UK volleyball’s rivalry win over Louisville shows national title potential
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky volleyball defeated Louisville in a five-set match at the KFC Yum! Center.
- UK beat U of L in volleyball for the first time since 2019.
- Kentucky now has three victories this season against teams ranked in the top 10.
One of the most daunting nonconference schedules in any Kentucky sport is nearly complete.
And for Kentucky volleyball, it’s set to end on a major high following a dramatic rivalry win.
On Thursday night, the No. 6-ranked UK volleyball team played the penultimate nonconference match of its 2025 season, defeating No. 3 Louisville 3-2 in a five-set thriller that lasted nearly three hours in front of 10,787 fans at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville.
After falling behind two sets to one, the Wildcats crushed the Cardinals when it mattered most. UK claimed the fourth set 25-12 and the fifth set 15-7 to secure its first rivalry win over U of L since 2019.
Kentucky had previously dropped four straight contests to Louisville.
“Our fans love this rivalry, and Big Blue Nation, I’m sure, was jumping up and down in front of their TVs if they weren’t here,” UK head coach Craig Skinner said post match. “We always say in our program, ‘We play for something way bigger than ourselves.’ A rivalry match is more about our people that follow us all year long. And the fans across the country that may not know volleyball as well, I’m sure they’re happy today, too.”
Louisville (7-2) won the first set 25-21 before Kentucky (6-2) reversed that scoreline in a second-set win. The Cardinals claimed a tight third set 26-24 before the Wildcats put their foot on the gas pedal to secure a five-set win over their rivals for the first time since 2013.
Kentucky scored 40 of the last 59 points in the match.
There are major implications from this rivalry result.
Thursday marked only the second time in program history that UK topped a ranked Louisville squad. Skinner is now 1-0 against new U of L head coach Dan Meske, who took over the Cards’ program in the offseason after Dani Busboom Kelly left to take the head coaching job at her alma mater, volleyball powerhouse Nebraska.
UK junior outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye — the reigning SEC Player of the Year and an All-American in 2024 — showed up big when the lights were brightest. She led all players Thursday with 24 kills.
Beneath of the surface of another Cardinals vs. Wildcats entanglement, there’s also belief that Thursday’s comeback win will mean plenty for Kentucky’s season-long outlook as the Wildcats pursue success in the SEC regular season, the reinstated SEC Tournament and the national postseason.
“I learned a lot about the people that weren’t starters tonight,” Skinner said. “I learned that they were going to make a difference when they came in the match. ...When you’re called upon, you’re ready. We’re going to have way more opportunities going forward in these situations.”
Kentucky volleyball has faced the nation’s best teams in nonconference play
Skinner, who has been Kentucky’s head coach since December 2004, doesn’t shy away from a scheduling challenge. That’s never been more apparent than in 2025.
UK’s nine-match nonconference slate this season includes games against each of the top four teams in the preseason national rankings. Those four teams — Louisville, Nebraska, Penn State and Pittsburgh — were all Final Four participants in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
(Kentucky reached the Elite Eight last year, losing to Pitt in a regional final).
The Wildcats — who close nonconference play Saturday afternoon at Memorial Coliseum against Washington — went 2-2 against those four elite foes this season, defeating Louisville and Penn State and losing to Nebraska (after winning the first two sets) and Pittsburgh. Those wins over the Cardinals and Nittany Lions came in true road matches.
If you toss in last week’s home win over SMU, Kentucky’s schedule has already featured half of the top 10 teams from the preseason rankings. UK has wins in three of those matches.
The philosophy here is simple: Test yourself early and often, and watch the dividends pay out in the future.
In the lead up to the Louisville match, Skinner told reporters that he’s been pleased with the way his team has dialed up its intensity in practice.
“Things you’re not good at get exposed against the best teams,” Skinner said. “It really heightens the level of awareness and intentionality during practice. For us to consistently be good enough to compete with these teams, you’ve got to practice it.”
In recent years, this has worked for the Cats. Kentucky is in the midst of an uber-successful stretch of volleyball prosperity. The Wildcats have won at least a share of the SEC regular season title in eight straight seasons, and Skinner has piloted the program to at least a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament in seven of the past eight campaigns.
But the Cats haven’t made a Final Four since April 2021, when UK won its first and only national championship as part of a COVID-impacted season.
Skinner bet big this year that Kentucky’s gauntlet of a nonconference schedule will prep the Wildcats for the months ahead.
“We always talk about how the more prepared you are, the less pressure there is,” said redshirt junior Lizzie Carr, a middle blocker and right side hitter. “In the moments of pressure, preparation is what eliminates that. Our coaches do a really good job of putting everything in front of us that they need to before the match even happens.”
So far, the bet is paying off. Not only has Kentucky gained valuable experience in high-level nonconference matches, but the Wildcats have also picked up a trio of impressive victories along the way.
Entering this season, Kentucky was winless in its past 14 nonconference matches against top 10 teams. UK’s wins over Louisville, Penn State and SMU have shown the potential this young Kentucky team has. (Outside hitter Eva Hudson, a Purdue transfer and UK’s second-leading attacker this season, is the only true senior on the roster).
“I think it’s super important and essential that Craig tests us early because you don’t really get a feel for people’s communication styles whenever we aren’t tested or have high-pressure moments,” sophomore outside hitter Asia Thigpen added.
How will Skinner’s aggressive approach to the nonconference season translate to SEC play?
The first look at that will come Wednesday night, when UK hosts South Carolina at Memorial Coliseum for the first of 15 league matches. With Vanderbilt’s return, all 16 SEC schools are fielding a varsity volleyball team this year. UK will face each school once in regular season play, with the single-elimination SEC Tournament set for late November in Savannah, Georgia.
Kentucky tops Louisville in first rivalry meeting of the year
Thursday night’s volleyball matchup between Louisville and Kentucky was the first rivalry contest between the schools in the 2025-26 athletic year.
Next up is a men’s soccer matchup between the Cardinals and Wildcats on Sept. 23. After that, three high-profile rivalry meetings between Kentucky and Louisville will come in November.
Mark Pope’s second Kentucky team will face off against Pat Kelsey’s second Louisville squad in a highly-anticipated men’s basketball game Nov. 11. That’s projected to be an early-season matchup of top-10 teams on the hardwood.
On Nov. 22, the women’s basketball rivalry between the schools takes center stage. Last year, Kentucky beat Louisville in an overtime thriller for the Wildcats’ first win in the series since 2015.
And on Nov. 29, the Governor’s Cup will be decided when the Kentucky and Louisville football programs play in the regular-season finale for both teams. Last year, U of L throttled UK for the Cards’ first win over the Cats since 2017.
Notably, all five of these Kentucky-Louisville rivalry meetings this fall — volleyball, men’s soccer, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and football — will take place in Louisville.
