No. 4 Kentucky Rolls No. 5 Penn State in Straight Sets on Banner Night Inside Rec Hall

After falling to No. 1 Nebraska in a heartbreaker on Sunday, it was clear that the No. 4 Kentucky volleyball team felt like it still had a lot to prove heading into Friday night's match at No. 5 and defending National Champion Penn State. And with the Nittany Lions honoring their 2024 National Championship prior to the match, it was going to take a full team effort in front of a raucous crowd inside Rec Hall to get out of State College with a win. But thanks to another stellar night from junior Brooklyn DeLeye and a superb performance from true freshman setter Kassie O'Brien, the Cats impressed on one of the biggest stages yet again, knocking off Penn State in straight sets (25-21, 25-16, 25-23) to hand the Nittany Lions their third-consecutive loss on the season. 

DeLeye dazzled on the left side for the Cats, finding the floor with 18 kills on a blistering .351 clip. After being forced to shoulder a massive offensive load for Kentucky against Nebraska with 68 hitting attempts, DeLeye watched Friday as setters Ava Sarafa and Kassie O'Brien did a masterful job of moving the ball around the court to share the offensive load with every position across the net. 

Joining DeLeye in double figures was senior transfer Eva Hudson, who added another ten terminations on a .233 clip, including the game-winning kill in the third set when the Nittany Lions were threatening to push things to a fourth frame. 

It wasn't just the left side that got involved Friday night, though, as three other Wildcats totaled four or more kills. Sophomore Asia Thigpen added nine kills on the right pin, Lizzie Carr had six, and Kennedy Washington had four. 

Kentucky was outstanding on the defensive end, sending back 11.0 team blocks on the evening with seven coming off the hands of Carr. Washington added four rejections of her own, Hudson had three, and Thigpen, Sarafa, and O'Brien each had two. 

On the back line, junior Molly Tuozzo picked up a match-high 15 digs, DeLeye and Hudson each had eight, and Molly Berezowitz had four.

After her outstanding performance against the Cornhuskers Sunday, Sarafa got the start at the setting position for the Cats and did a wonderful job getting the offense going early with 15 assists through one set of play. In the second frame, however, UK head coach Craig Skinner decided to give O'Brien a chance at running the show and his true freshman certainly didn't disappoint.

O'Brien dished out an impressive 27 assists through just two sets to go along with a trio of kills in the first real display of her setting prowess since stepping foot on campus. Inside one of the most hostile environments in the country, her ability to move the ball around the court to keep the Penn State blockers off balance proved integral to the Cats' victory. 

With the win, Kentucky improves to 2-1 on the season and picks up its first ranked victory of the 2025 campaign. It also marked the first time Kentucky has beaten Penn State since 1983 and the first win of Craig Skinner's career against the Nittany Lions. Next up, the Cats will be back in action against New Hampshire Saturday afternoon in State College. First serve is set for 2:00 pm ET and will be broadcast live on BTN Plus.