Ranked volleyball match between Kentucky and Wisconsin elevated to ESPNU

Kentucky might have started the 2022 season off to a rocky start, but the program is still must-watch television in the volleyball world.

When the No. 16 Wildcats host No. 6 Wisconsin on Friday, September 9 the match will now be available live on ESPNU. The news was made official Monday afternoon by UK Athletics. Originally, the two teams were not scheduled to play on national TV, but the game was been elevated to a bigger stage and given a 6:00 p.m. EST start time.

Kentucky won the 2020 national championship while Wisconsin won it in 2021. UK lost to Wisconsin in four sets during a regular season match a year ago.

No changes will be made to previously-purchased tickets.

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ESPNU To Televise Kentucky vs. Wisconsin; Match Moved to 6pm EThttps://t.co/ODB40twI79

— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) August 29, 2022

The matchup against Wisconsin will happen right in the middle of Kentucky’s toughest stretch this season. The ‘Cats will play No. 17 Creighton and No. 25 Southern California in back-to-back matches this weekend before the Badgers come to town the following Friday. Shortly after that, UK will host No. 3 Louisville on Sept. 14 and No. 2 Nebraska on Sept. 18. All home games will take place at Memorial Coliseum.

“We’ve always aspired to be the best and that’s not the sole purpose of this program but to compete with the best, you find out a lot about yourself,” Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner said during Media Day last week. “Lousiville we play every year, obviously. Nebraska is part of a four-year deal we have with Louisville, Stanford, Nebraska, and us, so we’ll be at Nebraska next year and at Stanford the following year and every other with Louisville. So that’s that. Wisconsin is returning from last year.

“But how cool is it we get them in Memorial Coliseum in a span of 10 days? If people have never seen volleyball, they’re gonna get a chance to see some of the highest, if not the highest in the country, for a long time to come. So it’s gonna be a great opportunity, great challenge for us to see what we’re made of. Great chance to get some wins, but more importantly it’s gonna get us ready for November and December.”

Kentucky is off to a 1-1 start to the 2022 season after splitting a pair of home games over the weekend. The ‘Cats were upset on Friday by unranked Marquette in five sets before cruising to a sweep against Ohio on Sunday. As a result, UK was knocked down from No. 11 to No. 16 in the updated AVCA rankings. However, Wisconsin is also 1-1 early on, sweeping TCU on Friday before falling to No. 9 Baylor on Saturday in five sets.

Wisconsin actually plays the same Marquette team that beat Kentucky in its next match, which is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 2. That result could be a good barometer of how the Badgers and Wildcats stack up against one another.