U of L, UK volleyball teams finish in top four in NCAA tournament, will host opening games | sport

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – The Louisville and Kentucky volleyball teams each capped highly successful regular seasons by securing top-four seedings in the NCAA Tournament while also being named hosts of a first-round game.

U of L is a No. 1 seed and will make its 33rd tournament appearance when the Cardinals (25-5) take on Friday at 7 p.m. at the KFC Yum! face Chicago State. Center. If the Cards advance, they will face the winner of the Illinois/No. 8 Northern Iowa game on Saturday.

“I feel like we did a great job all year to get into the top four,” U of L coach Dani Busboom Kelly said. “That’s the goal, to put ourselves in the best possible position to have a great run in the tournament and I really feel like we’ve done that.” “We’ve got a tough draw.” There are some really good teams on our side before we can even think about the Final Four, but just the relief of being seeded in the top four and knowing we don’t have to travel is really nice.”

UK (20-7) was seeded No. 3 and will face Cleveland State on Thursday at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington at 7:30 p.m. If the Wildcats win, they will play Western Kentucky/No. 6 Minnesota winners on Friday at 7 p.m. for the right to play in the regional round.

Kentucky will be making its 20th straight NCAA Tournament appearance under coach Craig Skinner and is a national seed for the seventh straight year. The Cats won the national championship in 2020-21 and reached the regional semifinals 13 times.

UK ranked 12th in the final American Volleyball Coaches Association poll and won the SEC regular-season title with a 14-2 record. The Wildcats will enter the tournament on an 11-game winning streak.

U of L had won nine straight before losing to No. 1 Pittsburgh 3-1 at home and No. 6 Stanford 3-1 in its last two games. The Cards tied for second place in the ACC with Stanford at 17-3, behind Pitt (19-1). The Cards fell to Pitt twice and lost 3-1 on the road in addition to the home loss. All of Louisville’s losses came against top-five teams – No. 1 Nebraska (3-0) and No. 4 Penn State (3-0), in addition to losses to Pitt and Stanford. In total, U of L played 13 games against top-25 teams, which was considered the toughest schedule in the country.

“I think this team is super resilient, they learn quickly and they are hungry to keep going,” Busboom Kelly said. “I do think there’s more pressure this year with the Final Four in Louisville, but we talked about it after Saturday: ‘Now we’re done, the pressure should be off and we can just play.’ We did what we had to do, we can’t go back and change anything. Now it’s the tournament and you want to go out feeling great, have fun and enjoy the moment without worrying about expectations or pressure.

Thirty-one conferences received automatic qualification in the 64-team field, with the remaining 33 spots filled by at-large selections. In addition to Louisville, Pitt, Nebraska and Penn State were awarded No. 1 seeds. The Panthers finished 29-1 with the best record in Division I while winning their third straight ACC Championship. Nebraska and Penn State each went 19-1 and won a share of the Big Ten Conference title and finished the regular season 29-2.

The regional championships will be held at four undetermined locations on campus, which will be announced on December 8th. Each location will consist of four teams, with the winners advancing to the Final Four in the KFC Yum! tournament. Center.