LEX 18 — Award season continues, and the Wildcats are once again big winners.
The American Volleyball Coaches' Association released its All-Region teams Tuesday afternoon, and Kentucky volleyball placed five Cats on the list, in addition to another Coach of the Year nod for UK head coach, Craig Skinner.
Senior outside hitter Eva Hudson was named All-South Region Player of the Year; freshman setter Kassie O'Brien has been tabbed the region's Freshman of the Year.
Hudson's is the program's sixth all-time Region Player of the Year title, joining two-time winners Leah Edmond (2017, '19) and Madison Lilley (2018, '20), as well as the 2021 winner, Alli Stumler. O’Brien becomes the fourth player to win the organization's freshman of the year, joining Edmond (2016), Lilley (2017) and Emma Grome (2021).
Hudson and O'Brien are joined on the All-South first team by teammates: junior middle Lizzie Carr, junior outside Brooklyn DeLeye and junior libero Molly Tuozzo. Five players on the first team ties a program record, which was set during the 2020-21 season, when the Cats won the National Championship.
By winning all-region, all five Wildcats are now finalists to be considered for AVCA All-America honors, which will be announced next week in Kansas City.
This year, Kentucky volleyball finished the regular season 27-2 (15-0 in league play) before winning the SEC's regular season title and tournament championship.
The Wildcats return to the court Thursday for the NCAA Tournament Regional Round. The one-seed Kentucky will face Cal Poly at approximately 3:30 p.m., with the victor to play the winner of (2) Arizona State and (3) Creighton on Saturday. All matches will be played inside Historic Memorial Coliseum and televised on ESPN2.
For more information on tickets, parking and logistics surrounding the Lexington Regional, click here.
For more on Kentucky volleyball and all of the Wildcats, join us on BBN Tonight, airing weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on the official station for UK Athletics, LEX 18.
