No. 21 Hilltoppers Start NCAA Tournament Against Coastal Carolina in Knoxville
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – With their 16th NCAA Tournament, WKU Volleyball is set to match up against Coastal Carolina in the opening round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament on Friday, December 1 from Knoxville, Tennessee. The Hilltoppers will head to the event with a 29-4 record after locking up an automatic bid by taking the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles.
SCHEDULE:
First Round
Friday, December 1 – 3:30 p.m. CT | WKU vs. Coastal Carolina
Friday, December 1 – 5:30 p.m. CT | [12] Tennessee vs. High Point
Second Round
Saturday, December 2 – 5 p.m. CT | Winner of WKU/Coastal Carolina vs. Winner of [12] Tennessee/High Point
Tickets are available through Tennessee Athletics and seating is general admission inside the Food City Center. Tickets start at just $5 for a single match. Parking is free for all matches.
WKU and Coastal Carolina will meet for just the second time ever with Coastal having the 1-0 advantage. The last meeting, played in Richmond, Va. in 1995, was a 3-1 loss to Coastal Carolina.
The Chanticleers posted a 22-9 record (14-2 Sun Belt) with wins over three tournament teams in South Alabama, Texas State, and James Madison, while earning the Sun Belt’s automatic bid as their tournament champion.
If the Hilltoppers can take care of business against Coastal Carolina, they will take on either High Point or host [12] Tennessee. High Point finished 23-7 securing a bid by winning the Big South Tournament after a perfect 14-0 in the regular season. Tennessee earned the 12th national seed finishing with a 24-4 record (15-3 SEC), only picking up conference losses to Arkansas, Kentucky, and South Carolina to finish the regular season.
The Hilltoppers last competed in the NCAA Tournament in Lexington back in 2022 with an at-large bid. The Tops swept Bowling Green in the first round, before succumbing to host Kentucky in the regional final.
Since joining Conference USA prior to the 2014 campaign, WKU has secured nine of the possible 10 automatic bids into the NCAA Tournament while also winning the regular-season championship each of those seasons.
WKU is the only program from Conference USA to earn a bid to The Dance.
First and Second Round play of the 2023 NCAA Tournament will take place Thursday – Saturday November 30-December 2. In total, 64 teams will play in the First Round. Regional Semifinals and Regional Finals (Sweet 16 and Elite 8) are slated for December 8 and 9 with the National Semifinals and National Championship set for December 14 and 17 in Tampa, Florida.
