Alabama Pushes No. 23 Kentucky to Four Sets in Sunday Loss

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – After falling in the first two sets, Alabama volleyball rallied to take the third from No. 23 Kentucky before ultimately falling in the fourth set as the Wildcats came away victorious in the Sunday afternoon matchup at Foster Auditorium.

Alabama (10-4, 0-3 SEC) dropped the first two frames, 21-25 and 14-25, before a raucous Foster Auditorium crowd helped lift the Crimson Tide to a 25-19 set three win over Kentucky (5-7, 3-1 SEC). Alabama scored the first three points of the fourth frame before the Wildcats eventually pulled back ahead with a late 6-0 run ultimately pushing them to a nine-point win to claim the match.

Kendyl Reaugh was one kill shy of a double-double, posting nine kills along with a season-high 16 digs. Kyla Dunaway also had nine kills, a season best for the freshman, while fellow classmate Callie Kieffer had a pair of service aces along with 30 assists. A crowd of 1,240 rocked Foster, its second-largest attendance of the season.

“The main takeaway from today is that if we pass the ball well, we can do some great things. If we can make that more consistent, we have a lot of live arms on our team and we need to make sure we utilize all of them. I also thought we did a lot better at the service line. I also have to give a shoutout to the crowd today, they were incredible. This community is awesome. What an amazing experience to be in this gym and have so much support all around us. I was talking to someone that said they drive here from Georgia to watch our matches. That’s a huge deal for us. It just goes to show these ladies that they are truly cared for. I know that we’re a football community and I love that about Tuscaloosa, but it’s great to see that they share that love to all of us. It’s a big deal. They stood with us and they were here with us as we battled.”

Notes

• The 1,240 in attendance was Alabama’s second-largest crowd of the season, only trailing the 1,273 from opening night against Saint Louis
• The third set victory marks the second straight season the Tide has taken a set from a ranked Kentucky squad, having not done so previously since 2017
• Kendyl Reaugh’s 16 digs are a season high
• Kyla Dunaway finished with a season-best nine kills

Stat Leaders

Set-by-Set

• Set 1: Kentucky 25, Alabama 21
• Set 2: Kentucky 25, Alabama 14
• Set 3: Alabama 25, Kentucky 19
• Set 4: Kentucky 25, Alabama 16

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