After three weeks of non-conference play, LSU volleyball escapes with a 5-5 record in preparation for its challenging journey in SEC play. To begin their conference matches, the Tigers will travel to Lexington, to face No. 22 Kentucky. 

Often regarded as one of the top volleyball conferences in the nation, the Tigers certainly have some tough SEC showdowns ahead of them; who exactly are they facing for the rest of the season? Here’s a team-by-team breakdown: 

Alabama

Expected to finish last in the conference, Alabama rolls into SEC competition tied for first place with a 10-1 record. The Tide is already off to a better start this season, only having 10 wins in total last season, but the road looks to be as difficult as it ever will be for Alabama.

Admittedly, Alabama will face teams at the bottom of the SEC twice more than it will face teams at the top of the SEC. This doesn’t take much of a workload off the Tide’s shoulders, though.

In Rashinda Reed’s first season as Alabama’s head coach last year, she and her squad were only able to rack up four wins in conference play. Expectations are certainly low for Alabama, but Reed seems confident in her team’s ability to rally back and forth this season.

A 10-1 record doesn’t come easily unless a team knows how to fight, so Alabama heads into this year’s conference slate with a passion to play.

Arkansas

Arkansas is off to a 10-2 start, including a 3-2 defeat by No. 1 Wisconsin that ended in a close 15-13 fifth set loss. The Razorbacks are ranked No. 16 in the country and were picked to finish fifth in the SEC. Last season, Arkansas finished tied for fourth in the SEC.

Jillian Gillen and Taylor Head highlight the Preseason All-SEC team for Arkansas, and so far into the season, the two have lived up to expectations. What most viewers don’t recognize is how impressive the gameplay of Gillen and Head are, considering the two are 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10, respectively. 

Most outside hitters in the SEC are at least 6-foot, and even that is considered undersized. Despite this, though, Gillen and Head hold their own. With Head hitting .246 and Gillen hitting .270, the offensive load is carried greatly by the veteran outsides.

The Hogs have placed a target on their back in the past couple seasons and just continue to get better as the years go by. Under head coach Jason Watson, Arkansas will be a team to beat this year.

Auburn

After a 2022 season that put Auburn under everyone’s radar, the Tigers come into 2023 SEC competition with a 10-1 record, placing them at the top of the rankings alongside Alabama. Auburn is ranked No. 24 in the country.

Auburn is led by outside hitter and reigning AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year Akasha Anderson. The team also took to the transfer portal for additional talent; graduate student and middle blocker Kyla Swanson traveled down south after spending four years at the University of Illinois-Champaign. 

Head coach Brent Crouch signed a contract extension in the offseason and has long-term plans to put Auburn volleyball on the map. The Tigers earned a bid to the tournament last season for just the second time in program history, and Crouch is ready to repeat it all over again this season.

With a young team of talent in players like Kendal Kemp and Madison Scheer mixed in with the dominance of Anderson and Swanson, Crouch and his Tigers are going to be a threat this season.

Florida

The Florida Gators were selected to finish second in the conference, but the nonconference season showed higher hopes for the young squad.

The Gators were off to their best pre-conference start in years, ranking as high as No. 3 in the national poll. Fans and volleyball watchers everywhere were eager to watch the Gators run far in the tournament come postseason.

At least that was the case until Florida’s final nonconference matchup.

The Gators hosted No. 1 Wisconsin on Sunday, Sept. 17, and were looking strong with likeliness to sweep the Badgers and takeover as No. 1. However, in the second set, reigning SEC Freshman of the Year and All-American setter, Alexis Stucky, suffered a severe knee injury, putting her on the bench with crutches for the rest of the match.

Backup setter and Wisconsin-native Kennedy Muff stepped in to fill a huge role for the Gators and certainly held her own, but now the question fans are left with is this: How will Florida hold its spot for national championship contention with such a key player on the sidelines?

Following the reverse-sweep loss to Wisconsin, Florida sits at No. 4 in the national rankings, but the rankings don’t reflect a team that just lost the equivalent of their starting quarterback.

With SEC play kicking off this week, head coach Mary Wise and her Florida team are definitely one to watch following such a heartbreaking weekend. 

Florida enters conference play with an 8-1 record that includes three ranked wins, the most impressive coming from the Gators’ 3-0 sweep over then No. 2 Stanford. The team also secured 3-0 and 3-1 wins over then No. 5 Minnesota and then No. 8 Penn State, respectively. 

