Kentucky volleyball hosting defending champs in clash of top 15 teams

On3 imageby:Ian Alvano•09/09/22

No. 14 Kentucky volleyball begins its gauntlet of top 10 matchups with a date against the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers on Friday night. The Wildcats will hope to keep their momentum going after winning the 2022 Bluejay Invitational in Omaha last week. This will be the third ranked match that Kentucky will have played in the last week.

The Badgers, which won the 2021 national title, come to Memorial Coliseum with a 3-1 record, with their only loss coming against No. 15 Baylor. Wisconsin should welcome the challenge of another ranked opponent, too. They begin conference play shortly in a loaded Big Ten, which boasts seven ranked teams, four of them in the top 10.

Both Squads Know Trophies

A year after Kentucky won its first-ever national championship in 2020, the Badgers did the same. Wisconsin defeated Nebraska in last year’s title game to capture their first in program history.

The runners-up from last year, Nebraska, will also be traveling to Lexington in a little over a week. Kentucky will have no time to rest as they are set to host No. 4 Louisville on Wednesday, Sep. 14 and then No. 2 Nebraska on Sunday, Sep. 18.

Player of the Week and Parking

Reagan Rutherford is coming off a monstrous weekend in Omaha where she was named SEC Player of the Week. Kentucky will need the junior’s offensive power if it looks to knock off the Badgers. Rutherford was also named SEC Offensive Player of the Week after putting up a career-high 25 kills against Creighton last Saturday.

As anticipated as this matchup already is, Kentucky volleyball has some parking procedures in place for the weekend to help fans make the trip.

There will be a free parking shuttle that will take fans and spectators to the match. The shuttle will go from Parking Structure #5 to Memorial Coliseum, running from 4-9 PM.

Kentucky’s time to lock-in

The next couple of matchups for Kentucky will be telling to see how the ‘Cats look early in the season. Kentucky has rattled off four straight wins after their opening night loss to Marquette, but the next week and a half should prove to be more challenging.

That being said, BBN knows how to pack events and make top-ranked teams feel like they’re playing in a nightmare. The bar is set high and the volleyball will be excellent this weekend.

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2024-04-18