The No. 3 Kentucky Volleyball team used seven aces to blow past UCLA on Wednesday night in the Allstate Big Ten/SEC Challenge inside Historic Memorial Coliseum as UK swept UCLA 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-23).
Kentucky placed three into double figures in scoring as Morgan Gaerte led all players with 16 kills on 33 swings to hit .364 and that was accompanied by 15 kills from Brooklyn DeLeye in 32 swings and 10 terminations from Asia Thigpen on the left side. Kentucky as a team hit .346 for the match, outhitting the Bruins by over 100 points for the evening.
Kassie O’Brien set a new season high with 43 assists for the Wildcats, her second time inside the opening five matches of the season logging 40-plus assists. Kentucky had 51 kills as a team Wednesday night in the win and Molly Tuozzo chipped in four of them.
The UK defense anchored by a match-high 16 digs from Molly Tuozzo had 16 digs on the night with Thigpen having nine, only one off a double-double. Morgan Gaerte had a pair of blocks for UK who only had three on the night, but still held the Bruins to a hitting percentage of under. 250 in all three sets.
With the win, Kentucky is now 4-1 on the season and puts a point on the board for the SEC in the 2026 Allstate Big Ten/SEC Challenge. The Big Ten led 5-4 going into matches Wednesday night with over 12 matches on the docket for Wednesday.
Kentucky will now set its sights on the second match of the Allstate SEC/Big Ten Challenge on Sunday evening as it faces No. 13 Penn State in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field in Wrigleyville. The match will be televised by FOX with Connor Onion and Emily Ehman on the call.
For the latest on UK Volleyball, follow the Wildcats on Twitter and Instagram at @KentuckyVB.
