If there was any doubt about whether Kentucky volleyball belonged in the national title conversation, it disappeared in three ruthless sets against Cal Poly.
The Wildcats didn’t just advance to the Elite Eight. They took a dangerous Cal Poly team that had already knocked out BYU and USC and completely shut the Mustangs down, winning 25–18, 25–19 and 25–7 in a regional semifinal that turned into a statement.
Kentucky volleyball’s Elite Eight run feels different this time
Kentucky’s offense was on another level from the opening serve. The Wildcats finished with 43 kills on 86 swings and hit .419 as a team, including a ridiculous .609 in the third set when they left no doubt. Lizzie Carr led the way with 11 kills on .667 hitting, the kind of performance you expect out of a go-to star in March, while Brooklyn Deleye added eight kills and eight digs and All-American transfer Eva Hudson piled up nine kills, three blocks and seven digs. The balance was obvious: five different Wildcats had at least seven kills, and setter Kassie O’Brien ran the show with 31 assists and three kills of her own, constantly putting hitters in winning positions.
Defensively, Kentucky did exactly what Craig Skinner’s teams pride themselves on. Cal Poly came in hot after upsetting two higher seeds, but the Wildcats never let the Mustangs breathe. The Cats held Cal Poly to just 29 kills against 19 errors on 88 swings, a .114 hitting percentage that cratered as the match wore on. In the third set, Cal Poly hit negative and finished with only five kills as Kentucky’s block and back-row defenders smothered every attempt to get into rhythm…