It wasn’t too long ago that we saw this matchup. Both teams met in the national semifinals, where the Wildcats won, 3-2 (12-25, 25-22, 21-25, 26-24, 15-13), to advance to the 2025 NCAA championship. Now the two will help open up the new college volleyball season at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Tonight will mark the fifth time these two teams have met at the net. The Badgers won the first two meetings, but when the teams met in the tournament, Kentucky finally pulled off the win when it mattered most.
Both teams return key players. For the Wildcats, senior outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye returns after recording 15 kills in the teams’ last matchup. One key player Kentucky will miss is Eva Hudson, who finished the season with 546 kills, a Kentucky single-season record.
Wisconsin enters the season opener with a revamped roster. The Badgers have nine freshmen and two new transfers: senior Eva Travis and junior Jaela Auguste. A familiar face to watch will be Charlie Fuerbringer, who earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors in 2025. Fuerbringer recorded a mind-blowing 63 assists in her last matchup against Kentucky.
👉Check out last year’s semifinal matchup highlights here.