The last few games and long-awaited rematches of SEC volleyball are happening now and teams are going through their last chances to prove themselves worthy of an at-large bid for the tournament.
A couple of teams came up with huge wins, while some fell short and threatened their postseason chances. Here’s exactly what happened in Week 8:
Must-knows: The wins and losses of Week 8
For the first match of the week, then No. 13 Kentucky traveled to No. 24 Auburn and stunned the Tigers with a dominant sweep, 25-14, 25-11, 25-14. This was the Wildcats’ 11th straight win.
Reagan Rutherford led the way on the right pin for the Wildcats; she went 14 of 21 and put up five blocks in the sweep. Outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye was 12 of 25 and only had one error in the match to hit .440 overall.
To close out Wednesday night volleyball, South Carolina went to Mississippi State and swept the Bulldogs in a tight contest. The match concluded 25-21, 30-28, 27-25.
Kiune Fletcher led all players with 27 points, making more than double what Mississippi State’s point leader generated. Her 27 kills were thanks to 26 kills on 42 attempts, putting her efficiency at .476 for the night.
On Friday, Nov. 10, then-No. 10 Tennessee hosted Georgia and took the match 22-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-19. The Vols were led by Morgahn Fingall and Jenaisya Moore, who both were responsible for 24 and 22 of Tennessee’s points, respectively.
Fingall was 21 of 40 and only had four errors. She hit .425 on the night and had a hand in six blocks. Moore was 20 of 38 with just two errors. She hit .474 and put up three blocks.
As a team, Tennessee hit .365 and had 12 blocks to overwhelm Georgia, both offensively and defensively. The Big Orange also threw down six aces across the four sets.
LSU traveled to then-No. 21 Florida and was sent home with a sweep after Florida took the match 25-17, 25-23, 25-16.
A combined team effort fueled the Gators to win. Florida had 12 blocks and nine aces on the night. It held LSU to a team-hitting percentage of .178 while hitting .305 itself.
Right-side standout Kennedy Martin was 15 of 28 and hit .357 to lead the Gators. She also had a hand in five of the 12 team blocks.
Another sweep was completed on Friday; then-No. 11 Arkansas traveled to Alabama and swept the Tide, 25-15, 25-16, 25-21.
Jill Gillen led the Hogs on the outside pin, going 15 of 31 with only one error to hit .452. On the defensive side of the game, libero Courtney Jackson tallied 21 digs in the three-set match, averaging seven digs per set, to lead all players. Her 21 digs helped Arkansas hold Alabama to a hit percentage of .121.
The offense as a whole was greatly distributed by setter Hannah Hogue. Hogue threw 43 assists to guide Arkansas to a remarkable .422 clip. Every player on Arkansas’ side of the net hit over .300 and the team only committed six total hitting errors on 109 attempts.
To finish out Friday night volleyball, Missouri hosted Texas A&M and took the Aggies down in four, 25-22, 28-26, 22-25, 25-22.
The Tigers outplayed Texas A&M in every aspect of the game: Missouri led in kills (60 to 56), hit percentage (.268 to .252), blocks (15 to 11), aces (seven to six), digs (59 to 56) and assists (59 to 54).
The stats read the outline of a tight contest, which is exactly what this match was. Missouri simply outplayed Texas A&M in the moments that mattered, and a large part of that is thanks to Jordan Iliff.
Iliff had 18 kills and nine digs in the match. She also had a hand in two blocks and dropped in three aces for the Tigers. Her contributions put her at a match-high 22 points to help lead her team to the win.
On Sunday, Nov. 12, then-No. 13 Kentucky hosted Georgia. The Wildcats continued their unbeaten streak in conference play, taking the Bulldogs down 25-13, 25-23, 25-20.
Every player on Kentucky’s side of the net hit .250 or better. Thanks to Emma Grome’s 43 assists, her team was able to hit a combined .410 while Georgia hit just .105.
Ole Miss traveled to take on then-No. 10 Tennessee and was greeted with a three-set loss. The Vols took the match 25-7, 25-19, 25-18.
Moore had herself a night as she led the Big Orange offense. Her 13 kills and .632 hit percentage were a match-high and helped Tennessee hit .462 as a team. Her counterpart Erykah Lovett picked up her seventh double-double on the season after tallying 11 kills and digs each.
South Carolina hosted LSU for a rematch, and the game lived up to more than its expectations. In a five-set thriller, the Tigers eventually walked away with it, 25-22, 24-26, 21-25, 25-19, 15-11.
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Middle blocker Anita Anwusi was a force at the net. She led the team with 16 kills on 22 swings with only one error to hit a match-high .682. In one of her best performances of the season, she also had six blocks, an ace, a dig and an assist to fill every column in the stat sheet.
