Injured Hudson Leads Cats Past No. 19 Tennessee in Front of Sold-Out Crowd

You won’t find many athletes in the sport of college volleyball who are bigger competitors than Kentucky’s Eva Hudson. And while that was something that anyone familiar with the sport knew long before Sunday night, it rang truer than ever once the lights went out in Historic Memorial Coliseum following the completion of Kentucky’s 3-1 victory (22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-18) over No. 19 Tennessee as Hudson overcame a nasty ankle roll late in set one to lead the Cats to the victory. 

Despite playing in front of the first sold-out crowd in program history and the Cats racing out to a 12-5 lead early in set one, it was the Vols who found themselves leading late in the first frame at 22-21. On an out-of-system swing in transition on the right side, it appeared that a Tennessee hitter landed with a foot under the net as Hudson was coming down from the block. And upon landing on her foot, Hudson rolled her ankle pretty heavily and immediately came up hobbling. While she remained in the game, and even got a kill on the very next point, it was clear the senior was in pain as she grimaced her way through the rest of the match. 

But unsurprisingly, Hudson wasn't going to let an ankle injury prevent her from contributing in a match against a Top 25 opponent. Hudson finished the game with a match-high 19 kills on a .381 clip with only three errors and added a service ace, five digs, and four blocks to the winning effort as well. With Hudson hobbling, however, Brooklyn DeLeye picked up some offensive slack to alleviate some pressure off her, adding 18 kills on 57 total swings to go along with five digs and two blocks. Following the match, DeLeye was asked about what was going through her head when the Cats' lone senior went down to the court with the injury. And while she knew she was in pain, DeLeye had no doubt Hudson was going to find a way to continue making an impact. 

"Eva's the biggest competitor I've ever met. So I knew when she came up and said, 'I'm fine,' I knew she wasn't fine but I knew she was going to come back. She's going to go all the way to the grave fighting for this team."

Kentucky won this match with its defense, though, as Tennessee actually out-killed them 62-53 on the match. The difference came in the blocking phase of the game, though, as the Cats doubled up the Vols with an impressive 14.0 team blocks at the net. While she struggled offensively with only three kills on a negative hitting percentage, sophomore Kennedy Washington finished with a match-high six blocks to lead the Cats out of the middle. Junior Lizzie Carr added five blocks, Hudson and Kassie O'Brien each had four, DeLeye and Asia Thigpen had two, and Jordyn Dailey came off the bench to pick one up late in the second to help the Cats close out the set and tie the match at one set a piece. 

On the back line, junior libero Molly Tuozzo and Kassie O'Brien led the charge, each adding 12 digs on the evening. Molly Berezowitz added eight digs of her own and Thigpen had four. 

The announced attendance came out to 6,236, the third-largest crowd in program history and the largest crowd inside Memorial since a match against Hawaii in 1983. Following the match, UK head coach Craig Skinner gave the Kentucky fans in attendance a lot of the credit for the Cats picking up their sixth ranked win of the season and cited how important a match like that was not only for the program, but the sport as a whole. 

"Without the Big Blue Nation today I'm not sure we get through, whether that storm," Skinner said. "Super proud of the fact that people want to come and watch us play. That doesn't only benefit our players, it benefits Tennessee's players, it benefits the whole game of volleyball. There's sold-out arenas all over the country and for that to happen today and for us to win the way we did I think was a very important piece of the program's development."

With the win, Kentucky improves to 20-2 on the season (13-0 SEC) and extends its winning streak to 17-straight victories. The Cats have officially guaranteed a double-bye in the SEC Tournament later this month with only two more matches left in the regular season. Next up, Kentucky will host Oklahoma Friday evening before the Arkansas Razorbacks head to Lexington for Senior Day on Sunday with the SEC Championship up for grabs. If the Cats win one of the next two matches, they will clinch at least a share of the title for the ninth-straight year. If they win both matches, they will win the title outright. First serve Friday night against the Sooners is set for 7:00 pm ET and will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.