Cats climb to sixth seed, face South Carolina.

Nov. 16, 1999

As a result of a Tuesday morning conference call between the Southeastern Conference volleyball coaches, the final three seeds of this weekend’s SEC Tournament have been changed for a fourth and final time. The Wildcats, who were given the seventh seed last night, now hold the No. 6 seed in the SEC Volleyball Tournament, set for Nov. 19-21 in Knoxville, Tenn. The Cats will play the No. 3-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks. The match will take place at Tennessee’s Stokely Athletics Center on Friday, Nov. 19, at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Kentucky (14-13, 6-8 SEC) beat the Gamecocks, 3-2, in the last match of the season to earn its place in the tournament. In what was the final UK home match of the year, the Cats pulled out the improbable victory after falling behind 2-0. The two teams split the season series as UK lost at South Carolina, 3-1, earlier this season at the Volleyball Competition Facility in Columbia, S.C.

UK’s 6-8 conference record placed them in a tie with Alabama and LSU for the sixth seed in the tourney. In accordance with the SEC rulebook, the Western Divisional tie between ‘Bama and LSU was decided first with the Crimson Tide getting the nod. Kentucky was then placed ahead of both teams due to its Oct. 1 win over ‘Bama. The Tide will now face No. 2-seeded and 23rd ranked Arkansas for the third time this season while attempting to beat them for the first time. The match will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday. With the No. 8 seed, LSU will play top-seeded Florida, which is currently ranked 4th in the country. That match is set for Friday at 4:30 p.m.

In the tournament’s only match-up that remained untouched during the seeding process, the No. 4 seed and host Lady Vols will take on the No. 5-seeded Auburn Tigers in the Friday evening match at 7 o’clock.

This is the 21st appearance in the SEC Tournament for the Wildcats who have won the tournament title five times.