The SEC volleyball tournament returns this year and things look very different from when it was last held in 2005.
Florida, which won 12 of the 14 conference title matches between 1992 and 2005, is the No. 5 seed this year. Former Big 12 legacy program Texas exploded into the SEC last year after winning national championships in 2022 and 2023 and is the No. 3 seed this year. Texas A&M, the No. 2 seed, has risen to new heights in a season led by nine seniors.
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Texas A&M volleyball outside hitter Logan Lednicky swings at a ball during Wednesday night’s match against Kentucky in Reed arena.
Texas A&M Athletics/Photo courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics
The Longhorns and Aggies along with No. 4 seed Tennessee have earned first- and second-round byes and don’t have to play until Sunday’s quarterfinals. But there is one school reigning supreme in the SEC that finished the conference slate perfect, won its ninth straight regular-season title and clinched the No. 1 seed in the tournament: the Kentucky Wildcats.
Kentucky lost two matches early in the season — a reverse sweep against Nebraska and a straight-set loss to Pittsburgh. Kentucky has won 19 straight matches since that loss to Pitt, however, including a win over A&M in four sets and a sweep of Texas. Texas and A&M could meet in Monday’s semifinals, and the winner of that match would likely have to play Kentucky for the title Tuesday.
But there is more than one way to skin a Wildcat and here is how the Longhorns and Aggies can do it.
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Texas Longhorns middle blocker Taylor Harvey (10) puts the ball over the net in the second set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns setter Rella Binney (3) and her teammates celebrate a point late in the third set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Cari Spears (23) puts the ball over the net in the third set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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The Vanderbilt bench put their hands up during a serve in the first set against the Texas Longhorns at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Cari Spears (23) sends the ball over the net in the first set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas fans celebrate a point in the second set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Vanderbilt Commodores outside hitter Reese Animashaun (9) bumps the ball in the third set against the Texas Longhorns at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns setter Rella Binney (3) sets the ball in the third set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns libero Emma Halter (2) digs in the second set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns setter Ella Swindle (1) talks with Player Development Consultant Jessica Brannan while sitting on the bench with a boot during warm-ups ahead of Texas Volleyball game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Cari Spears (23) blocks a Commodore attempt in the first set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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The Texas Longhorns celebrate a point in the first set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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The ball goes over a block attempt from Texas Longhorns setter Rella Binney (3) in the second set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Cari Spears (23) puts the ball over the net through Commodore defense in the second set against Vanderbilt at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Abby Vander Wal (6) celebrates a point in the second set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Cari Spears (23) and middle blocker Nya Bunton (55) block a Commodore hit in the third set against the Vanderbilt at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Torrey Stafford (4) tips the ball over the net in the first set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns libero Emma Halter (2) high-fives her teammates before taking the court against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns setter Rella Binney (3) and middle blocker Ayden Ames (5) jump to block a Commodore attempt in the first set against the Vanderbilt at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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The Texas starters stand for the National Anthem ahead of their game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Torrey Stafford (4) encourages her teammates in the second set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns libero Ramsey Gary (32) digs in the second set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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The Vanderbilt bench put their hands up during a serve in the second set against the Texas Longhorns at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns libero Ramsey Gary (32) bumps the ball in the second set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Texas Longhorns outside hitter Cari Spears (23) celebrates a point with her teammates in the third set against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, Sept. 24, 2025.
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Blocking will be key vs Kentucky
When/where: Friday-Monday in Savannah, Ga.
TV/radio: SEC Network
Friday — (Match 1) Arkansas vs. Oklahoma, 11 a.m.; (2) South Carolina vs. Alabama, 1 p.m.; (3) Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi State, 4 p.m.; (4) Ole Miss vs. LSU, 6 p.m. Saturday — (5) Auburn vs. Match 1 winner, 11 a.m.; (6) Florida vs. Match 2 winner, 1 p.m.; (7) Georgia vs. Match 3 winner, 4 p.m.; (8) Missouri vs. Match 4 winner, 6 p.m. Sunday’s quarterfinals — (9) Kentucky vs. Match 5 winner, 11 a.m.; (10) Tennessee vs. Match 6 winner, 1 p.m.; (11) Texas A&M vs. Match 7 winner, 4 p.m.; (12) Texas vs. Match 8 winner, 6 p.m. Monday’s semifinals — Match 9 winner vs. Match 10 winner, 5 p.m.; Match 11 winner vs. Match 12 winner, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday’s final — 6 p.m.
When looking at the breakdown of the games that Kentucky lost, the Cornhuskers didn’t have a single solo block while the Panthers had two.
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A&M’s Ifenna Cos-Okpala averages 1.66 blocks per set, third-best in the nation. Although she is a sufficient solo blocker, slowing Kentucky is going to require block assists from Kyndal Stowers, Logan Lednicky and Morgan Perkins. Against Kentucky, the Aggies held the block assist advantage with eight compared to the Wildcats’ six, and if the front row keeps track of where the big swings are coming from, A&M will have a better fight against Kentucky.
MORE: Aggies finishes best regular season in 10 years with Georgia sweep
Texas has the players to have an intimidating “big” rotation in Ayden Ames, Cari Spears, Torrey Stafford and Devin Kahahawai. Longhorns head coach Jerritt Elliott started using this rotation during the weekend losses against A&M and Kentucky, and they proved beneficial at times for stopping offensive flow. Doubling on the block and having the bigs take more swings could be effective against Kentucky because kills from the Texas blockers are hard to stop due to the high point of contact.
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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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Against Kentucky, just keep swinging
Unless an offspeed kill lands perfectly in the open floor, the Longhorns and Aggies must stay aggressive at the net and just swing through the block. In both losses, Nebraska and Pitt out-dug Kentucky by 13 and six, respectively. Kentucky is elite in many aspects, but ranks 145th in the nation in digs per set.
Kentucky has a large front row and swinging around them or attempting an offspeed ball is what they expect. Nebraska came back to beat Kentucky because the Cornhuskers stayed aggressive at the net and kept swinging. Pitt won its match because its efficient hitting (.349) was stronger than Kentucky’s (.271).
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MORE: Freshmen Cari Spears and Abby Vander Wal blossoming into star players
Both Texas and Texas A&M have offensive weapons all over the floor, but it’s on setters Ella Swindle and Maddie Waak to put the ball in the right place. If a set is too low, it gives Kentucky a chance to win a joust, which could kill any momentum a team has.
This also means that the Longhorns and Aggies have to be a bit unpredictable with where they can go. Expect Elliott and A&M head coach Jamie Morrison to experiment with rotations. Big swings from Stafford and Lednicky can give their teams momentum, but they can’t do all the heavy lifting.
Texas Longhorns outside hitter Torrey Stafford (4) returns a serve during the match against Kentucky at Gregory Gym on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025 in Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Keep errors to a minimum
All three teams have powerful hitters who can find open court or a finger to graze for the point. But hitting errors need to be kept to a minimum versus the Wildcats. In the three-set match versus the Wildcats, the Longhorns had 16 hitting errors and finished with a .248 percentage; A&M had 22 mistakes compared to Kentucky’s 17.
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Against Nebraska, double-teaming the block worked well for Kentucky because swings were flying every which way, trying to avoid Cornhuskers arms. The Wildcats lost despite making just 28 errors in the five-set match. Kentucky against Pitt finished with 15 attack errors. Texas and A&M can use pressure from the service line — Cos Okpalla and Stafford rank fifth and eighth in the conference in service aces — to make the Wildcats play out of system and the resulting disorganized offense can lead to points.
The SEC volleyball tournament starts Friday in Savannah, Ga., but both Texas and Texas A&M play Sunday evening.