No. 3 Kentucky Volleyball Returns Home on Wednesday, Facing Auburn
After three consecutive matches on the road, the Kentucky volleyball team returns to Historic Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday night to face Southeastern Conference rival Auburn (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network Plus).
Kentucky, which is ranked third nationally in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, won all three of those road contests, including a four-set win at No. 9 Texas A&M on Wednesday and a sweep of LSU on Sunday. The Cats have now won nine matches in a row and are 12-2 overall, including a 5-0 mark in SEC play.
Wednesday’s match will be the first home contest for the Cats in the month of October. UK’s last home match was a sweep over South Carolina on Sept. 26.
During the nine-match winning streak, senior outside hitter Eva Hudson has been the driving force behind the UK offense. In those nine matches, covering 31 sets, Hudson has 143 kills, or 4.61 kills per set. She has been in double figures in kills in eight of the nine matches in the streak and had nine kills in the one match when she didn’t reach double digits. Skinner knew that it was only a matter of time before Hudson’s talent was on display.
“Obviously, she has elite level talent to begin with, but any time you change programs or systems, it takes time to get your feet underneath you and really feel 100 percent comfortable and confident with the people around you. She’s just a great player, a great teammate, great competitor and it was bound to happen. I think every opponent is going to prepare for Eva Hudson and she’s ready for those challenges and thrives in those situations.”
Kentucky is trying to win at least a share of a ninth consecutive SEC title and the Cats have a huge match against unbeaten Texas coming up in a few weeks. For that match to matter, UK needs to keep its mind on what’s directly in front of them, something that Skinner believes this team does well.
“This team is pretty mature that way,” Skinner said. “I don’t think we’ve really gotten too far ahead of ourselves. We continue to talk about, the most important match of the year is Auburn (because it’s the next match). And we’ve always kind of been in that mode since I’ve been here.”
Auburn is 13-4 this season, including a 4-2 mark in SEC play. The Tigers have won two of their last three matches, most recently suffering a loss to Missouri in Auburn.
Dick Gabriel and former UK All-American Leah Edmond will be on the call for SEC Network Plus.