The Gators head into SEC battle with a huge question to answer at setter. Kennedy Muff is the only traditionally trained setter on the Florida roster behind Preseason All-SEC selection Stucky. While there is no problem with giving Muff the reins to the offense, her experience leading a Power 5 team is next to none as she spent her last four years of eligibility at a Division II program, Flagler College.

Does Muff have what it takes to run the Gator offense as well as Stucky? When Florida travels to face Auburn on Sept. 22, fans will see for themselves just how well Muff can hold her own.

Georgia

Head coach Tom Black brings his Bulldog’s into SEC competition with a 9-3 record, their most impressive win coming from a 3-1 shocker over then No. 10 Georgia Tech. Georgia was picked to finish fourth in the conference.

The Bulldogs return notable faces to the court this season. Preseason All-SEC honorees Sophie Fischer and Kacie Evans lead the team with experience and, as expected, contribute heavily to the offensive production.

With reigning SEC Coach of the Year at the helm of Georgia’s team, Black and his squad are looking to achieve greatness after a historic 2022 season. Before Black’s tenure, in the 2016 season, Georgia went 1-17 in conference play.

Since Black’s hire, the Bulldogs have jumped in the SEC rankings and placed themselves at a solid position in the middle of the pack. The team has even seen tournament time in the past seasons.

NCAA volleyball reporter Michella Chester highlighted the Bulldogs as a dark horse team ahead of the 2022 tournament, to which they responded with the program’s first tournament win since 1995.

Georgia began the 2023 season with its sights set on another bid to the tournament; this position-deep and veteran-heavy Bulldog squad will be a fighting presence in this year’s SEC competition.

Kentucky

At the bottom of the SEC, is the No. 22 ranked Kentucky. Don’t let its 2-6 record fool you, though. The Wildcats have been through the wringer when it comes to nonconference opponents.

Admittedly, Kentucky opened the season with a surprising 3-1 loss to unranked Colorado State. The Wildcats were ranked No. 10 at the time, so the rankings didn’t take much of a liking to this upset.

Head coach Craig Skinner continues every year to rally his team, though, and they followed it up with a 3-1 win over Northern Colorado.

This is where the Wildcats’ schedule gets a little hectic. The road for the Big Blue followed a hard path of six-straight ranked matchups, including four top-10 foes. Those games included: 

No. 10 Pittsburgh, L 3-0

No. 10 Pittsburgh, L 3-1

No. 21 Houston, W 3-1

No. 20 Purdue, L 3-2

No. 2 Louisville, L 3-0

No. 4 Nebraska, L 3-1

Kentucky sits dead last in the SEC rankings with a 2-6 record. When the schedule is looked at a little harder, though, the Wildcats persevered through one of the toughest nonconference schedules by far.

In the last six seasons, the pre-conference for Kentucky has consisted of a hard schedule full of ranked opponents. In the months of August and September, the Wildcats have a 56-26 record; in the months of October and November, the Wildcats have an 80-9 record. 
Do the Wildcats prove time and time again that their tough nonconference leads to high success during conference? Yes, they do, and this season Kentucky is picked to finish alone atop of the rankings once SEC play is finished.
Considering the Wildcats have a .899 win percentage in the months of conference play and have won at least a share of the conference title since 2017, history may repeat itself yet again.

Kentucky returns the same team from last season with the addition of new talent from the transfer portal and freshman class. With reigning SEC Player of the Year Emma Grome running the offense alongside veteran players Eleanor Beavin, Reagan Rutherford, Azhani Tealer and Elise Goetzinger, the Wildcats will definitely be fighting till the end this season.

Ole Miss

Ole Miss is led by first-year head coach Bre Henry. Henry brings experience from her time as a player at Long Beach State and as a coach on Nebraska’s staff. The Rebels are also led by their sole Preseason All-SEC honoree Sasha Ratliff.

There’s a lot of question around the stability of the Ole Miss volleyball program. Former head coach Kayla Banworth and Ole Miss allegedly agreed to part ways in the midst of the 2022 season after just two years, but little information was given as to why.

