A sellout crowd of 6,045 packed into Historic Memorial Coliseum on Sunday, Sept. 20, for a match that was nothing short of the venue’s namesake- historic. In “upset” fashion, No. 4 Kentucky Volleyball defeated the No. 3 Louisville Cardinals in four sets (19-25, 29-27, 25-21, 25-19) for the team’s fourth ranked win on the season.

After two matches in the Bahamas at the Paradise Invitational, the Wildcats were welcomed back to Lexington with perhaps their greatest challenge yet in the No. 3 Cardinals, the first top-five matchup in the history of Memorial Coliseum.

A four-point run by the Cardinals to begin the first set quickly set the tone, as a 7-2 Louisville lead forced Kentucky into a timeout. Attributed heavily to four kills by Louisville outside hitter Chloe Chicoine, the Cardinals took the first set 25-19.

In a pivotal second set, 16 ties and seven lead changes would extend the set into deuce. Aided by middle blocker Kennedy Washington’s five kills, the Wildcats outlasted the Cardinals 29-27 and evened the match at one set apiece.

After the game, head coach Craig Skinner spoke on how the Wildcats regrouped after dropping the first set.

“We’re going to have cards dealt to us at some point in the match, some may be good, some may be bad,” Skinner said. “We need to plan in our favor no matter what the situation is.”

Kentucky appeared to have found its footing in the third set, seemingly flipping the script of the first. The Wildcats would lead the rest of the third set after reclaiming the lead at 6-5, capping it off with a kill by outside hitter Morgan Gaerte to claim the se 25-21.

Skinner and his team would continue to ride the momentum with their most dominant stretch of the day coming in the fourth set. An ace by outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye would serve as an exclamation point to end the set at 25-19, securing the victory at three sets to one.

Ending non-conference play on a high note with an 8-2 record, the No. 4 Wildcats will head to Nashville on Wednesday, Sept. 23, to open up conference play against Vanderbilt (9-0). This SEC matchup is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET and will stream on the SEC Network.

Kentucky men’s soccer is still searching for the first win of the season after losing four out of the last five games. The Wildcats were predicted to finish fourth in the Sun Belt Preseason coaches poll, and now, that seems a little far-fetched.

In Friday’s home matchup against the Marshall Thundering Herd, the Cats came out playing with fire, setting the tone early with a few shots on goal within just a few minutes. The first half on Sept. 19 had a great back-and-forth flow, with both sides playing aggressively.

Around the 12th minute, Marshall’s offense started to find its rhythm, putting pressure on UK’s defense. Eventually, both teams went into the locker room all squared up at zero.

Marshall’s offense really started to click on all cylinders during the start of the second half. Things were all even up until the 59th minute, when forward Joshua Nugent hit a strike past Kentucky’s keeper and into the back of the net.

Kentucky was able to get a few shots on goal, including having the ball roll in front of Marshall’s net, but no one was in position to even things up.

Time ran out on the Cats, and they were unable to find the equalizer, leading to yet another loss and remaining winless on the year.

Head coach Johan Cedergren pointed to the defense afterward: “I think we played well. We limited one of the best attacking teams in the country to one or two chances and we had five unbelievable chances.”

In regard to the squad still being winless, he mentioned that he never expected in 15 years to be at this point. When asked about the performance today, coach said, “I’m proud of how the guys played today, and of course I’m disappointed in the result. I know that everyone is disappointed with how our results have gone so far this year, but I feel like we are close.”

I asked what “close” looks like. He pointed to missed opportunities, rather than not having them at all: “We just got to keep doing what we’re doing. Again, if we aren’t creating chances, then we would have to go back and say ok that’s not working. But today, you know, the ball’s rolling across the goal line, then we have a header with a minute to go that’s six yards out, and we miss…”

He circled back to the same theme a bit later: “I just think over 15 years, those looks go in, and unfortunately for us today, all four of them didn’t. I don’t know why, but I do know we are playing well and we’re creating chances; we’re just going to have to find a way to keep working.”

The bright side right now for Cedergren and the squad is that the season is incredibly young, and there is a long way to go. Coach said it himself, “Hopefully we’re peaking at the right time because we sure as of right now are not peaking currently.”

The Wildcats will look to get their first win of the season when they travel to play Lipscomb on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Match time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET and will be available for streaming on ESPN+.

The Bearcat Invitational, hosted by the University of Cincinnati, wrapped up its two-day tournament on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The Wildcats tied for seventh, along with Maryland, in the 17-team tournament at Coldstream Country Club.

Kentucky finished with a team total of one over par.

On Monday, Sept. 14, the Wildcats were four under par, putting them in sixth place ahead of day one. Sophomore Gabriel Hull scored six under par after round two. His performance ranks as the sixth-best 18-hole round in program history, dating back to the 2001-02 season.

Individually, Hull was tied for 26th place on the leaderboard along with Cameron Phillips, Cole Stockard and Jacob Settles, all while also making the top 20 of the individual leaderboard.

For day two, Kentucky was five over as a group with junior Jacob Lang leading on the day with a one under par score. Hull finished with a tie for 14th on the individual leaderboard after an even score in round three.

“Gabe [Hull] really stepped up the final two rounds for us,” head coach Gator Todd said. “He has real game and he’s starting to show what he’s capable of.”

The final leaderboard was posted as:
T14: Gabriel Hull (76-65-71)
T21: Cole Stockard (70-70-73)
T28: Cameron Phillips (69-70-75)
T28: Jacob Settles* (72-68-74)
T55: Jacob Lang (73-75-70)
T77: Gavin Clutts (73-74-75)
Bold = Counting Score
*Individual

“We did not have our best stuff this week, but I am proud of the way the guys hung in there,” Todd said. The Wildcat’s next tournament will be held on Sept. 28 in Lake Forest, IL for the Windon Memorial Classic.