No. 1 Kentucky volleyball falls 3-0 to No. 3 Texas A&M in national championship
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky lost 3-0 to No.3 Texas A&M in the 2025 NCAA women's volleyball final.
- Texas A&M controlled momentum with dominant blocks and consistent offense.
- Kentucky finished 30-3, 15-0 SEC regular season, returns core roster for 2026.
The Kentucky Wildcats’ magical season ended in Sunday’s 2025 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Tournament championship game with a hard-fought 3-0 (24-26, 15-25, 19-25) heartbreaker to No. 3 seed Texas A&M.
No. 1-seed Kentucky, led by head coach Craig Skinner in his 21st season at the helm, opened the first set with a dominant, 6-1 start, forcing 2025 AVCA National Coach of the Year Jamie Morrison, to call a timeout.
That Wildcat lead was extended to 13-7 prior to an unsuccessful challenge by Skinner, whose overall coaching challenge record for the season shifted to 42 of 53.
After the Aggies pulled within two points, trailing in the set at 18-16, Skinner called a timeout of his own. The back-and-forth continued until a 20-all tie — off a block by Texas A&M’s dominant front line — brought Aggie fans to their feet. Though Big Blue Nation brought a respectable contingent, it was dwarfed in size by a sea of maroon around the T-Mobile Center.
Another Morrison timeout following a two-point UK edge resulted in a 23-all tie, but an Aggie net violation meant the first set point of the afternoon went in favor of the Wildcats. Not to be denied, a kill from Texas A&M’s Kyndal Stowers tied the set at 24 before another key block created the Aggies’ first set point, and Skinner called another timeout.
With no timeouts remaining for either team, Texas A&M completed its comeback to take the first set, 26-24.
The second set oddly mirrored the first, what with a quick, lopsided smattering of points scored — but this time, in favor of the Aggies, who opened the second set with a 15-7 advantage.
The Aggies controlled the pace and energy of the second set for the bulk of it, and cruised to a 22-14 edge despite a successful challenge from Skinner in hopes of securing some of the momentum.
Texas A&M, which defeated No. 1 seeds Nebraska in the Elite Eight and Pittsburgh to reach the title match, looked every bit a giant killer during the dominant second set; the Aggies won it 25-15.
Despite the match announcer’s reminder ahead of the third set that Kentucky had twice before this season successfully achieved a reverse sweep, Texas A&M carried its momentum from the previous sets into the third.
The Aggies opened the third set with an 11-7 lead and stretched it out to 17-11 — forcing another Kentucky timeout — with their first-ever NCAA volleyball title within sight.
Though the Wildcats cut the deficit late, pulling within as close as 23-18, Texas A&M finished out its improbable fight for glory on top with a 25-20 win in the third set.
This marks the second-ever national championship appearance for Kentucky volleyball, and second under Skinner. The Wildcats hoisted the trophy upon the conclusion of the 2020 tournament, which was played in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Along the way to the NCAA finals, UK defeated Wofford, No. 8 UCLA, Cal Poly and No. 3 Creighton. The Wildcats beat No. 3 Wisconsin in Thursday’s dramatic, five-set duel to earn their spot in Sunday’s championship match.
The Wildcats received four AVCA All-America honors; outside hitters Brooklyn DeLeye and Eva Hudson were named to the first team, setter Kassie O’Brien was named to the second team and libero Molly Tuozzo was named to the third team.
O’Brien was named the AVCA National Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Wildcat to do so. Hudson was a finalist for the AVCA National Player of the Year.
Sophomore outside hitter Asia Thigpen earned the NCAA Scholar-Athlete Award, which is awarded at each NCAA championship finals site to the participating student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average.
All but Hudson, who exhausted her final season of eligibility this season at UK after three successful years at Purdue, are able to return next season.
Kentucky’s historic season concludes with an overall record of 30-3, including 15-0 in regular-season Southeastern Conference play and 15-0 at Memorial Coliseum. UK achieved its ninth consecutive SEC regular-season championship, and won the SEC Tournament, which returned this season for the first time since 2005.