Missouri closed its week of volleyball with a bang; when then-No. 24 Auburn traveled to take on the Tigers, Missouri took the match and secured the series with a 25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 25-12 win.
Iliff continued with her strong play on both sides of the ball. Offensively, she put up another 18 kills and hit .441 while also throwing in a career-high four aces. Defensively, she picked up 10 digs and put up two blocks.
To finish the week off, then-No. 21 Florida traveled to Alabama and took the match 25-23, 25-20, 25-22.
Outside hitter AC Fitzpatrick was the most efficient hitter for the Gators. She went 17 of 29 and only had two hitting errors to hit .517 on the night. The rest of the offense was rather quiet, but the Gator defense outlasted Alabama as they picked up 48 digs and had eight blocks. While the Tide had seven blocks to pace the Gators, Alabama’s 23 digs just weren’t enough in the end.
What-nows: Conference standings and weekly honors
No. 12 Kentucky (15-7, 13-1 SEC) stays alone on top of the SEC standings. No. 8 Tennessee (21-3, 12-2 SEC) and No. 10 Arkansas (22-4, 12-2 SEC) are tied for second place. Missouri (17-9, 9-6 SEC) is in fourth place.
Auburn (18-7, 8-6 SEC) and No. 20 Florida (16-7, 8-6 SEC) are tied for fifth place. Auburn just fell out of the top 25 this week after falling to an unranked Missouri team.
Texas A&M (15-9, 7-7 SEC) is in seventh place. With another tie, Georgia (15-11, 6-8 SEC) and LSU (11-13, 6-8 SEC) share eighth place. Mississippi State (11-13, 4-10 SEC) sits in 10th place. Tied for 11th place are South Carolina (10-14, 4-11 SEC) and Ole Miss (10-16, 4-11 SEC). Rounding out the standings is Alabama (10-16, 0-15 SEC) in last place.
Redshirt freshman setter Caroline Kerr of Tennessee was named the SEC Player and Freshman of the Week. Kerr averaged 13.57 assists per set in the Vols’ home wins against Georgia and Ole Miss. Against the Bulldogs, Kerr put up 54 assists and was one dig shy of a double-double with nine. She then had 41 assists and six digs against the Rebels.
South Carolina’s Fletcher was named the SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week after two strong performances against Mississippi State and LSU. The right side averaged 6.81 points per set and 6.38 kills per set, hitting .481 overall.
Against the Bulldogs, Fletcher put up 26 kills and hit .476. Her 26 kills in three sets is the most by any player this season. Against LSU, she hit .486 and gathered 25 kills in five sets.
Moore received SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors after leading Tennessee offensively through two wins. The outside hitter put up big numbers for the Vols, finishing with 33 kills and a .526 hitting percentage with only three errors.
Against the Bulldogs, Moore found the floor 20 times and hit .474. She also picked up four digs and three blocks. Against the Rebels, she had 13 kills on .632 hitting.
Maya Sands, Missouri’s sophomore libero, was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week after helping her team take down Texas A&M and then-No. 24 Auburn. She had identical stats in the matches, putting up 23 digs, three assists and one ace.
To round out the weekly honors, Hogue of Arkansas was named the SEC Setter of the Week. After dishing out 43 assists in the win over Alabama, Hogue helped her team hit .422. She also had 11 digs, one kill, one block and one ace to contribute in other ways.
Should-sees: Upcoming matches and big games in the SEC
On Wednesday, Nov. 15, Mississippi State starts Week 9 with a home match against Auburn. The match will be available on SEC Network+ at 6 p.m. Then, at 8 p.m., No. 10 Arkansas travels to play Ole Miss. The game will be on SEC Network.
On Friday, Nov. 17, three matches will be on SEC Network+. At 6 p.m., Georgia hosts South Carolina. At 6:30 p.m., Missouri hosts No. 20 Florida. To end the day, LSU hosts No. 8 Tennessee at 7 p.m.
To start the end of the week on Nov. 19, 2023, No. 12 Kentucky hosts Missouri. The match will be available on SEC Network+ at 12:30 p.m. Then, at 1 p.m., Texas A&M hosts No. 8 Tennessee on SEC Network.
Also at 1 p.m. on SEC Network+, Georgia hosts Alabama. On the same platform at 2 p.m., Auburn hosts LSU.
A top-10 showdown will happen at 3 p.m. on SEC Network. No. 10 Arkansas will host No. 20 Florida. To finish the week, Ole Miss hosts Mississippi State at 3 p.m.
