Wildcats open SEC play vs. Tigers
LEXINGTON – September 23, 2021
After a successful 7-3 non-conference season, the No. 7 Kentucky Volleyball team will turn its attention to the second portion of its season Friday night as it opens Southeastern Conference play against the Missouri Tigers at 7 p.m. ET inside Memorial Coliseum.
Fans should note the start time moved up an hour to 7 p.m. ET and will now be shown on the SEC Network+, ESPN3 and the ESPN app. Clay Ables and Kathy DeBoer will have the call from Memorial Coliseum. Tickets are available at UKathletics.com/tickets.
Doors to Memorial Coliseum open at 6 p.m. ET. Fans are also reminded that there is an indoor mask policy on campus at Kentucky, regardless of vaccination status. All fans in attendance are asked to wear a mask unless actively eating or drinking.
Kentucky is 7-3 on the season and sits at No. 7 in this week’s American Volleyball Coaches’ Association top-25 poll. The Wildcats are coming off of a 3-2 win over No. 14 Stanford on Sunday in front of over 3,600 fans, the eighth-largest crowd in program history. Madi Skinner set a new career high with 24 kills as the Wildcats won its first-ever match against the Cardinal.
Kentucky and Missouri are opening SEC play for the second time in the last three seasons. In 2019, UK visited Columbia on SEC opening weekend, sweeping the Tigers in three tight sets. In 2020, the Wildcats and Tigers met in the fall with UK winning two four-set matches. Kentucky leads the all-time series, 11-5.
Missouri is 3-10 on the season led by third-year head coach Josh Taylor. Anna Dixon leads the offensive charge for the Tigers with 3.59 kills per set. This is also Missouri’s first conference match of the season.
UK has won the SEC regular season championship for four years in a row, a new program record. The Wildcats went 19-1 last season in conference play with their only loss coming at Florida in March.