‘That delivered.’ Kentucky, Louisville play epic volleyball match in rare ESPN broadcast.
Dani Busboom Kelly spoke with passion and purpose in her voice, and said she would have done the same in victory or defeat.
Her words came in response to a common question raised during media sessions after Kelly’s No. 3-ranked Louisville volleyball team (8-1) pulled out a five-set win over No. 13 Kentucky (5-3) at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington on Wednesday night.
The three-hour epic of a match was broadcast to a national television audience on ESPN, marking just the fourth time in 25 years that regular season NCAA volleyball was broadcast on the network.
So the common question that was asked to Kelly — U of L’s head coach who has won 40 of her last 42 matches — as well as Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner, and their players, was this:
What can Wednesday night’s thrilling match on ESPN featuring two of the best teams in the country do for interest in the sport of women’s volleyball?
“Just seeing how athletic these women are and how hard they work and how important each point is in volleyball, there’s really not a sport like that,” Kelly said. “It can be hypnotizing as a fan if you start watching and really are paying attention because momentum shifts so fast and every single point is a big point.”
“I think bring respect to the sport, bring new viewers that maybe haven’t watched it before,” added Skinner. “With the reach that ESPN can get to, you’re going to touch some people that maybe haven’t seen it, a heavyweight match like this before. It’s there, it’s growing and I think both teams rose up to the occasion, wanted to perform.”
Each part of Wednesday night’s rivalry matchup between the Cats and Cards delivered for the in-person and broadcast audience.
Four of the match’s five sets were decided by five points or fewer. Kentucky fought off a match point from Louisville in the fourth set, with UK winning three straight points to send the match to a fifth and deciding set, which Louisville won, 15-11.
Throughout the night, a mostly pro-UK crowd of 3,756 people — the seventh-largest crowd in Kentucky volleyball history and the largest crowd in Memorial Coliseum since 2017 — provided a thunderous vocal soundtrack to the match.
Even though this element worked against Kelly’s team — like when junior Anna DeBeer committed a service error during Louisville’s match point in the fourth set with the crowd blaring in her ear — Kelly thought it was important for a strong crowd presence to be communicated through the national ESPN broadcast.
“I think that matters on TV so they can see the momentum in the gym and how fun it would be to be there live,” Kelly said.
On Thursday night, ESPN announced the match was the most-viewed regular season volleyball match ever on ESPN networks with 302,000 viewers.
Those involved in the match like DeBeer, Kelly and Skinner all realized the platform provided to their sport by the ESPN broadcast.
“When I realized that it was on ESPN I was like, ‘Wow, they’re finally giving volleyball the credit that I think we have worked for and deserved,’” said DeBeer, who is from Louisville and went to Assumption High School in the city. “Just to have this opportunity, for Kentucky versus Louisville, it couldn’t get much better than that.”
This increased exposure for Kentucky volleyball wasn’t limited to just television on Wednesday night.
The match was also broadcast via radio on UK Sports Network affiliates throughout the state. Dick Gabriel and former UK volleyball star Leah Edmond comprised the radio team.
A radio broadcast on UK Sports Network affiliates (WLAP-AM 630 in Lexington) featuring that same duo will also occur for Kentucky’s next match at 3 p.m. Sunday in Memorial Coliseum against No. 2 Nebraska (7-1).
That UK-Nebraska match will also receive a national television broadcast on ESPN2.
“For people to see that in the stands and see it on TV, it was impressive,” Skinner said. “Not just (as a) sporting event, but the athleticism on both sides of the net.”
The immediate returns on the impression made by the historic Kentucky-Louisville volleyball match were promising.
Less than 20 minutes after the match ended, Kelly said her phone was already filled with texts from other volleyball coaches and fans from around the country.
“It was pretty awesome that both teams played really well, especially in certain moments on the ESPN match,” Kelly said. “It was just awesome. ... That delivered.”
Wildcats still hold all-time mark against Cardinals
While Wednesday’s result marked the second straight year that U of L has defeated UK in a five-set match, the Cats still hold the all-time record advantage against the Cardinals.
The Wildcats have won nine of the last 12 meetings in the series dating back to 2011.
All time, Kentucky has a 31-27 record against Louisville on the volleyball court.
But, Louisville can lay claim to commonwealth supremacy against other volleyball programs in the state this season.
U of L now has wins over Northern Kentucky, Western Kentucky and Kentucky this season.
“This is like something you dream of when you’re younger,” DeBeer said.
This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 7:35 AM.
