No. 5 Kentucky Travels to No. 21 Tennessee for Midweek Showdown

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 5 Kentucky Volleyball team will travel to Rocky Top on Wednesday night for a Southeastern Conference showdown against the No. 21 Tennessee Lady Vols at 6 p.m. ET live on ESPNU.
 
Kentucky and Tennessee sit first and second in the 2021 SEC standings as UK is 8-0 on the season in league play and Tennessee is 8-2 this year in the SEC. The Lady Vols have played two more matches than the Wildcats in conference play with the bye weekends already coming on the UK schedule.
 
Sam Gore (pxp) and Jennifer Fowler (color) will have the call from Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday night for ESPNU.
 
Kentucky is coming off a weekend two-match sweep of Arkansas in which the Wildcats won two five-set matches against the Razorbacks inside Memorial Coliseum. At 15-3, Kentucky currently is ranked at No. 5 in the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association top-25 poll and is led by Madi Skinner, averaging over 3.8 kills per set offensively.
 
The Wildcats have won a season-high nine matches in a row, dating back to Sept. 15. In that time, UK has won four five-setters and has collected three sweeps.
 
UK leads the all-time series with Tennessee, 54-30 and has won the last six meetings in a row with the Lady Vols dating back to 2016. Kentucky has won 10 sets in a row over Tennessee and the Lady Vols got swept in both matches a season ago in the 2020-21 opening weekend of fall play.
 
Tennessee, under the direction of fourth-year head coach Eve Rackham-Watt is 16-4 overall and currently sitting at No. 21 in the AVCA poll. The Lady Vols played two matches this weekend against LSU, winning in five sets Saturday night before losing in a sweep Sunday afternoon in Baton Rouge. Tennessee’s Breana Runnels leads the Lady Vol offense with 3.49 kills per set.
 
Follow along with the Wildcats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.