# No. 4 Kentucky volleyball defeats No. 3 Louisville in historic Memorial Coliseum matchup **Published:** 2026-09-20T22:55:49.000Z **Source:** [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/09/20/no-4-kentucky-powered-by-deleye-beats-no-3-louisville-in-four/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/no-4-kentucky-volleyball-defeats-no-3-louisville-in-historic-memorial-coliseum LEXINGTON, Ky. — The No. 4 Kentucky volleyball team defeated No. 3 Louisville 3-1 on Sunday in the first-ever top-five matchup in [Historic Memorial Coliseum history](https://ukathletics.com), powered by a dominant performance from Brooklyn DeLeye. DeLeye recorded 22 kills as Kentucky rolled past the Cardinals 19-25, 29-27, 25-21, 25-19 in a nationally televised match on ABC. Morgan Gaerte added 20 kills, marking the first time this season the Wildcats placed two players in the 20-kill range in the same match. Setter Kassie O'Brien registered 59 assists, one shy of her career high. The victory drew 6,045 fans to Memorial Coliseum, the fifth-largest crowd in program history and the third-largest since the arena's 2024 renovations. Kentucky's defense was equally impressive, with Molly Tuozzo leading with 21 digs while Morgan Gaerte contributed four blocks. The win extended Kentucky's advantage in the Battle of the Bluegrass rivalry to two consecutive victories, snapping a four-year losing streak that lasted from 2021 to 2024. It also marked the second top-five victory of the season for the Wildcats, following their season-opening triumph over Wisconsin in Milwaukee. After dropping the first set decisively, Kentucky staged a dramatic comeback in the second, surviving two set points to force a 29-27 victory and tie the match. The Wildcats then controlled the final two sets, hitting .211 in the third frame and .350 in the fourth to close out the Cardinals. Kentucky concluded its non-conference slate at 8-2 and will begin Southeastern Conference play on Wednesday night at Vanderbilt in Nashville. The match against the Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET and will air on SEC Network and the ESPN app. ## Sources - [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/09/20/no-4-kentucky-powered-by-deleye-beats-no-3-louisville-in-four/) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from UK Athletics. The original source is available at https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/09/20/no-4-kentucky-powered-by-deleye-beats-no-3-louisville-in-four/.