UK wins share of fifth straight SEC volleyball title and coach reaches major milestone
For the fifth straight season, Kentucky volleyball is the best in the Southeastern Conference.
No. 8-ranked Kentucky clinched at least a share of its fifth straight SEC volleyball title on Friday afternoon inside Memorial Coliseum with a straight sets 3-0 victory over No. 20 Florida.
The victory was the 400th career win for Kentucky head coach Craig Skinner as well.
Kentucky won outright SEC volleyball championships both last season — on its way to winning the first national championship in program history — and in 2018, and UK shared the conference title with Florida in 2017 and 2019.
Friday’s win came on Senior Day for Kentucky, as the program honored Alli Stumler, Lauren Tharp and Cameron Scheitzach prior to the match.
All three players were part of last season’s national championship-winning team.
The milestone victory also came in front of a crowd of 3,149 fans, a season-high crowd at Memorial Coliseum.
While Friday’s victory gives UK at least a share of the SEC crown, that could easily turn into an outright SEC title.
The two simplest ways for UK to win the outright SEC title would be with either a Mississippi State loss to Auburn on Friday evening or another Kentucky win over Florida on Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Coliseum.
Saturday’s match against Florida, which is set to start at 1 p.m., is the final regular-season match for the Wildcats, who are now 23-4 overall and 16-1 in conference play.
The NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which will reveal Kentucky’s seed for the NCAA Tournament and the bracket for the Wildcats to navigate in search of a second straight national title, will take place Sunday at 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The 64-team field will be comprised of 32 teams that automatically qualify and 32 teams selected on an at-large basis by the NCAA Division I women’s volleyball committee.
Regardless of if Kentucky wins the SEC outright or is recognized as a co-champion with Mississippi State, UK will receive the SEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament because Kentucky owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Mississippi State after a 3-1 victory by the Wildcats on Oct. 6.
The NCAA Tournament will begin Dec. 2 and conclude Dec. 18 with the national championship match at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Next match
No. 20 Florida at No. 8 Kentucky
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Live video broadcast: SEC Network Plus (online only)
Records: Florida 20-7 (14-3), Kentucky 23-4 (16-1)
This story was originally published November 26, 2021 at 3:12 PM.
