WKU draws NCAA first-round match against Minnesota in Lexington
Published 2:57 pm Monday, December 2, 2024
- Western Kentucky’s Izzy Van De Wiele spikes the ball as Louisiana Tech’s Mariah Jones (17) and Izabely Benjamin jump to block in the Hilltoppers’ 3-0 win Oct. 19 at E.A. Diddle Arena. (GRACE MCDOWELL / Daily News)
Western Kentucky’s volleyball team had its name called Sunday night as one of the 64 teams playing in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
The Hilltoppers earned their 17th trip to the tournament after securing the automatic bid with their ninth Conference USA tournament championship win.
The Hilltoppers will take on the No. 6 seed Minnesota Golden Gophers on Thursday with first serve set for 3:30 p.m. CT. at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. Host Kentucky, the No. 3 seed, will face Cleveland State after at 6:30 p.m., with the winners of those two matches playing Friday at 6 p.m.
Tickets are available through Kentucky Athletics. All-session tickets will go on sale on Tuesday at 8 a.m. CT while single match tickets will be available on Wednesday at 8 a.m. CT.
WKU and Minnesota have only met once before with the advantage going to the Golden Gophers, 1-0. That meeting between the two programs was in 1984, with a 3-0 sweep by Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers posted a 20-10 overall record (13-7 Big Ten Conference) with wins over Texas, Wisconsin and UCLA.
With a win on Thursday, WKU would move on to play either Kentucky or Cleveland State. The Wildcats posted a 20-7 overall record and 14-2 in the SEC while securing the automatic bid by winning the SEC tournament. Cleveland State posted a 23-9 overall record and 11-7 in the Horizon League while also securing the automatic bid after winning the Horizon League tournament.
The Hilltoppers earned a trip to their sixth straight NCAA tournament securing the automatic bid after winning the CUSA tournament. In 2023, they defeated first-round opponent Coastal Carolina before falling to Tennessee in the second round.
Since joining Conference USA prior to the 2014 campaign, WKU has secured nine of the possible 10 automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament.
The opening rounds of the NCAA tournament will take place Thursday through Saturday. Regionals—Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight—will take place Dec. 12-15. The Final Four will take place in Tampa on Dec. 19, with the national championship match on Dec. 22.
