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Kentucky VB wins five set thriller vs. Wisconsin, advances to national championship

Zack Geogheganby: Zack Geoghegan12/19/25ZGeogheganKSR

Kentucky volleyball played its worst set of the entire season at the worst possible time, but this focused group of Wildcats never wavered.

On Thursday night in Kansas City, Kentucky took down Wisconsin in the Final Four behind a five-set thriller (12-25, 25-22, 21-25, 26-24, 15-13), advancing to the program’s second national championship match in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats will face Texas A&M, a team they beat 3-1 during the regular season, in the title showdown on Sunday.

Kentucky was paced by 29 kills from National Player of the Year finalist Eva Hudson. She was aided by 15 kills and 14 digs from fellow All-American Brooklyn DeLeye. Molly Tuozzo led the ‘Cats in digs with 17 while National Freshman of the Year Kassie O’Brien registered 54 assists. As a team, Kentucky hit .254 despite posting just 12 points on .056 in the opening set. Wisconsin, which hit .375 as a team, was led by 32 kills from Mimi Colyer and 21 more from Carter Booth, but it wasn’t enough in the end to stay alive.

Sunday’s championship match is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC as Kentucky and head coach Craig Skinner look to bring another national title to Lexington. This will be the first-ever title bout between two SEC teams.

The first set couldn’t have gone any worse for Kentucky. An 8-2 start for Wisconsin forced Skinner to call a timeout. UK would keep up the pace, leading to a 12-6 score, but three straight points from the Badgers put them ahead 15-6 at the media timeout. A confused and out-of-sorts Kentucky offense (seven attack errors) couldn’t find any momentum while Booth was powering home every kill attempt for Wisconsin. The Badgers took the first set with ease, 25-12, while hitting an insane .682. Booth and Colyer both had seven kills apiece. 12 points were the fewest in a single set all season long for the ‘Cats.

Set number two saw a much better effort from Kentucky, which led to an early 7-4 lead. Wisconsin began to rack up service errors, but continued to fight for tough points. The Badgers even gained the lead 10-9 for the first time in the set after rattling off three straight points. More service errors for Wisconsin kept Kentucky alive, but the ‘Cats were down 15-14 at the media timeout after an overturned pancake call went against UK.

Both sides would trade points from there. But with the score knotted 20-20, Kentucky was able to finally regain the lead after a quick 3-0 run that forced a Wisconsin timeout. Three more consecutive points for the ‘Cats put them ahead 24-20. UK would end up polishing off the set 25-22 after a couple of Badger points added to the stress. Kentucky was much better offensively in the set (.258 hitting percentage) and was able to limit Wisconsin’s attack just enough to tie the match 1-1.

Wisconsin would strike first to open the third set, jumping out to a 6-3 lead that would soon grow to 9-6. Every time it felt like Kentucky was about to stack points, the Badgers would respond. Wisconsin took a 12-7 edge that forced Skinner to call a timeout. A poorly timed service error from UK gave Wisconsin a 15-10 lead, but the ‘Cats would go on a 3-0 run to get back in the set. The Badgers tried to pull away, winning long rallies and eventually going in front 21-17. Kentucky continued to fight, though, using a 3-0 run to make it a one-point set.

But the comeback wouldn’t last much longer. It looked like Kentucky had tied the set 22-22, but an overturned touch call on the ‘Cats gave the point to Wisconsin, putting them two away from taking a controlling 2-1 match lead. The Badgers would land a couple of points to do just that, officially putting UK on its heels going into a must-win fourth set.

Kentucky took a 4-2 lead early in the fourth set before Wisconsin rattled off four straight points to flip the momentum back in its favor. Each team would trade a pair of runs, first a 3-0 stretch for UK followed by a 3-0 run by Wisconsin. Another 3-0 run for Kentucky made it a 13-12 lead for the ‘Cats, which soon led to a 15-13 advantage going into the media timeout. Wisconsin was able to continue landing powerful kills, but Kentucky still took a three-point lead for the first time all set at 19-16.

Wisconsin kept pushing, bringing its deficit to one point multiple times late in the set. Leading 22-21, a big kill from DeLeye made it a two-point advantage for Kentucky as the Badgers used a timeout. Hudson would tack on another kill to create set point, but three straight from Wisconsin tied things up 24-24. That didn’t bother UK, which ripped off two points to win the set 26-24 and send us into a decisive fifth set.

In the final set, it’s a first-to-15 situation. Wisconsin would steal the first point before Kentucky poured in four straight to gain an edge and force a Badger timeout. The lead would extend to 6-1 for UK before Wisconsin got back on the board. Kentucky’s momentum didn’t die, though. A 9-3 lead for the ‘Cats had them in a good spot. The Badgers continued to fight back, but Kentucky was still ahead 11-7 as Wisconsin used its final timeout.

A couple of missteps from Kentucky allowed Wisconsin more life. UK’s lead shrank to 12-10 before a Hudson kill pushed it out to 13-10. A must-have point from the Badgers was followed by another big kill from Hudson to make it match point for the ‘Cats. Three straight points from Wisconsin created some sweaty palms all around, but Hudson had one more kill in her, sending Kentucky to the national championship.

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2026-05-20