Kentucky and Louisville will be only the fourth women's college volleyball match on ESPN since 1997. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky will host Louisville Wednesday night in a historic volleyball match Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum.
The match between No. 13 Kentucky, the 2020 national champion, and No. 3 Louisville, a Final Four team last year, will be on ESPN.
Not only will it be UK’s first regular-season match ever on ESPN, it will be on the fourth collegiate volleyball match on ESPN since 1997 according to Katie George, a former Louisville All-American who will be on the call for the match along with Eric Frede. The match will also be available on ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
Kentucky is 5-2 with wins over No. 17 Creighton and No. 25 USC and losses to Wisconsin, the defending national champion, and Marquette. Louisville is 7-1.
Kentucky leads the series 31-26 and has won nine of the last 11 matches against the Cards but Louisville won a five-set match last year to end UK’s seven-match win streak.
Kentucky coach Craig Skinner has often talked about the need for volleyball to get more national exposure because of its growing popularity and that’s what makes UK-Louisville a win for volleyball no matter which school wins the match.
And the more eyes watching on ESPN definitely could influence future programming and get volleyball more exposure. Skinner naturally would like to have a sold-out Memorial Coliseum (tickets are available at UKathletics.com/tickets or by calling 859-257-1818.)
The match will also be on the UK Radio Network with Dick Gabriel and former UK All-American Leah Edmond on the call. Affiliates across the state that are part of the network will have access to the match along with the one Sunday at 3 p.m. against Nebraska, another Final Four participant last season.
“We have always aspired to be the best and competing with the best you find out a lot about yourself,” Skinner said.
Wednesday night’s match is another big test for Skinner’s team as it seeks to find the right pieces/matchups but it is an even bigger night for collegiate volleyball. So if you can’t make it to Memorial Coliseum, take time to at least check out the match on ESPN because it would be a help to collegiate volleyball and you might just really like what you see, too.
