Kentucky volleyball hosts NCAA play this weekend. Here’s what the Wildcats face.
After winning its third straight Southeastern Conference championship, the University of Kentucky volleyball team will open its postseason run Friday night in Memorial Coliseum with an eye toward advancing to the Final Four for the first time in program history.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 11 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, will host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. They are making their 15th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under Coach Craig Skinner. They’re one of 10 teams in the country to reach the tournament 15 straight times. That run has included appearances in five Sweet 16s and two Elite Eights.
This year’s Final Four will be played in Pittsburgh. The top four seeds in the 64-team NCAA field are No. 1 Baylor (25-1), No. 2 Texas (21-3), No. 3 Stanford (24-4) and No. 4 Wisconsin (22-6). Kentucky (23-6) is the No. 9 overall seed.
Northern Kentucky (19-12) will face Michigan (20-10) at 5 p.m. on Friday to open play in the Lexington Regional. Kentucky will take on Southeast Missouri in the second match, with the winners meeting Saturday at 7 p.m. with a Sweet 16 berth on the line.
Southeast Missouri is 23-10 overall and went 12-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Redhawks won the league tournament with a 3-0 sweep over Morehead State. Michigan, ranked No. 22 in the coaches’ poll, was 13-7 in the Big Ten, earning an at-large NCAA bid. Northern Kentucky went 9-7 in the Horizon League, then won the conference tournament.
UK earned the No. 9 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament after going 16-2 in SEC play. The Wildcats have won 17 of their last 19 matches including eight straight. They were taken to five sets just once during that eight-game stretch, a 3-2 victory at Florida. The Gators also went 16-2 in SEC play to claim a share of the league title, but both of those losses came at the hands of Kentucky, giving the Wildcats the conference’s automatic NCAA bid.
UK will bring plenty of firepower into the postseason. Four Wildcats made the All-SEC Team, including senior Leah Edmond and junior Gabby Curry.
Edmond, from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington, was named the SEC Player of the Year for the second straight time while Curry was named Libero of the Year for the second season in a row. Junior setter Madison Lilley and sophomore outside hitter Alli Stumler also earned All-SEC honors.
Tickets for the first and second rounds can be found online at UKathletics.com/NCAATickets.
Kentucky is joined in the NCAA Tournament by five other SEC teams: South Carolina, Missouri, Texas A&M, Florida and Georgia.
Two other teams from Kentucky also are in the field. Western Kentucky and Louisville were to open play Thursday night.
▪ Neither match in the Lexington Regional will be televised, but live online video broadcasts are available. Kentucky-SEMO will be on SEC Network Plus, which is accessible through your satellite or cable provider. NKU-Michigan is on ESPN3, which requires a subscription.
NCAA Tournament
Lexington Regional
At Memorial Coliseum
Friday’s first round: Northern Kentucky vs. Michigan, 5 p.m.; Southeast Missouri vs. Kentucky, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday’s second round: First-round winners, 7 p.m.
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 7:49 AM.
