After sweeping Eastern Tennessee State University 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the UK volleyball team will take on WKU Saturday to compete for a spot in the NCAA Sweet 16.

The Hilltoppers (31-3) are making their fourth-straight NCAA tournament appearance, along with their fourth-straight Conference USA championship.

UK earned its 13^th-straight NCAA Tournament berth in 2017.

The last time the two opponents met was in an exhibition game in August of this season, which was UK’s season debut. The meeting was the first of its kind in program history.

Now, with more experience under their belts, the two powerhouses will be meeting once again in Memorial Coliseum, this time with much more at stake and boasting the no. 2 (WKU) and no. 3 (UK) hitting percentages in the country.

The upcoming meeting between the Cats and Hilltoppers will represent two of the state of Kentucky’s three conference champions, the other being Louisville, whom both teams have played this season. WKU fell to the Cardinals 3-1 while Kentucky swept them 3-0.

Although both teams swept their opponents in the first round, neither team had it easy, as the scores of each set remained fairly close. Kentucky won 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21), and WKU took the victory over the Notre Dame Irish (25-16, 25-18, 25-22).

Strong hitting seemed to be UK’s strong suit against ETSU as the team earned a .556 hitting percentage in the first set.

Avery Skinner and Leah Edmond posed a problem for ETSU’s defense, with Skinner racking in 14 kills while Edmond earned 11.

Another asset to UK was found in middle blocker Kaz Brown, one of the best blockers in the country, who registered three blocks for the game.

The Tops found their main threats to Notre Dame in outside hitter Alyssa Cavanaugh and right-side hitter Sydney Engle. Cavanaugh had 18 kills for the night while Engle recorded a double-double.

Both the Cats and Hilltoppers will be bringing the heat Saturday at 7 p.m. to try and advance one step closer to the NCAA championship.