Kentucky volleyball secures automatic NCAA tournament spot— What's next?

The Kentucky Wildcats volleyball team finished off their championship crown, winning an outright SEC title after defeating the #24 Missouri Tigers 3-1. They have nine SEC championships in a row and were able to hold off the Texas Longhorns, who are the two-time national champions. The announcer at the end of the game said, "For Kentucky, it was not a matter of IF; it was only a matter of when."

The Wildcats took the first two sets but lost momentum, fell into a slump, and had some self-inflicted errors against Missouri. They lost the third set and started in a hole in the fourth set, but head coach Craig Skinner called a timeout and was able to reset his team. Kentucky went on to win the set and the match, clinching the outright title. When asked about that timeout, senior Emma Grome said, "He just reminded us to have that dog in us." They proved it with their play as they went from being on the defensive to the offensive.

This win gives them an automatic bid into the NCAA volleyball tournament, which starts on December 5. NCAA.com says this about the next steps, "The tournament bracket will be revealed during a selection show on Sunday, Dec. 1. Matches begin with the first and second rounds Dec. 5-7. Thirty-two teams receive automatic qualification, with the remaining 32 teams selected as at-larges by the Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee."

Kentucky will be looking at a fairly high seed, being one of the top programs in the country, and will go into this match as the #12 ranked team and as the top seed from the SEC. You can expect that they will receive a place somewhere between a 1-3 seed in the tournament. Last year, they punched their ticket as a two-seed and were able to make it to the third round. This year, the Wildcats have their sites set higher as they would love to keep the hot streak going into the tournament. Kentucky has won 11 straight matches, the last loss game against Texas on October 13.