In a conference as tough as the SEC, it’s inevitable that fans will see thrilling volleyball every night of play no matter what number sits in front of a team’s name.
The second week of SEC volleyball has concluded, and with the third week starting Wednesday night, The Reveille is back with the weekly rundown.
Here are the must-knows, what-nows and should-sees after Week 2:
Must-knows: The wins and losses of Week 2
On Wednesday, Sept. 27, Texas A&M traveled to then No. 4 Florida and took the Gators to five sets in the Exactech Arena. In the end, first-year head coach Jamie Morrison led his team to the 24-26, 25-23, 21-25, 26-24, 15-13 victory, marking the program’s highest-ranked win in 24 years.
Sophomore Logan Lednicky led the way for the Aggies, collecting 22 kills on 41 swings with only 6 errors to hit .390 in the match. She also added six blocks to the team’s 12 total. Sophomore middle blocker Ifenna Cos-Okpalla added seven blocks of her own, along with 12 kills on a .750 hitting percentage.
The second and final match on Wednesday was then No. 24 Auburn at then No. 14 Arkansas. The meeting between the Tigers and the Razorbacks was highly anticipated as many expected a great showing of volleyball, but Arkansas dominated Auburn in a three-set victory that ended 25-18, 25-10 and 25-6.
PHOTOS: LSU volleyball falls to Arkansas 3-0
The Hogs limited Auburn to a -.049 hitting percentage and hit .435 behind Jill Gillen’s eight kills on a .375 hit percentage and Taylor Head’s 10 kills at .381 percent.
On Friday, Sept. 29, then No. 12 Tennessee traveled to Mississippi State and took the Bulldogs down in four. Erykah Lovett contributed mostly to the defense for the Vols, digging a season-best 18 balls with 13 kills. Libero Yelianiz Torres had a season-high 26 digs with seven assists.
Morgahn Fingall also added 12 kills on the night with six digs and three aces to pace Tennessee through 25-22, 25-19, 23-25 and 25-17 sets.
Then, the then No. 23 ranked Kentucky Wildcats traveled to Georgia to face Tom Black’s fiery Bulldogs. The match went to the wire, going to extra points in the fifth set. Freshman outside hitter Brooklyn DeLeye picked the Wildcats up and put them on her back, flooring 25 kills on 57 swings, hitting at a .316 clip.
Through 25-23, 25-16, 23-25, 19-25 and 15-13 sets, Azhani Tealer chipped in 12 kills of her own on 26 swings. Jordyn Williams hit .438 on the night and added nine kills to the Blue total of 65.
The five-set SEC specials continued with South Carolina pushing Ole Miss to five on its home court. The Gamecocks are still searching for their first win, but they again fell short and the Rebels walked away with the win.
Julia Dyess and Sasha Ratliff led Ole Miss to victory with 19 kills each in the match. Dyess hit a career-best .308 and Ratliff hit with a .405 efficiency. Libero Cammy Niesen anchored the backcourt with 26 digs to lead all players on the court in 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19 and 15-13 sets.
The final match of Friday ended in four between Missouri and LSU. The Tigers defended their home court after a first-set slip-up and cleaned the Missouri Tigers out of Baton Rouge. The Purple and Gold held Mizzou to a .135 hitting percentage after a season-high 12 team blocks.
The sets finished off at 20-25, 25-14, 25-22 and 25-19. Freshman outside hitter Jurnee Robinson led LSU with 12 kills and Anita Anwusi led the Tigers in the middle with six blocks. She also posted eight kills, as did Angie Lee for her season best in kills.
SEC games continued on Sunday, Oct. 1. To start the final day of play, Georgia traveled to Auburn and battled it out through four sets. Both teams were looking to rebound after losses earlier in the week, but in the end, only the Tigers were able to take home the win.
Brent Crouch improved to 4-1 all-time against Georgia after finishing the match off at 25-23, 25-23, 18-25 and 25-20.
Senior setter Jackie Barrett led her team to a .262 hitting percentage after dishing out 42 assists on 49 total kills. Sophomore outside hitter Akasha Anderson painted the stat sheet again with a night full of 17 kills, six digs, three blocks, one ace and one assist.
Kentucky defeated Alabama on its home court in four after another stellar performance from DeLeye. She posted 25 kills on 56 attempts with only five errors to hit .357 on the night.
DeLeye’s counterpart Megan Wilson contributed 20 kills on 41 swings with four errors to hit a .390 clip of her own. The Wildcats finished the Tide off 25-21, 25-14, 19-25, 25-16.
Florida took a trip up to South Carolina and finished the Gamecocks off in four sets. In 25-19, 25-19, 23-25 and 25-20 sets, the Gators were led by 15 kills from Kennedy Martin and two 13-kill performances from AC Fitzpatrick and Sofia Victoria. The team also put up 13 blocks to anchor the defense.
