UK to start pursuit of NCAA volleyball title at home; SEC has most berths in 64-team field

Fresh off winning its sixth Southeastern Conference volleyball championship in a row on Saturday, the University of Kentucky was awarded the No. 12 overall seed Sunday night for the NCAA Tournament beginning this week.

Lexington will serve as the host site for first- and second-round matches in Memorial Coliseum on Thursday and Friday.

The Wildcats were one of seven teams from the SEC and three teams in Kentucky to earn berths in the 64-team bracket.

Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, LSU and Tennessee also gained entry from the SEC, which secured the most bids of any conference. Louisville and Western Kentucky join UK from the commonwealth.

Texas, Louisville, Wisconsin and Stanford were named the top four seeds for this year’s tournament.

Thursday’s first-round games in Memorial Coliseum pit Western Kentucky (28-3) against Bowling Green (22-9) at 4:30 p.m and Kentucky (20-7) vs. Loyola-Chicago (25-8) at 7:30 p.m.

The winners square off in the second round on Friday at 7 p.m., with a berth in the NCAA round of 16 at stake.

Kentucky is making its 18^th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Craig Skinner. The Wildcats won their first national championship after the 2020-21 season that was extended because of the pandemic. Last season, the Cats were eliminated by Illinois in the second round as the tourney’s No. 7 overall seed.

This year, Kentucky is the No. 3 seed in its 16-team segment of the bracket with No. 2 San Diego and No. 1 Stanford potentially standing in the way of a berth in the Final Four in Omaha, Neb.

During the regular season, Kentucky played against 13 teams in this year’s NCAA field and went 11-6 in those 17 matches.

All-session tickets for this week’s matches in Memorial Coliseum were to go on sale through UKathletics.com and the UK Ticket Office on Monday morning for season ticket holders and on Tuesday at 9 a.m. for the rest of the general public.

The cost is $12 for reserved single-match tickets and $10 for single-match general admission. Fans can purchase $18 tickets for all-session reserved seating and $15 tickets for all-session general admission.

▪ Louisville, which reached the NCAA Final Four last season, will also launch its pursuit of a championship from its home court. The Cardinals (26-2) host Samford (19-12) on Friday at 7 p.m., following a first-round match at 4 p.m. between Purdue (20-10) and Tennessee (17-13). The second-round match in Louisville is set for Saturday at 6 p.m.