No. 3 Louisville to Host Rival Kentucky in Top-10โค Volleyball Clash
Louisville, Ky. – A highly โขanticipated matchup betweenโค tehโ No.3 Louisville Cardinals and the Kentucky Wildcats isโค setโ for Thursday at 6 p.m. at the KFC Yum! Center, marking the latest installment of the “Battleโ of the Bluegrass.” The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
Louisville (7-1) returns home after a triumphant weekend, claiming the championship at the Bluejay Invitational hosted byโ Creighton. Kentucky entersโฃ theโ contest with a 5-2 record, havingโ faced tough competition in losses to โฃNo.1 Nebraska and No. 5 Pittsburgh.
The rivalry has โขleaned heavily in LouisvilleS favor recently, with the Cardinals winning all four meetingsโ against โฃthe Wildcats as 2021. Their last encounter at the Yum! Center in โ2023 drewโข a record-setting crowd.
First-year Louisville head coach Dan Meske expressed his enthusiasm for the homeโฃ game against โKentucky. “I think it’sโค so fitting thatโค we getโ to play Kentucky there,” Meske said. “I always look forward to it, and it has a different feel. We’ve played big matches โthereโฆ Final Fours and things like that, but when Kentucky’s there, it just has a different vibe โคto โคit.”
the matchup โis notableโ for the strong coaching connectionsโฃ between theโฃ two programs. Meske and Kentucky head coach โคCraig โSkinner both โdeveloped under โlegendary coach John Cook atโ Nebraska,serving on the staff at different times. Further linking the teams,Louisvilleโ All-American โฃAmaya Tillman is now an assistant coach for theโฃ Wildcats,alongside Merideth jewell Frey,a former Mercy Academy โคstandout and Louisville volunteer assistant,who isโค in her fourth season as UK’s associate head coach.
“We have a lot of roots that areโ similar within โthe programs,so there’s โaโค lot of mutual โrespectโข there,” โฃMeske โคadded. “it’s fun for the rivalry.”