Dancing again: Kentucky, Louisville, WKU, Morehead volleyball teams are NCAA Tourney-bound

Volleyball teams from Kentucky, Louisville, Western Kentucky and Morehead State put on their dancing shoes Sunday when the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship field was announced on ESPNU.

All four teams won conference championships and counted among 30 automatic qualifiers in the reduced 48-team field. They'll make their way to the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, where the entire tourney will be played April 14-24.

Kentucky earned the No. 2 overall seed, its highest in program history, and a first-round bye. It faces the winner of Illinois State (16-5) and UNLV (12-0) in a second-round match at 7 p.m. April 15.

Louisville garnered the No. 11 overall seed and also claimed a bye. It plays San Diego (12-4) or Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (14-4) at noon on April 15.

Western Kentucky plays Jackson State (11-0) at 10:30 p.m. April 14 in a first-round match. Morehead State takes on Big East champion Creighton (12-3) at 3:30 p.m. April 14, also in the first round.

Kentucky

The Wildcats claimed a fourth straight Southeastern Conference Championship with a sweep of Alabama March 24 and 25 at Memorial Coliseum. They'll make a 16th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under SEC co-coach of the year Craig Skinner. 

Kentucky (19-1) played an All-SEC schedule in a pandemic-affected season. The team thrived behind a series of high-level NCAA stats: top-ranked hitting percentage (36.1), second-ranked kills per set (14.98) and third-ranked assists per set (13.65).

Senior setter and three-time All-American Madison Lilley on Sunday was named SEC Player of the Year after averaging 11.9 assists and 2.32 digs per set with 24 service aces. Senior Gabby Curry was named the conference's Libero of the Year, and Alli Stumler, Avery Skinner, Madi Skinner, Azhani Tealer joined the duo on the All-SEC team.

UK, the No. 2 team in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25, has lost just once this season, to then-No. 7 Florida in five sets March 19. The Gators eluded the Wildcats in a 18-25, 27-25, 17-25, 25-16, 17-15 victory.

The Wildcats have posted a 99-17 (.853) record the last four seasons. 

Louisville

Louisville won its third ACC Volleyball Championship in the last six seasons with a 3-0 win over North Carolina, Friday in Coral Gables.

Freshman outside hitter Anna DeBeer, a former standout at Assumption High, recorded 13 kills, three aces and three blocks to help lift the Cardinals (14-2) to their first outright ACC title since 2015.

The 13th-ranked Cards played most of their split season in the spring but haven't lost since Oct. 23 at Pittsburgh and enter the NCAA Tournament on a 10-match winning streak.

The team leads the country in blocks per set (3.29) per the most recent NCAA stats, buttressed by middle blocker Amaya Tillman's third-ranked blocks per set (1.67). Tillman and Anna Stevenson paced the ACC in that category while senior setter Tori Dilfer led the ACC in assists per set (10.93).

Dani Busboom Kelly's team made a deep run in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. The Cards upset No. 2 seed Texas in a five-set thriller to reach a program-first Elite Eight.

Western Kentucky

The 19th-ranked Hilltoppers extended their undefeated season through the Conference USA Tournament Championship by beating No. 24 Rice 3-1 Saturday in Hattiesburg, Miss. 

Western Kentucky improved to 21-0 overall and 63-4 in sets behind Lauren Matthews' 20 kills and Paige Briggs' 11 kills and 15 digs. All-Conference First Team honorees Matthews, Briggs and Nadia Dieudonne and Second Team selection Katie Isenbarger propelled the team to a program-sixth C-USA Tourney title.

Western Kentucky started play in the fall but completed 20 of its 21 matches from January onward. Fifteen of those victories were three-set sweeps. The team dropped just one set in three conference championship matches against North Texas, UTEP and Rice. 

Travis Hudson's Hilltoppers rank second nationally in hitting percentage (35.3) and fifth in assists per set (13.58). The team led C-USA in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, assists and kills.

Dieudonne's NCAA-third 11.98 assists per set and Matthews' 1.28 blocks per set - both league bests - helped the team to a 12-0 conference mark.

Morehead State 

The Eagles (16-1) won the Ohio Valley Conference championship Friday with a straight-set sweep of Jacksonville State on their own floor at Johnson Arena. Morehead State, the top seed in the OVC Tournament, now is on the cusp of its third NCAA Tournament appearance.

Morehead State actually played Jacksonville State in its last three matches - two to end the regular-season and then in the conference tournament. The Eagles' first opponent in the conference championship was supposed to be fourth-seeded SIUE, but it was eliminated due to COVID-19 testing, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within its Tier 1 personnel.

Jacksonville State handed Morehead State its only loss March 28. The Eagles returned the favor the next day against the previously undefeated Gamecocks in a 3-0 victory and the teams finished as league co-champs.

Senior outside hitter Lauren Rokey was named the OVC Tournament's MVP and had 11 kills against second-seeded Jacksonville State in the conference tournament. Outside hitters Olivia Lohmeier and Abby Hulsman combined for 21 kills and setter Bridget Bessler added 38 assists, nine digs and three kills.

Reach Shannon Russell at slrussell@gannett.com and follow on Twitter @slrussell.