‘Two of the best in the country.’ DeLeye, Hudson send UK volleyball to regionals
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- DeLeye and Hudson combined for 57 kills and accounted for 58 of Kentucky's points.
- Both outside hitters posted high hit percentages and stretched UCLA's block and defense.
- Kentucky advances to Regionals and will face USC or Cal Poly at Memorial Coliseum.
No. 1 Kentucky volleyball’s defense dominated Wofford in Thursday’s sweep, but it was its offense — especially the play of outside hitters Brooklyn DeLeye and Eva Hudson — which secured the team’s 3-1 (30-28, 25-16, 28-30, 25-17) victory over No. 8 UCLA Friday night.
“I don’t know,” Hudson said. “We like to call it a flow state. It’s just like, it feels like everything you do kind of just goes right, and when you see the other one going off, then you’re like, ‘Oh, well, that seems fun.’ So that’s kind of my mentality.”
The 2024 and 2025 SEC Players of the Year, respectively, were a significant part of UCLA head coach Alfee Reft’s scouting report.
“I think physically, they’re playing at a different level,” Reft said. “You know, regardless of where our lineups were, I thought they were just playing at a height that we couldn’t touch and block. And then their vision and their toolkit, their ability to hit every angle of the court, is pretty impressive. We certainly scouted for that, but seeing it in person was a little bit different. So kudos to them and to Craig (Skinner) for the work he’s doing with them.”
DeLeye — who tied her career high of 30 kills in a single match — and Hudson combined for 57 of UK’s 77 total kills and 58 of the team’s points scored across the four sets.
“I’ve seen both of them through their college careers,” Reft said. “And I think they were playing the best volleyball, clearly, that they’ve played, and they’re getting better. So yeah, we haven’t seen a lot of outsides that can do that to us. So you got two of the best in the country here.”
2024 AVCA All-American DeLeye recorded a .397 hit percentage, and totaled two assists, an ace and eight digs. The junior was considered by national media to be Kentucky’s strongest weapon on last season’s team, and Hudson’s transfer in for this season has, at times, pulled focus.
Instead of creating competition, though, it’s forged one of the strongest front lines in the sport.
“I’d say we’re both very unselfish,” Hudson said. “And it makes it so much easier to play. Because, you know, it’s hard being two established players to kind of come into another program and don’t want to step on toes, but yeah, she’s so unselfish, and we just want to see each other succeed because that’s how the team succeeds.”
Hudson, a 2023 AVCA All-American, made her way to Lexington after three First-Team All-Big Ten seasons at Purdue. Against the Bruins, the senior tallied one assist and 10 digs while hitting .463.
“It’s just been really fun to have someone like Eva in the gym every single day to push me,” DeLeye said. “And I think it just helps us on the court as well, because even tonight…she was getting kills like crazy, and then I just wanted to do my part to help her out.”
In front of a reported crowd of 4,422, the Wildcats and Bruins endured 20 lead changes, including 12 in the first set, and 42 ties, including at 18 in the first set and 16 in the third.
In both the first and third sets — which the programs split — the winning rallies extended past the traditional 25-point goal. When asked about the intensity of closing out those sets, Hudson spoke to meeting the moment with confidence.
“Pressure makes diamonds,” Hudson said. “You just kind of unlock a different mentality, and you can see it in every player’s eyes. What’s so special about this team is that they don’t get small in big moments. It’s like, almost we shine brighter. So it really just gives us more confidence. We’ve been in so many fifth sets and have been down so many points, even the (SEC Tournament Championship vs. Texas), we just know we’ve been in these situations before, and we can be successful.”
Skinner complimented the Bruins’ plan of attack, saying “I’ll give some credit to UCLA for that, because they were serving some bullets at these guys,” but noted the importance of experience within the duo’s game.
“I think experience is very helpful in these situations,” Skinner said. “I think I’ve said before, there’s match pressure, there’s first- and second-round pressure, there’s regional pressure, and if you’ve never been in it before, you don’t really know what it feels like. So when you do get to 25-25, 26-26, there’s really nothing else you can do but be prepared for the next whistle. Can’t get caught up in how we did the three previous points, or what might happen if we win the set. And so those guys do a really good job.
“I think that you see our team play with a lot of enthusiasm and joy in those moments. And you know, credit them for embracing the opportunity to play in a pressure match like that.”
The Wildcats will face either No. 4 Southern California or Cal Poly in next week’s Regional match at Memorial Coliseum. Match dates and times and TV designations will be announced soon.
