Kentucky VB sweeps Alabama on the road, extends winning streak to 13

Kentucky volleyball continues to mow through the Southeastern Conference.

On Sunday afternoon in Tuscaloosa, the No. 3-ranked Wildcats took it to Alabama with a clean sweep (25-18, 25-22, 25-17) of the Crimson Tide. Star freshman setter Kassie O’Brien finished with 50 assists, a school record by a freshman in a three-set match. Her efforts helped UK post a .381 hitting percentage, led by 16 kills from All-American hitter Brooklyn DeLeye. Eva Hudson wasn’t far behind with 14 kills of her own.

With the win, Kentucky (16-2) has now racked up 13 straight victories, the last nine coming against SEC opponents. Only No. 2 Texas, holding a 10-0 conference record and a perfect 18-0 overall mark, sits above the ‘Cats in the league standings. Kentucky and Texas will clash next Sunday in Austin, TX.

Halloween is this week, so we brought our brooms🧹🧙‍♀️#WeAreUK x #BBN pic.twitter.com/XRQILnvhzn

— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) October 26, 2025

Let’s not look too far ahead, though. Kentucky went on the road and smoked a poor Alabama squad to close out the week, this coming just a couple of days after taking down Mississippi State 3-1 on the road.

The opening set was all about the ‘Cats. Craig Skinner’s team jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead before Alabama closed the gap 16-14. But that comeback effort ended there. A 4-0 run by Kentucky made it 23-16 before settling on the 25-18 set one victory. UK hit .438 compared to just .125 for Alabama. O’Brien, who is in line to receive another weekly honor from the SEC, assisted all of Kentucky’s 16 kills.

Alabama responded by jetting out to an early 8-5 lead in set two. But Kentucky pushed back to tie it at 11-11, which was immediately followed by a 4-0 run by the Wildcats. Alabama managed to make UK sweat down the stretch, bringing the score to 24-22, but DeLeye polished off the set with a kill to lock up a 2-0 lead.

The third and final set saw Kentucky crush Alabama early with a quick 9-1 lead. The Crimson Tide would claw back into the set, getting as close as 16-13 and forcing a UK timeout. But Kentucky won the next point out of the break and cruised to the sweep-securing set three win. For the match, the ‘Cats hit .381 while Alabama was held to a .189 mark.

Now we can start to look ahead; Kentucky has two important matches on deck next week.

The first will take place at Memorial Coliseum when Vanderbilt comes to Lexington on Halloween night. Former Kentucky assistant Anders Nelson, who was on staff with the 2020 national title team, is now the head coach of the Commodores. Former UK player Azhani Tealer is also an assistant at Vandy under Nelson. That match will begin at 7:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. Two days later, Kentucky will travel to Texas for arguably the biggest match of the season thus far.

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