Texas A&M outside hitter Kyndal Stowers (37) spikes the ball during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Abby Vander Wal (6) spikes the ball during the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Torrey Stafford (4) spikes the ball during the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas Longhorns libero Emma Halter (2) and outside hitter Torrey Stafford (4) attempt to return a serve during the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M outside hitter Kyndal Stowers (37) returns a serve during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M players and fans celebrate beating the Texas Longhorns in the annual Lone Star Showdown volleyball rivalry match at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M libero Ava Atwood (12) misses a serve return during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M libero Addie Applegate (2) celebrates a score against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M players line up for the national anthem ahead of the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M fans sing chants during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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The Texas Longhorns huddle on the court ahead of the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M libero Ava Underwood (12) returns a serve during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M outside hitter Emily Hellmuth (4) spikes the ball during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M fans wave signs during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas Longhorns head coach Jerritt Elliott walks the cour during the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla (1) and setter Maddie Waak (16) celebrate a score against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M celebrates a score against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M head coach Jamie Morrison talks to his players between sets during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Torrey Stafford (4) returns a serve during the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M outside hitter Kyndal Stowers (37) serves the ball during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas Longhorns players miss a block during the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas Longhorns middle blocker Nya Bunton (55) celebrates a score during the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M players leave the court after a second set win against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla (1) and opposite hitter Logan Lednicky (9) miss a block during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas Longhorns setter Ella Swindle (1) celebrates a score during the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M libero Addie Applegate (2) returns a serve during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M outside hitter Emily Hellmuth (4) spikes the ball during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M head volleyball coach Jamie Morrison walks the court during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla (1) jumps to block a ball tipped by Texas Longhorns setter Rella Binney (3) during the game at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M fans cheer after a defensive block during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas Longhorns libero Ramsey Gary (32) steps up to serve during the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Cari Spears (23) reacts to a blocked spike during the game against Texas A&M at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M outside hitter Taryn Morris (6) and middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla (1) jump to block a spike during the game against the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M players celebrate beating the Texas Longhorns in the annual Lone Star Showdown volleyball rivalry match at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M players celebrate beating the Texas Longhorns in the annual Lone Star Showdown volleyball rivalry match at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Texas A&M players celebrate beating the Texas Longhorns in the annual Lone Star Showdown volleyball rivalry match at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Texas A&M libero Tatum Thomas (3) picks up the Lone Star Showdown trophy after beating the Texas Longhorns at Reed Arena on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 in College Station, Texas.
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Back in August, before the first serve of the season, Texas volleyball coach Jerritt Elliott shared his thoughts on how he felt about the resurrection of the first SEC tournament in 20 years.
“Well, I’ll tell you afterwards,” Elliott quipped, knowing his young team had a challenging regular season to first worry about.
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But those regular-season worries are now in the past. Texas (21-2) did drop a couple of SEC matches late in the season to Kentucky and Texas A&M, which knocked it to third place in the final regular-season standings and to the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament. The third-ranked Longhorns remain No. 2 in the NCAA’s RPI standings, a reflection of a rugged regular-season schedule that included eight wins over teams currently ranked by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
But the SEC Tournament that starts this weekend in Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Ga., offers a new kind of challenge.
“To play three matches in three days is brutal, so that part I don’t like,” Elliott said in August. “I wish there was a day in between at some point, but I think it’ll be evolving into that. But it should be great (for TV), and hopefully, we can do a good job of getting some fans there.”
Here’s what to know about Texas volleyball at the SEC tournament:
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Texas Longhorns Head Coach Jerritt Elliott talks to his team during a time out in the second set as the Texas Longhorns take on the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at home in Austin, Oct. 8, 2025.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Jerritt Elliott has never coached in a conference tournament
SEC VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinals: Texas vs. Ole Miss, LSU or Missouri
When/where: 6 p.m. Sunday in Savannah, Ga.
TV/radio: SEC Network
In two years as USC’s interim head coach and the past 25 seasons as the Longhorns’ head coach, Elliott has never coached in a conference tournament. The Big 12 never held one, and the SEC resurrected its tournament after hosting one from 1979-2005. For the record, Florida is technically the defending SEC tournament champion.
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Texas volleyball gets two tournament byes
The conference tournament includes all 16 teams in the SEC, but the top four seeds receive a double bye and don’t open play until Sunday’s quarterfinals. That means top seed and regular-season champion Kentucky, No. 2 seed Texas A&M, Texas and No. 4 seed Tennessee get some extra rest.
MORE: Henley Anderson among 3 players to join Longhorns on National Signing Day
The Longhorns won’t know first opponent until Saturday night
Ole Miss, the No. 14 seed, will face No. 11 LSU in Friday’s final game of the first round. The winner of that match will then face No. 6 Missouri Saturday in the second round, with the winner of that meeting advancing to play 6 p.m. Monday against Texas. During the regular season, Texas beat Missouri and LSU 3-0 and topped Ole Miss 3-1.
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Texas A&M vs Texas rematch possible in semifinals
If both Texas and the Aggies win their quarterfinal matches, they will meet in a Monday semifinal. Texas A&M handed the Longhorns their first loss of the season Oct. 31 in a five-set thriller in College Station, and the two rivals have split their four matches over the past three seasons.
Winning SEC may not affect NCAA seeding
Texas and everyone else will find out their NCAA Tournament seed Nov. 30. Even if the Longhorns were to avenge their two losses by beating A&M and Kentucky to win the conference tournament, they probably won’t surpass top-ranked and unbeaten Nebraska for the top overall NCAA seed. Texas does have more high-quality wins than Nebraska, however, and did spend most of the season atop the NCAA’s RPI rankings.
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Losing first match could knock Longhorns out of regional host
Conversely, the Longhorns appear safe as a top-four NCAA Tournament seed barring an upset loss in the SEC quarterfinals. That’s especially important since the top four seeds in the NCAA Tournament serve as regional hosts, something Texas hasn’t done since 2022. Its strength of schedule has Texas locked in as a solid No. 2 in the RPI rankings ahead of No. 3 Arizona State and No. 4 Pittsburgh with Kentucky currently No. 5. A second loss to A&M or Kentucky may drop the Longhorns a slot below Kentucky in the overall seeding, but it’s unlikely to knock them out of the top four.
How to watch SEC Volleyball Tournament
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Where: Enmarket Arena, Savannah, Ga.
How to watch: All matches are on SEC Network
What to know: Texas is the No. 3 seed and won’t play until Sunday’s quarterfinals at 6 p.m.
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