Kentucky volleyball is set to compete in the AVCA First Serve Showcase in the KFC Yum! Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. The Cats will play powerhouse Nebraska, which will start the season ranked No. 2 in the country.
The Wildcats will start the season ranked No. 9 after an strong season last year where they went 17-1 in the SEC, earning their seventh straight SEC championship. Kentucky’s season ended in the NCAA Regional Semifinal last year.
Nebraska went 33-2 and won the Big Ten last season. The Cornhuskers were ranked as the No. 1 team in the country most of the year, but ended up losing to Texas in the National Championship game.
Goetzinger embrace each other during the Kentucky vs. Mississippi State volleyball match on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky won 3-0. Photo by Travis Fannon | Staff (Travis Fannon)
All in all, the match in Louisville has a lot of star players from both teams.
Nebraska returned three players who won awards last year. Senior libero Lexi Rodriguez was named the Defensive Player of the Year last season in the Big Ten, sophomore Bergen Reilly was Setter of the Year and Harper Murray was chosen as Freshman of the Year.
To go along with those three players, senior outside hitter Taylor Landfair and senior opposite hitter Merritt Beason were also selected for the preseason All-Big Ten Team.
Kentucky, on the other hand, lost two important players up front in middle blocker Azhani Tealer, who went pro after her senior season, and Reagan Rutherford, who transferred to Texas.
Kentucky did also kept some star power, though, with SEC Freshman of the Year Brooklyn DeLeye. Two other Cats joined her on the All-SEC Preseason Team in senior libero Eleanor Beavin and senior setter Emma Grome.
Two other names to look out for on Kentucky are freshman hitter Asia Thigpen and Delaney Hogan. Thigpen is Kentucky’s top freshman and was the No. 1 ranked recruit in the state of North Carolina according to Prep Volleyball. She should expect to get some playing time with players from last year’s team leaving. As for the fifth-year senior Hogan, she transferred from Xavier and is a three-time All-Big East Conference Team member and should get a lot of Tealer’s court time.
With the stage set, the game will be aired on ESPN2 before host No. 6 Louisville takes on No. 3 Wisconsin.