Tennessee went to Oxford and dealt with the Rebels in straight sets, 25-20, 25-20, 25-16. Jenaisya Moore recorded her 1,000th career kill after an 11-kill performance on the night. Fingall led the squad with 12 kills on a .375 hitting percentage and Torres grabbed 15 digs.
Texas A&M hosted Missouri and the teams went to battle in four sets. Missouri’s Janet deMarrais was the Tigers’ leading threat after an 18-kill performance, marking a new career-best for deMarrais.
Jordan Illiff also contributed heavily to the Mizzou win, as usual, with a double-double of 16 kills and 14 digs. This win ties Missouri’s total SEC win count from the last two seasons and the Tigers’ first double-figure win season in three years.
To cap off the second week of SEC volleyball, the LSU Tigers hosted Mississippi State. Sanaa Dotson’s career-high hitting percentage of .591 led the Purple and Gold to a four-set victory. In the 19-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-20 set wins, LSU topped the Bulldogs in hitting percentage, kills, assists, aces and digs.
What-nows: Conference standings and weekly honors
Tennessee sits atop of the SEC standings with a 4-0 record. Arkansas is one game behind at No. 2 with a 3-0 record.
Tied for third place is Florida and Kentucky. The teams are both 3-1 in SEC play. Florida sits above Kentucky with an 11-2 record against the Wildcats 5-7.
LSU follows with a 2-1 SEC record. The Tigers are 7-6 overall.
MORE VOLLEYBALL: Week 1 of SEC Volleyball: The must-knows, what-nows and should-sees
The next four teams are all tied in SEC play with a 2-2 record: Auburn, Texas A&M, Missouri and Ole Miss. Auburn has a 12-3 record; Texas A&M has a 10-4 record; Missouri has a 10-5 record; and Ole Miss has an 8-7 record.
Mississippi State is just above last place with a 1-3 record against SEC opponents. The Bulldogs are 8-6 overall.
The three teams tied for last place in SEC competition with 0-3 records are Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. The Tide is 10-4, the Bulldogs are 9-6 and the Gamecocks are 6-7.
Brooklyn DeLeye received the SEC Player and Offensive Player of the Week honors after leading Kentucky to two wins this past week. The outside hitter averaged 5.72 points per set with the help of 5.56 kills per set.
DeLeye also hit .336 on the week with a 25-kill performance in both a five-set win against Georgia and a four-set win over Alabama. She added 12 and 10 digs to collect her first career double-doubles.
Libero Yelianiz Torres of Tennessee was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week after a 2-0 week with the Vols. Torres averaged 5.86 digs per set after posting 26 and 15 digs against Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
Emma Grome was named the SEC Setter of the Week after a stat-sheet-filling performance with Kentucky this past week. Grome averaged 12.3 assists per set in wins against Georgia and Alabama; she added 53 against the Bulldogs and 58 against the Tide. In addition to her setting duties, she also tabbed 20 digs, three kills, three blocks and two aces.
Rounding out this week’s awards is SEC Freshman of the Week Caroline Kerr. Kerr averaged 11.7 assists per set in Tennessee’s wins over Mississippi State and Ole Miss.
The redshirt freshman had 43 assists and a career-high 13 digs against the Bulldogs to complete her second career double-double. She also killed six balls on a .750 hitting percentage. In the 3-0 win against Ole Miss, Kerr tallied 39 assists and tied several career highs.
Should-sees: Upcoming matches and big games in the SEC
Week three of SEC volleyball begins on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. as No. 13 Arkansas travels to Baton Rouge to face the LSU Tigers. The match will be available on SEC Network+.
Also at 7 p.m., No. 12 Tennessee travels to face Alabama. The match will be streamed on SEC Network.
The second day of SEC volleyball week three is on Friday, Oct. 6. At 6 p.m., the can’t-miss No. 25 Auburn at No. 9 Florida match kicks off. Both teams just suffered losses last week that each team’s coach felt could’ve gone the other way; with the two hungry for a ranked win, whoever comes out on top should expect to be a target through the remainder of SEC competition. The match will be on SEC Network+.
Also on Friday, Georgia will travel to Mississippi State. First serve will be at 6 p.m. on SEC Network+. From Oxford, Texas A&M and Ole Miss will be on SEC Network at 6 p.m.
The last match of Friday will be No. 22 Kentucky against Missouri. The Tigers host the Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
The week three finale will kick off at noon on Sunday, Oct. 8. Alabama travels to No. 9 Florida, which will be available on SEC Network+.
Tennessee will host LSU for a match that will be available on ESPN2. The game begins at noon as well. Then, at 12:30 p.m., Ole Miss will take to Kentucky’s home court on SEC Network+.
At 2 p.m., Mississippi State hosts Texas A&M on SEC Network+. At 3 p.m., Arkansas will host Missouri. The match will also be available on SEC Network+
To finish week three of SEC volleyball, South Carolina will host Auburn. The match will be on ESPNU.
