Kentucky vs. Nebraska was ESPN's 2nd most-watched volleyball match ever
Despite No. 9 Kentucky dropping its first battle of the season to No. 2 Nebraska, the Tuesday night volleyball match became the second most-watched match ever across all ESPN platforms.
The AVCA First Serve Showcase took place in Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday, Aug. 27. There, Kentucky and Nebraska faced off to mark the first game of the 2024-25 season. Unfortunately, the Wildcats fell in four sets. No. 3 Wisconsin and No. 6 Louisville followed with a 3-1 nail-biter in favor of the Cards. Even though Louisville came out on top, the Cardinals couldn’t win in every stat that night.
The Kentucky-Nebraska match marked 344,000 average viewers to kick off the 2024-25 NCAA Volleyball season. The game reached a peak viewership of more than 400,000, 40% of which were women. However, Louisville and Wisconsin still reached a whopping 210,000 viewers, creating an overall average of 277,000 viewers on ESPN2.
Nebraska overtook Kentucky in a 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-15, 25-20) final set score. Despite Kentucky leading the majority of the first set, Nebraska slowly closed the gap thanks to Kentucky errors and a killer Nebraska front row. The ‘Cats won set two thanks to a challenge ruled in their favor, which helped them secure the win.
However, the Huskers came out firing on all cylinders in the third set. They took an early 12-6 lead, forcing Kentucky coach Craig Skinner to call a timeout and regroup his team. Set four was more of the same, an early Nebraska lead and a Kentucky timeout to try and change the rhythm. Unfortunately, Kentucky’s efforts weren’t enough to overtake No. 2 Nebraska.
While the game didn’t turn out in Kentucky’s favor, outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye found herself on the AVCA First Serve Showcase All-Tournament Team. The sophomore finished with 19 kills on 21.5 points. She added six digs, three blocks, an assist, and a service ace, with only eight errors across four sets.
Up next, Kentucky volleyball returns home to debut the renovated Memorial Coliseum for the first time. The Wildcats play three games between Friday and Sunday as hosts of the Bluegrass Battle. UK will take on Northern Kentucky on Friday (6:30 p.m.), Western Kentucky on Saturday (5:30 p.m.), and Morehead State on Sunday (1 p.m.).
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