‘Excited for our fans.’ Kentucky volleyball to open NCAA Tournament play at home
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kentucky secured a No.1 seed following a 25-2 season and SEC titles.
- Kentucky will host opening rounds and faces Wofford in Thursday matchup.
- Tickets go on sale through UKathletics with all-session prices starting at $37.
One of the best shows in town extends this week with the start of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament, as second-ranked Kentucky continues its quest for a national championship.
“Exciting time of year for Kentucky volleyball and the whole country,” head coach Craig Skinner said Sunday evening after learning his team will host its opening match later this week. “You see the excitement on everybody’s faces when you see the TV cameras pop up on their teams, and for us, it’s no different. It’s what I would consider our third season, you know? Pre-conference, then conference and postseason.”
As a reward for its impressive 25-2 (15-0 SEC) record — an SEC regular-season and conference tournament title — the selection committee named the Wildcats as one of four top seeds alongside overall No. 1 seed Nebraska (30-0, 20-0 Big Ten), Pittsburgh (26-4, 18-2 ACC) and SEC Tournament runner-up Texas (23-3, 13-2 SEC).
Kentucky will begin NCAA play this Thursday at 7 p.m. with a matchup at Memorial Coliseum against the Wofford Terriers (17-13, 10-6 SoCon).
“A lot of respect for Wofford,” Skinner said. “They were here a couple years ago, and they play a great style of volleyball. So it’ll be a fun night on Thursday.”
Kentucky, along with the other No. 1 seeds, earned the right to host games all the way up the Final Four, which will be held in Kansas City, Missouri.
Ahead of UK’s match against Wofford, 8-seeded UCLA will face Georgia Tech at 4:30 p.m. The winners of the first-round matchups will play at 7 p.m. Friday with all three matches being streamed on ESPN+.
Though some teams likely breathed a sigh of relief when they saw they didn’t draw the same quadrant of the bracket as Kentucky, Skinner noted that there’s not necessarily such a thing as an “easy” draw, and that every team that earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament is there for a reason.
“Every team, when you get to this point, is capable,” Skinner said. “Wofford is our first opponent. If we’re lucky enough to advance on that, you’ve got to play UCLA/Georgia Tech, who’ve proven themselves to beat teams. And then, when you get the chance to play in the regional, it becomes, ‘Everybody’s really good.’”
There are, however, some advantages to earning hosting privileges.
“I’m excited for our fans,” Skinner said, “because we really didn’t play that many home matches. Overall, on the season, we played a ton of matches away from home in pre-conference. So for us to be able to get the chance to play on our home court, home fans, sleep in our own beds, I mean, all of that stuff is exciting.
“And I think the momentum, and the wave of support for us is growing. And we want to keep that going.”
Per UK Athletics, all-session tickets will be available to the public for purchase, as low as $37 for adults and $26 for youth ages 6-18 and seniors age 65 and up, through UKathletics.com and at the UK Ticket Office at 10 a.m. Monday, while single-session tickets, as low as $21 for adults and $16 for youth and seniors, will go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
