Hudson, DeLeye Lead No. 3 Kentucky Past No. 9 Texas A&M in Four

Thanks to an outstanding night from senior outside hitter Eva Hudson, the No. 3 Kentucky volleyball team picked up a fourth Top 10 victory on the season Wednesday night with a four set victory over No. 9 Texas A&M (21-25, 25-22, 25-15, 27-25) inside Reed Arena in College Station, Tx. 

Despite the Aggies boasting the 8th-best statistical defense in the country heading into the match, holding opponents to .151 hitting on the season, the Cats totaled 63 total kills on a .293 clip. Three Wildcats eclipsed double figures, led by a match-high 24 kills coming off the arm of Hudson. Hudson terminated at an outstanding .373 hitting percentage and tallied ten of her 24 kills in the decisive fourth frame alone. 

Junior Brooklyn DeLeye also had a solid night on the outside, registering 19 kills on a .213 clip. Rounding out the bulk of the scoring was junior Lizzie Carr, who finished with 11 kills on 17 swings with only one error. 

True freshman Kassie O'Brien had another great night running the offense, dishing out a match-high 48 assists. Opposite the net of her was senior setter Maddie Waak for the Aggies, who leads the country in assists per set. Wednesday, however, it was O'Brien who won the setting battle, totaling one more assist and directing the Kentucky attack to nine more total team kills. 

As she has for much of the year, junior Molly Tuozzo led the defensive charge for the Wildcats as she picked up a match-high 19 digs. O'Brien added 12 digs of her own, Hudson had 11, and Molly Berezowitz had six. 

With the win, Kentucky captures a fourth Top 10 victory on the season and third in a true road environment. The victory also marked the first home loss for the Aggies thus far this season. The Cats move to 11-2 on the season and remain tied atop the Southeastern Conference with a 4-0 record in league play. Next up, the Cats will travel to Baton Rouge, La. Sunday for a matchup with the Tigers. First serve is set for 1:00 pm and will be broadcast live on ESPN.