LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the first time since 2021, the Kentucky Volleyball team opened Southeastern Conference play with a win as it swept South Carolina 3-0 (25-17, 29-27, 25-18) in three sets Wednesday night inside Historic Memorial Coliseum in the Bluegrass.

Brooklyn DeLeye logged 14 kills to lead all players for the Wildcats as she hit .522 in the match with a season-high 16 digs for her third double-double of the season. Eva Hudson also logged a double-figure scoring night for the Wildcats as she had 13 kills on 40 swings with eight digs and a solo stuff along with a block assist to round out a 15.5 point night for the senior from Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Kentucky as a team hit .340 for the night with a 94 percent sideout rate in the first set, siding out 16 for 17 times in the frame. UK only had 11 hitting errors as a team compared to 24 for the Gamecocks as UK outblocked USC as a team, nine to six in the final numbers. South Carolina’s head coach Sarah Rumely Noble was a two-time All-American setter at UK and is in her first year coaching USC.

Kentucky is now 8-2 on the season and sits 1-0 in the SEC for the first time since 2021. South Carolina, who already has a top-25 win under its belt this year, falls to 6-4 on the year and is 0-1 in SEC play. Friday night, Kentucky returns to action as it plays Georgia to complete SEC opening weekend at 7 p.m. ET. The match will be in HMC with tickets available at UKathletics.com/tickets. The SEC Network+ and ESPN app will televise the match.

Set 1

Kentucky took the opening set with a 25-17 opening set win. The Wildcats served first with Brooklyn DeLeye pacing the offense to a .387 hitting percentage with six kills in the set as UK jumped out to a 7-4 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. The Wildcats lead ballooned to four at 14-10 when Eva Hudson slammed her second kill of the set to the floor as UK got to the media break up by four at 15-11. The lead grew to six at 18-12 as USC called its first timeout with a 22-15 edge gained a few points later on Brooklyn DeLeye’s fifth kill of the set pushed the Wildcats in front by seven and forced the Gamecocks into their final timeout of the set. The set ended on a kill by Brooklyn DeLeye, her sixth of the frame, down the left sideline to make things 1-0 in favor of the Wildcats. Kassie O’Brien had 12 assists with DeLeye’s eight digs leading the way.

Set 2

South Carolina was dominating the entire set in the second, as USC led from 4-3 up until UK took its first lead at 24-23 following Brooklyn DeLeye’s 11th kill of the match. The Gamecocks led by as many as eight points, as USC took an 18-10 advantage before the turning point of the set happened when Molly Berezowitz took to the service line and won six-straight points for the Wildcats on her serve which put USC out of system on four of the six points. South Carolina called timeouts ahead 20-15 and 20-19 after UK had clawed back into it but it was back and forth in the end as Kentucky reached set point 24-23. USC then won two in a row to make it 25-24 on its own set point and then sided out to make things 26-25 for their second set point. The set ended at 29-27 as Brooklyn DeLeye hammered home a ball from the left side off one of the longest rallies of the match which included an incredible pick-up from Molly Tuozzo as UK went ahead two sets to none in the match. UK was above .300 in the match after two sets with DeLeye having 15 digs for her third double-double of the year and Kassie O’Brien had 27 assists for the Wildcats offense. USC was held to just .167 offensively in the first two sets.

Set 3

Set three was all Kentucky from the jump, as UK pushed out to a 7-3 lead and South Carolina called an early timeout to try and stop the bleeding. The offense took center stage in the third, hitting at a .476 clip en route to a 20-12 lead following a hitting error from the Gamecocks and trailing by eight. Kentucky reached set point at 24-16 and closed things out on its third attempt as Lizzie Carr dumped an offspeed shot over the block to secure the sweep over the Gamecocks.

For the latest on UK Volleyball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @KentuckyVB.