BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A rematch of last season’s NCAA Tournament Round of 32 contest, the 16th-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols and Western Kentucky Hilltoppers face off at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.
The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and fans can purchase tickets online for $5.
The Big Orange (2-2) swept WKU (4-2) in the December matchup, ending Western Kentucky’s 25-match win streak. Both teams lost an All-American outside hitter, but unlike Tennessee, the Hilltoppers return five starters from last year’s squad that finished with 30 total wins and were champions of Conference USA.
Tennessee is coming off straight-set wins against No. 25 UCLA and LIU. Redshirt sophomore Caroline Kerr garnered SEC Player and Setter of the Week honors after recording 73 assists, 14 digs, four aces, three kills and three blocks in the two outings. She helped the Big Orange offense hit .368 for the week and 51 percent of her sets led to kills for the Lady Vols. Kerr ranked second in the league for the week in assists per set (12.17) and was third in aces per set (0.67).
Outside hitter Paityn Chapman garnered SEC Freshman of the Week accolades as well, tallying 16 kills on .314 hitting, seven digs, six blocks and one ace. Against the Bruins, she posted 11 kills on .333 hitting, five digs, one ace and one solo block. She opened the match with the hot hand, scoring three of the first five points for the Big Orange and finishing with six kills in the opening set to swing the momentum in favor of the Lady Vols early. Against LIU, Chapman finished with five kills and a personal-best five blocks.
Western Kentucky is coming off a three-match weekend that saw them go 2-1. They opened things with a sweep against Marist before falling in four sets to Michigan State. The Hilltoppers bounced back with a victory against Loyola-Chicago in four sets. Their only other loss on the year came at the hands of ninth-ranked Kentucky in four sets.
