Kentucky volleyball soaring up the rankings despite tough schedule

Kentucky has the most losses of any top 15 team but also the toughest schedule in preparation for this SEC run.

University of Kentucky women’s volleyball warms up ahead of their game against Nebraska on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024 at the KFC YUM! Center in Louisville, Ky.
University of Kentucky women’s volleyball warms up ahead of their game against Nebraska on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024 at the KFC YUM! Center in Louisville, Ky. | Clare Grant/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Kentucky women's volleyball team is on a hot streak during SEC play. They have won seven straight games, many of them 3-0 sets. They haven't lost a set since beating Tennessee 3-1. This was all part of the plan for the Wildcats as they prepared to make a run for the SEC crown by playing some of the hardest competition in the nation to start the season.

To start the year, they played the likes of Nebraska (currently ranked #2), Purdue (currently ranked #8), Penn State (currently ranked #4), SMU (currently ranked #10), Louisville (currently ranked #3), Stanford (currently ranked #7). This is a gauntlet of competition and may be why they have the most losses of any of the top 15 teams but still are considered one of the top teams.

After this run, the volleyball program has climbed to #13 in the DI NCAA AVCA rankings and is now a top-10 team in the RPI standings, coming in at #10. This is an impressive showing from the Wildcats as they look to finish the season with SEC matchups of Georgia, Mississippi State, Arkansas, and Missouri. There is a chance they could sweep the final games and finish the season at 20-7 and 13-2 in the SEC.

The plan to prepare for the SEC by taking on the best of the best has worked tremendously and will continue to pay dividends when they see some of those non-conference foes again in the postseason. This is a year in which the Wildcats have their eyes set on some big things and are backing it up with strong play. They are looking for another banner to match the 2020 year in which head coach Craig Skinner was first able to bring home the top prize.

To make things even better, they added three top volleyball recruits to their 2025 signing class yesterday and want to continue their SEC dominance and future runs for the national title.