Cats Named No. 7 in AVCA Preseason Top 25

With the 2025 women's college volleyball season just around the corner, the Kentucky Wildcats have once again found themselves inside the preseason Top 10 after being ranked No. 7 in the preseason edition of the AVCA Top 25 released early Wednesday afternoon.

Nebraska took the top spot in the poll with defending National Champion Penn State right behind them at number two. Pittsburgh came in at number three with Louisville being the fourth of the Final Four teams from last year's tournament to make the Top 4. The Texas Longhorns came in at No. 5, meaning the Cats will clash with all five preseason Top 5 teams at some point this season. 

Stanford was ranked 6th just ahead of Craig Skinner's Wildcats at No. 7. Wisconsin came in at No. 8, fellow SEC rival Texas A&M was given the 9th spot with SMU rounding out the Top 10. 

In total, five SEC teams were named to the preseason Top 25 including Texas (5), Kentucky (7), Texas A&M (9), Florida (16, and Missouri (17). Tennessee fell just outside the Top 25 in the 26th spot, with Oklahoma and Arkansas also receiving votes. Kentucky is currently slated for nine matchups with teams currently ranked in the Top 25, with five other matches coming against teams receiving votes in the poll. 

Clearly, while the committee respects the talent the Wildcats already had on their roster as well as what they brought in through the freshman class and the transfer portal, there are still a lot of questions as to whether or not Kentucky will have the setting talent to make use of all of that offensive firepower. The Cats certainly have the pieces on paper, we will simply have to see if they have the ability to run the kind of dynamic offense that has become a staple of Skinner's team over the last eight years. If Ava Sarafa and/or Kassie O'Brien prove to be capable of running another elite offense, there's no reason to believe that the Wildcats won't be among the best of the best in December as they try to cut down the nets in Kansas City.