No. 3 Kentucky volleyball defeated Mississippi State on the road 3-1 (25-13, 18-25, 25-12, 25-18), extending its conference win streak to eight games, and its total win streak to 12 games.

Here are the three biggest factors in the Cats latest win:

Star Performances

The Cats’ two most productive players this season have no doubt been Brooklyn DeLeye and Eva Hudson. These two continued their dominant performances against the Bulldogs.

DeLeye led the team in kills with a whopping 21 while also adding 10 digs to her stat line. She also had a hit percentage of .326, which was fourth on the team. 

While Hudson’s numbers were not quite as eye-popping, she was still dominant. Hudson led the team in digs with 17, was second in kills with 16, and had a hit percentage of .293. 

DeLeye and Hudson have been Kentucky’s two biggest contributors this season, and once again they dominated to lead the Cats over Mississippi State.

Defensive Domination

Kentucky’s defense played a crucial role in winning the match.

Mississippi State was held to a hitting percentage of just .128 while only scoring above 20 points in a set once in the match. 

The Cats totaled a whopping 71 digs compared to the Bulldogs’ 44 and Kentucky had four players record 10 or more in the match.

Kentucky also had seven blocks and was led by Lizzie Carr, who totaled four in the match. 

Resiliency

While Kentucky seemed like they had all the momentum coming out of the first set, the second set stripped that momentum away as Mississippi State won 25-18, however did not deter the Cats.

Over the next two sets Kentucky beat the Bulldogs by a combined score of 50-30 and ultimately won the match.

In the last two sets, Kentucky had 35 kills compared to Mississippi State’s 16. 

This all comes after a comeback win over Florida in the fifth set, and another comeback win at No. 9 Texas A&M back on Oct. 8. 

While the Cats’ have displayed their fair share of dominance this season, one of the biggest factors for their success this season has been their ability to come back under pressure as they displayed against Mississippi State.

Kentucky will be back in action this Sunday, Oct. 26, in Tuscaloosa as it takes on Alabama. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET.