off three consecutive losses, the Wildcats will look to turn things around as they begin conference play. Kentucky will travel to Auburn to take on the 10-1 Tigers for its first conference game on Friday, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. ET. The contest will air live on the SEC Network.