# Kentucky volleyball ranked No. 3 in preseason AVCA poll **Published:** 2026-08-10T18:30:13.000Z **Source:** [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/08/10/kentucky-slotted-at-no-3-in-avca-preseason-top-25-coaches-poll/) **AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) **Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/kentucky-volleyball-ranked-no-3-in-preseason-avca-poll LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky volleyball team enters the 2026 season ranked third in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll, according to [an announcement by UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/08/10/kentucky-slotted-at-no-3-in-avca-preseason-top-25-coaches-poll/) on Monday. The Wildcats received four first-place votes in the preseason rankings, trailing only Nebraska, which earned the top spot with 57 first-place votes. Texas finished second with just one first-place vote. Kentucky's 2026 schedule is particularly challenging, featuring matchups against 11 ranked teams from the preseason poll. The slate includes No. 4 Pittsburgh and No. 6 Wisconsin on opening weekend at the Jeep AVCA First Serve in Milwaukee. Seven of the non-conference opponents are ranked in the top 20, with five coming from the top 10 across three different conferences. Head coach [Craig Skinner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Skinner_(volleyball)), now in his 22nd season, led the Wildcats to the national championship game last December, where they finished 30-3 after losing to Texas A&M in the title match. The squad won the SEC regular season championship with a perfect 15-0 conference record and claimed the SEC tournament championship. The Southeastern Conference placed five teams in the preseason rankings, with Texas at No. 2, Kentucky at third, Texas A&M at eighth, Florida at 17th and Tennessee at 21st. Kentucky closes its exhibition schedule Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET against Dayton at Memorial Coliseum, with free admission and first-come seating. The Wildcats will open regular-season play Aug. 22 against Wisconsin in Milwaukee at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. ## Sources - [UK Athletics](https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/08/10/kentucky-slotted-at-no-3-in-avca-preseason-top-25-coaches-poll/) - [Craig Skinner coaching history and records](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Skinner_(volleyball)) - [2025 NCAA championship match results](https://ukathletics.com/news/2025/12/21/texas-am-sweeps-kentucky-in-national-championship-match/) --- This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from UK Athletics, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://ukathletics.com/news/2026/08/10/kentucky-slotted-at-no-3-in-avca-preseason-top-25-coaches-poll/.