Kentucky volleyball falls to Louisville in spring exhibition

It was rivalry night on Friday in Memorial Coliseum — even if it was just an exhibition.

Kentucky volleyball came up short against Louisville in the Battle of the Bluegrass, falling 3-1 (15-25, 25-19, 10-25, 16-25) in what was the Wildcats’ fourth and final exhibition match of the spring. After winning the second set to tie the match at 1-1, Louisville took the next two sets to pull off the four-set victory. The Cardinals finished with a .257 hitting percentage compared to just .148 for Kentucky, which logged nine costly service errors along the way.

Star hitter Brooklyn DeLeye finished with 13 kills and three digs for Kentucky, but did have 10 attack errors. She was aided by 11 kills and seven digs from Notre Dame transfer hitter Morgan Gaerte. Setter Kassie O’Brien, last season’s AVCA National Freshman of the Year, recorded 36 assists and 10 digs while libero Molly Tuozzo added 14 digs.

Set 4.

🔵: 16
🔴: 25

Final: 1-3.

📊https://t.co/FrbJ1HrrHT#WeAreUK x #BBN pic.twitter.com/wGPBaeEkzT

— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) April 17, 2026

Head coach Craig Skinner brought back most of his roster from last season’s national runner-up squad. Three Wildcats left via the transfer portal, including middle blocker Brooke Bultema, who wound up at Louisville. Bultema played in all four sets on Friday night against her old team, finishing with seven kills and four blocks. UK also lost National Player of the Year semifinalist Eva Hudson, who has already started her professional career, to graduation.

But Skinner was able to maintain the rest of his talented core roster while adding Gaerte, who was named First Team All-ACC last season for the Fighting Irish. Kentucky also added a handful of incoming freshmen. Both Kentucky and Louisville are projected as preseason Top 10 teams going into the fall season.

Friday’s performance against Louisville wasn’t what the ‘Cats had hoped, but there is a long way to go until the start of the 2026 season.