Kentucky women’s volleyball (8-2, 1-0 SEC) opened conference play with its win over unranked South Carolina (6-5, 0-1 SEC), sweeping the Gamecocks in a three-set match at Historic Memorial Coliseum.
Both teams came out of the gate aggressively, but the Cats quickly showed their home-court dominance over the Gamecocks.
Kentucky and South Carolina stayed scrappy, with both teams sending the ball over on the first touch numerous times.
Throughout the entire first set, there was a battle for custody of the ball at the net.
Kentucky could not keep its blocking under control, with most of the errors resulting from block touches that ended up out of bounds.
To finish off the first set for Kentucky, Brooklyn DeLeye, with an assist from setter Kassie O’Brien, hammered the ball down the line.
It was too quick for the South Carolina defense to react, putting Kentucky up 1-0 after the first set, with a final score of 25-17.
The Gamecocks came out swinging at the start of the second set, but were still having trouble keeping the ball inside the court.
Kentucky trailed behind South Carolina to start the second set.
The Cats did not give up their determination, though. South Carolina let them back into the game, but still held the lead over the Cats, 20-15.
“I thought it started pretty good, and then it went away for a minute, and then it got better as the match went on,” Kentucky volleyball head coach Craig Skinner said.
With South Carolina head coach Sarah Rumely Noble challenging two plays in the last five points of set two, both teams were giving it all to win the second set.
Once again, DeLeye for Kentucky went up swinging and forced the ball into USC’s block, with the ball landing on the USC floor.
DeLeye showed her powerhouse tendencies in the second set.
She essentially put the long fight to an end, with Kentucky taking the second set, 29-27.
South Carolina gained a lot of confidence through that close second set, but the Cats were sure to shut it down quickly in the third set.
Kentucky immediately established a four-point lead and continued that lead without giving any room for South Carolina to slide back in.
For the game point, 6-foot-1 freshman Eva Hudson finished the Kentucky win by battling at the net for the ball and shoving it back down onto the USC floor.
Kentucky took the third set, 25-18, and swept South Carolina in just three sets to pull off its first conference win of the season.
Kentucky will return to the court Friday, Sept. 26, at 7 p.m. EDT, facing off against Georgia inside Historic Memorial Coliseum. The match will be streamed live on SEC Network+.
