Kentucky volleyball (25-2, 15-0 SEC) is set to take on Wofford (17-13, 10-6 SoCon) in the first game of its 21st-straight NCAA tournament as the No. 2 overall seed, and No. 1 seed in the region.
The Wildcats will enter not only the match as favorites to take the win, but also as contenders for the 2025 National Championship as a whole.
Kentucky is coming into the tournament on a high after a reverse-sweep against third-seeded Texas to win the 2025 SEC Tournament, which is the first time the tournament has been held since 2005.
The history between the two teams is limited to only one previous showing, however it reads eerily similar to what this second meeting may hold.
On Nov. 30, 2023, Kentucky swept the Terriers in the first round of the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed at home in Rupp Arena.
Surely, Kentucky will fight to repeat history as they welcome the Terriers back to the Bluegrass for another first-round NCAA match.
The showing in Historic Memorial Coliseum will be Wofford’s third NCAA tournament appearance. The volleyball team is the only women’s team at Wofford to make an NCAA tournament.
In the 2023 matchup, Kentucky achieved a 0.390 hitting percentage – more than doubling that of Wofford’s 0.155 hitting percentage.
Across the board, Wofford’s numbers in nearly every major statistical category fall short to Kentucky’s dominant 2025 season. The Terriers lead in serve aces per set with 1.50 and digs per set with 15.6.
In the 2025 season, Kentucky is the only team in the nation that took on all four NCAA Final Four teams from 2024, where it went 2-2, playing all four matchups without a home court advantage.
This 2025 NCAA tournament will be the 26th trip in the program’s history. This 21st-straight showing started after a 12-year tournament hiatus prior to the arrival of Head Coach Craig Skinner.
At their home court, if trend follows suit, Kentucky will be looking to continue its home-win streak of 18, dating back to Oct. 13, 2024. Dating back to the same day, the Wildcats hold a 29-straight match win streak over SEC opponents.
Both streaks followed a Cats 3-0 loss to Texas. With a regular season sweep and the SEC Tournament reverse-sweep against the Longhorns, Kentucky has been looking fiery against some of the nation’s best teams.
In the past three years, Kentucky has managed to advance in the regionals of the tournament before falling. In two of those three years, its regional losses came to teams that made runs to the Final Four.
The only time that the Cats have enjoyed an NCAA National Championship was during the 2020 season, where they were the first SEC volleyball program to claim the title.
Now, Kentucky hosts a roster reflective of its 2020 championship-winning team, and are looking to make a deep run in the tournament, with its eyes set on being crowned champions for the second time in program history.
Postseason play for the Wildcats against Wofford is set to begin on Thursday, Dec. 4 in Historic Memorial Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. EST.
