‘Execution suffered at times.’ How No. 4 Louisville beat No. 11 Kentucky volleyball — again

Following what was initially ruled an Erin Lamb kill in the fourth set of No. 11 Kentucky volleyball’s 3-1 loss to No. 4 Louisville on Wednesday night, Cardinals head coach Dani Busboom-Kelly successfully challenged the point — positioning Louisville to extend its 5-0 scoring run.

That challenge, one of four moments wherein action stopped for replay reviews across the final two sets, didn’t go Kentucky’s way. In fact, none of them did; it was simply one of those nights for the Wildcats, who — despite a third-set rally to extend the match — fell to 6-4 on the season , including 0-4 against ranked opponents. This also marks the fourth consecutive loss to Louisville in the annual Battle of the Bluegrass. The prime-time match took place in front of a crowd of 3,838 in Memorial Coliseum and a national TV audience on ESPN.

UK head coach Craig Skinner credited the Cardinals (8-1) on their “playing well for a long period of time,” and emphasized the importance of capitalizing on chances, both early on and at the end of a set, to stay in control.

“Early on in sets, we’re making plays and giving ourselves opportunities,” Skinner said after the 25-21, 25-18, 20-25, 25-16 defeat . “Even in the first set. And when you get those chances to close out sets, you need to. And going into the third set, credit our team, we did not change our mentality most of the match. And that’s why we were able to come back and win the third set. And now, ‘can we make more plays beginning of the fourth to push it longer?’ Our team did a good job of sustaining their concentration level, but execution suffered at times.”

Without freshman outside hitter Asia Thigpen — who Skinner said is “day-to-day, week-to-week” after an undisclosed injury — the Wildcats battled back in the first set from an early Louisville lead. Thirteen of the 22 total ties, as well as seven of the eight total lead changes occurred in that first set. The Wildcats posted a .133 hitting percentage, 13 kills, 13 assists, 20 digs and two aces, but did not record their first block until scoring their fifth point of the second set.

“(Louisville) just continuing to limit options,” Skinner said. “I mean, I think the first several passes, they were doing a good job keeping themselves in system. And when you’re playing against teams like that, to get blocks when they’re passing the ball within 8 feet of the net, it’s tough. And so it comes down to individual plays, reading the situation of the attacker and making those moves and getting those stuffs. And creating chances by transition opportunities to limit their options that way, too. But yeah, it took a while. And obviously something we continue to work on.”

Ultimately, Louisville outblocked UK 17-7 across four sets, with seven separate Cardinals recording blocks. UK redshirt freshman middle blocker Brooke Bultema led the Wildcats with four blocks, while senior outside hitter Megan Wilson had three.

The Cardinals brought their momentum with them into the second set, leading by as many as eight points and hitting .400 as UK struggled to create and capitalize on opportunities. Four-kill sets from both Bultema and Brooklyn DeLeye helped pull UK within reach before a slew of errors allowed Louisville to regain its footing and take the second set.

However, the Wildcats did maintain their strength at the service line. UK delivered nine aces to Louisville’s three — an advantage Louisville head coach Dani Busboom-Kelly knew the Wildcats would bring to the match.

“We knew, because they’re such a great serving team,” Busboom-Kelly said. “We know they’re going to score some points there, and it’s going to be hard to side-out, and that we would have to play great defense and block balls, and that’s what we did. We knew what we’d have to do to combat that advantage, but I think they’re the best serving team in the country and I was very concerned about it coming into this match.”

In the third set, which took more than 40 minutes, the Wildcats delivered a .294 hitting percentage. Though Louisville never trailed too far behind (UK even overcame three tie scores in front of a raucous student section to keep the night going), the Wildcats’ 12 kills, four aces and four blocks proved enough to force a fourth set and avoid the sweep.

“I think we were just battling the whole time,” DeLeye said. “And then there was some adversity there for a little bit. So I think just really coming together on all cylinders. I think we fought well, we came together as a team more than we had the whole game. So I think just taking some of those challenges as times to regroup and really come back stronger.”

The Cardinals came out firing in the fourth set, posting 10 kills and nine blocks while hitting .280 to claim the match. After jetting out to a 7-2 start, Louisville never led by fewer than five points, and held Kentucky to its first negative hitting percentage of the season, -.118.

Busboom-Kelly said it took the third set to “get (Louisville) motivated,” and that she felt her team “came out in the third a little flat.”

“But we really fought back in that (third) set,” Busboom-Kelly said. “Which was growth for our team. So you could just feel like, ‘OK, we’re fighting. That set was a little weird.’ We were in that, I felt like, until the very end. And so, the fourth set, I just said, ‘We’ve got to start back playing our volleyball, blocking balls and trusting players that, statistically, might not look great right now. We’ve just got to trust what we’ve been doing all year.”

The Wildcats face No. 2 Stanford (7-1) in Palo Alto, California, on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. EDT. The match will be broadcast on ESPN2. Stanford suffered its first loss of the 2024 season, a 3-0 sweep by No. 5 Nebraska, on Wednesday night.

SEC Volleyball Tournament returns

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey announced Wednesday that the conference would relaunch the SEC Volleyball Tournament in Savannah, Georgia, beginning in 2025, following a decades-long break; the event was previously held from 1979 until 2005.

“With the restoration of the SEC Volleyball Tournament, we will now host a championship event in every conference sport, providing our programs additional competitive opportunities as they prepare for NCAA postseason competition,” Sankey said in a news release. “We look forward to providing a memorable experience for SEC student-athletes, coaches and fans as we make Savannah home to the SEC Volleyball Tournament for the next three years.”

The 2025 SEC Tournament is scheduled for Nov. 21-25 at Enmarket Arena in Savannah. Per a three-year agreement, Enmarket Arena will also host the championship Nov. 20-24, 2026, and Nov. 19-23, 2027.

The Wildcats, who, in 2020, became the first SEC program to lift the NCAA championship trophy, won five SEC Tournament titles during the initial tournament’s time. The Wildcats hold the second-most SEC Volleyball Tournament championships behind Florida (12 titles).