With surprising changes in coaching staff, the Rebels lack a foundation of strong players and a confident staff. Ole Miss was picked to finish ninth in the SEC, but with a current record of 6-5 against opponents that are considerably weak in comparison to the SEC, the Rebels may be in for a hectic conference season.

Mississippi State

Mississippi State was picked to finish in a tie with Ole Miss at ninth in the final SEC rankings. The Bulldogs finished SEC play in eighth place last season and bring a 7-3 record to guide them through the playing field this year.

Led by head coach Julie Darty Dennis, the Bulldogs are looking for players that will lead the team through the SEC. Mississippi State is without a Preseason All-SEC honoree, but should someone step up from the pack, the Bulldogs would be on their desired path to success. 

Missouri

Seven transfers, four freshmen, a new head coach and several staff additions joined the Tigers in the offseason with hopes of turning the program around. Missouri finished last in the SEC last season, winning a total of two games. This year, the Tigers were picked to finish second-to-last in the conference.

Under new head coach Dawn Sullivan, the Tigers are off to a 8-3 start. Last season, Missouri finished at 9-19, so at this point in the season, they’re already on track to have a more successful season.

As a head coach, Sullivan holds an overall 109-38 record with a .741 win percentage. Can Sullivan and her staff turn a disappointing Missouri program around and defy the preconference guesses of failure?

This is the most asked question ahead of SEC competition for the Tigers. The conference is definitely a battle night in and night out, so we’ll see if Sullivan is up for the task.

South Carolina

South Carolina finished its non-conference slate with a 6-3 record. After finishing ninth in the SEC last season, Tom Mendoza’s team is picked to finish 11th this season. South Carolina is also one of three teams in the SEC without a Preseason All-SEC honoree. 

The Gamecocks suffered a huge loss in their defense with the graduation of reigning SEC Libero of the Year Jenna Hampton. This loss placed a hole in the team, and it shows, but the biggest worry for the Gamecocks is their offense.

South Carolina ranks last in the SEC in hitting percentage, kills allowed, assists allowed, blocks allowed and digs allowed. What this tells about Mendoza’s squad is how weak the kill production is. A hit percentage of .194 on the season is a concerning stat for the Gamecocks, and one that may not hold well in the SEC.

Tennessee

The Volunteers were picked to finish third in the SEC this season after a fifth-place finish in 2022. They come into SEC competition with a 9-1 record, just one win away from the top spot. Tennessee also ranks No. 14 nationally.

After just three weeks of play, veteran leader Morgahn Fingall has been named the SEC Player and Offensive Player of the Week and AVCA National Player of the Week.

The graduate student has been an offensive weapon for the Volunteers over the last four years, and is continuously the player other teams work their game plan around.

Aside from Fingall, head coach Eve Rackham Watt took to the transfer portal and picked up Ohio State standout Jenaisya Moore. The graduate student hails from Germantown, Maryland, and played club volleyball with Fingall in high school. The two combine as one of the biggest threats in the SEC.

On the back of Fingall and Moore, the Volunteers have challenged teams all non-conference play, pushing No. 1 Wisconsin to five sets. Although Tennessee walked away with a 3-2 loss, Watt’s squad pushed the Badgers to the limit, only losing the last set by a close score of 15-13.
The Volunteers lead the SEC in a multitude of categories: hitting percentage, assists, kills per set and service aces. They also rank second in a handful of other categories. Watt’s squad has shown through non-conference how well-rounded of a team they are now compared to last season.

Tennessee has been a steady powerhouse team in the SEC, but always finds itself just barely behind top teams like Florida and Kentucky. The Volunteers are looking to finish out games to the best of their ability, and this season might be the year they end up on top.

Texas A&M

Texas A&M comes into SEC play with an 8-2 record and an expected finish of eighth place. The Aggies finished last season in 11th place. 

Head coach Jamie Morrison led his team to an impressive non-conference performance, and the SEC statistic rankings show it. Texas A&M leads the SEC in opponent hitting percentage, allowing foes to hit an average clip of .137 in games.

The Aggies’ main focus should be on finding a voice among the players; the offense produced from College Station is enough for them to get by, but in the SEC, if there’s no leader to generate kills, success will be limited.

The first match of SEC play is on Wednesday, Sept. 20 as Tennessee takes on Missouri at 6 p.m. CT. LSU plays its first conference game in Lexington, Kentucky, and will face the Wildcats.