Kentucky Seeded 12th in NCAA Tournament, Hosts Opening Weekend

LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the 18th time in 18 years under head coach Craig Skinner, the University of Kentucky volleyball team was selected to compete in the NCAA Volleyball Championship, as announced during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday night.

Kentucky earned the No. 12 overall national seed and will be a host site for the first and second rounds this weekend in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. Joining UK in Lexington will be Western Kentucky, Bowling Green and Loyola-Chicago.

All-session tickets for the NCAA Lexington Sub-Regional will go on-sale through UKathletics.com and the UK Ticket Office on Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. ET. Kentucky season ticket holders will get priority when purchasing tickets Monday morning at 9 a.m. ET before general tickets go on-sale to the public Tuesday morning. The cost is $12 for reserved single-match tickets and $10 for single-match general admission tickets. Fans can purchase $18 tickets for all-session reserved seating and $15 tickets for all-session general admission seats. Tickets for UK students will be free with a valid UK ID upon entry to the Coliseum. There is a group rate (15 members+) that is $5 per person in general admission seating.

Fans are highly encouraged to buy tickets ahead of time to avoid lines when entering the arena.

Kentucky has reached the NCAA Tournament 24 times now in program history, including 2020-21 when the Wildcats won the NCAA National Championship, becoming the first Southeastern Conference team to win the NCAA Volleyball Tournament.

The SEC’s automatic qualifying spot went to Florida by virtue of a head-to-head point-scoring tiebreak with Kentucky. Other than UF and UK, the SEC got seven teams into the big dance including Georgia, Arkansas, Auburn, Tennessee and LSU. The seven SEC teams was the most of any conference in the country.

No. 12 Kentucky (20-7, 15-3 SEC)

• SEC Champions; At-large bid
• 4 national strength of schedule
• RPI – 8

Western Kentucky (28-3, 14-0 Conference USA)

• C-USA Champions; Automatic Qualifiers
• 116 national strength of schedule
• RPI – 24

Bowling Green (22-9, 15-3 MAC)

• MAC Champions; Automatic Qualifier
• 71 national strength of schedule
• RPI – 53

Loyola-Chicago (25-8, 17-1 A-10)

• A-10 Champions; Automatic Qualifiers
• 157 national strength of schedule
• RPI – 76

2022 NCAA Volleyball Championship

Memorial Coliseum – Lexington, Ky.

First & Second Rounds

Thursday, Dec. 1

4:30 p.m. ET – Western Kentucky vs. Bowling Green

7:30 p.m. ET – (12) Kentucky vs. Loyola-Chicago

Friday Dec. 2

7 p.m. ET – Winner of Western Kentucky/Bowling Green vs. Winner of Kentucky/Loyola-Chicago

Follow along with the Wildcats on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and on the web at UKathletics.com.