Sooners Battle in Heartbreaking Five-Set Loss to No. 2 Kentucky

Friday, November 14

Lexington, Ky.

6:00 PM

University of Oklahoma

15-9,7-7SEC

Kentucky

21-2,14-0SEC

Oklahoma

Kentucky

Sooners Battle in Heartbreaking Five-Set Loss to No. 2 Kentucky

November 14, 2025 | Volleyball

Box Score

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After going up 2-0 on the nation's No. 2 team, the Oklahoma volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking five-set match to Kentucky, 25-18, 25-21, 26-28, 19-25, 12-15, Friday night inside Historic Memorial Coliseum.

The Sooners (15-9, 7-7 SEC) hit . 301 on the night while holding Kentucky (21-2, 14-0 SEC) to just .255. OU is just the second team this season (Pittsburgh, .349) to hit over .300 against the Wildcats and one of just two SEC teams (Florida) to take the Wildcats to five sets.

Alexis Shelton notched a team and game high 23 kills on a .308 clip, while adding nine digs and six blocks. The senior is now just five kills away from 1,500 in her career. Emoni Bush recorded her third double-double of the season with 13 kills and 15 digs to go with six blocks.

Alyssa Flack notched career highs with 11 kills and four blocks. Kelli Jo Burgess ran the defense with a career best 11 blocks to go with eight kills. Dionii Fraga was an assist shy of a double-double of her own with 12 digs and nine assists.

Avaya Maga notched 27 assists to go with seven digs, while Harper Hall added 24 assists and six digs.

The Sooners hit .481 while holding Kentucky to just .207, leading wire-to-wire in the opening frame. OU entered the media timeout up 15-11 behind four early kills from Shelton, then used a three-point burst out of the break to force another Kentucky timeout. The Sooners pushed the lead to 22-13 on a Bush kill and Flack set up set point at 24-15. After a brief 3-0 Wildcat run, Shelton closed it out with her sixth kill to give OU the set, 25-18.

OU rolled to a 2-0 lead after hitting .310 in the second. Trailing 17-13, the Sooners stormed back and pulled within one on a Harper Hall ace before taking a 22-21 lead on an ace from Maga. A 5-0 run, capped by Maga's second ace of the set, made it 24-21, and a Kentucky error ended the set, 25-21.

Kentucky took set three, 26-28, in a set that saw 15 ties. With the match tied at 15, the teams traded points with neither team able to establish an advantage until OU went up 20-18. The Wildcats used a 3-0 run to take a late 21-20 lead before the squads once again traded points. OU fought off three set points before dropping the frame.

The Wildcats used a 6-0 scoring run to open the fourth set before a 4-0 run by the Sooners made it a one-point game. A block by Bush and Burgess tied the match at 11-all and the Wildcats led 15-14 at the media break. Kentucky extended its lead to 21-15 and took the set 25-19. In the fifth, Kentucky led 8-4 at the switch and outpaced the Sooners to take the final set 15-12.

The Sooners will close out the regular season on Sunday at No. 19 Tennessee at noon on SEC Network.