It was the last time the Florida Gators won an SEC volleyball tournament title, but not a single player on this year’s team remembers that. In fact, more than half the players on top-seeded Kentucky’s roster were survivors. To put a better point on this: Kentucky was still 15 years away from becoming the first team in the SEC to win an NCAA volleyball championship. And Texas, the four-time NCAA champion, was still 19 years away from joining the conference.
The SEC Volleyball Tournament returns this week for the first time since 2005. It consists of four teams Ranked in the top 25Which includes three of the top six. The games begin Friday at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia, and a champion will be crowned on Tuesday.
The winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
“It reminds me of March Madness,” Texas star Torey Stafford said. “It’s like that environment, and I’m excited for it.”
Kentucky, the No. 1 seed, is ranked second in the country. Sixth-ranked Texas A&M is the No. 2 seed, and Texas, ranked third in the nation, is the tournament’s No. 3 seed. Fourth-seeded Tennessee is ranked 18th in the country. The top four seeds get a bye into the quarterfinals. The SEC is the only Power 4 conference that will hold a postseason tournament this season.
“I think it’s a good test and stepping stone going into the NCAA Tournament,” Kentucky’s Brooklyn Daley said. “Because it’s been one, and you can go through the biggest part of the year and find out your weaknesses.”
Here are 10 players to watch in the tournament who have been resurgent after a gap of 20 years.
Torrey Stafford, Texas: In her first season in Austin, the junior transfer from Pittsburgh leads the Longhorns in kills per set (4.64) and aces (27). The 6-foot-2 outside hitter warmed up her arm for the postseason with a career-high 32-kill performance against Auburn on Nov. 12. He added 25 in Texas’ regular-season finale against South Carolina on November 16. Stafford plays fast offense from both the front and back lines with a heavy arm that can move in and out of blocks. Stafford, who made back-to-back trips to the Final Four with the Panthers, is surrounded by determined new players who will look to him to guide them to postseason success.
Carrie Spears, Texas: The 6-3 outside hitter is part of Texas’ impressive freshman class that is making an immediate impact. Spears has played in every set since joining the team and has had double-digit kills in 19 of the Longhorns’ 23 matches, including a career-high 18 against Baylor. Along with fellow freshman outside hitter Abby Vander Wal (225 kills) and freshman middle blocker Taylor Harvey, expect Spears to have an impressive postseason debut.
Brooklyn Delay, Kentucky: You won’t find a better pair of pin hitters in the country than Kentucky’s premier duo. Daley, a 6-2 junior, was the 2024 SEC Player of the Year and is still putting up big numbers in a more balanced attack this season. She led Kentucky in kills (401) and points (436) during the regular season, averaging 4.66 kills per set (second-best in the SEC) and 5.07 points per set (fourth-best in the SEC).
Eva Hudson, Kentucky: There’s no rest for the weary when DeLay rotates to the back row because that means Hudson, the 2025 SEC Player of the Year, rotates to the front. The 6-1 senior transfer from Purdue’s numbers are exactly the same as Daley’s: 390 kills (fifth-best in the SEC) and 4.94 points per set (sixth-best in the SEC). The most notable difference between the two Wildcats may be that Hudson plays with fire while Daley plays mostly with ice. Hudson, who led the Big Ten in kills last season, gets a shot in the postseason with Kentucky, so there will be urgency from the first serve.
Logan Lednicki, Texas A&M: Senior’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all Aggies. So expect the 6-3 left-handed outside hitter to bring some extra excitement to her first SEC Tournament appearance in Savannah. Lednicki, who has 333 kills while hitting at a .312 clip, also averages a team-high 2.81 digs per set. She had 11 double-doubles during the regular season, including a 12-kill, 17-dig upset of Texas on Halloween night.
Ifena Kos-Okpala, Texas A&M: The 6-2 senior middle blocker’s name is plastered on national leaderboards. She is third in the country in blocks per set with 1.66, ninth in total blocks with 146 and fifth in hitting percentage with a .441 clip. In the Aggies’ five-set win over Texas, Koss-Okpala had a season-high 15 kills, including four in the fifth set, and had a season-high 19.5 points.
Hayden Kubiak, Tennessee: The senior outside hitter began her career at Nebraska alongside older sister Maddie Kubiak, but Hayden became a star at Tennessee. The versatile 6-2 Kubiak had 338 kills during the regular season and averaged 4.23 kills per set. His 4.67 points per set ranked eighth in the SEC. She served 22 aces and had 175 digs in the postseason.
Alexis Stuckey, Florida: The setter’s long list of accolades dates back to her childhood when she was a nine-time 4-H Horse State Champion in Wyoming. The 6-2 redshirt junior brings a mix of poise and finesse to Florida, which had lost three of its last four games before the tournament. Stuckey, who missed parts of the last two seasons recovering from a torn ACL, had a rare volleyball triple-double against Auburn in October, finishing with 10 kills, 12 digs and 42 assists. 5th seed Florida will try to win its 13th SEC Tournament title.
Maya Sands, Missouri: The back-to-back-to-back SEC Libero of the Year averaged double-digit assists in all but two games during the regular season and led the conference with a total of 490. You can hardly blame his teammates when they claim he has no need to play defense when Sands is on the court. The former UNLV star set a career high with 32 digs in a win over South Carolina in October. The senior also has 29 aces this season, including three in a loss to Kentucky earlier this month. Missouri, the No. 6 seed, will look to Sands to help build its resume for Selection Sunday.
Jurnee Robinson, LSU: She doesn’t dominate opponents with her 6-1 frame, but Robinson’s speed and passion are a different story. The Tigers’ junior outside hitter has one of the toughest swings in the country and has more kills (495) than anyone in the SEC. For evidence of his dominance, remember back to early October when he totaled 67 kills in 139 at-bats while hitting a combined .338 in back-to-back five-setters against Tennessee and Florida. Robinson, who had 23 kills against UCLA in her first collegiate game two years ago, notched her 1,000th career kill earlier this season. LSU, the No. 11 seed, will need a big week from Robinson if it hopes to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN’s Alyssa Haddock and Karina Mattera provided reporting for this story.
Schedule
Friday
No. 16 Arkansas vs. No. 9 Oklahoma, noon, SEC Network
No. 13 South Carolina vs. No. 12 Alabama, 2, SEC Network
No. 15 Vanderbilt vs. No. 10 Mississippi State, 5, SEC Network
No. 14 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 LSU, 7, SEC Network
Saturday
Arkansas/Oklahoma vs. No. 8 Auburn, Noon, SEC+
South Carolina/Alabama vs. No. 5 Florida, 2, SEC+
Vanderbilt/Mississippi State vs. No. 7 Georgia, 5, SEC+
Ole Miss/LSU vs. No. 6 Missouri, 7, SEC+
sunday
Arkansas/Oklahoma/Auburn vs. No. 1 Kentucky, noon, SEC Network
South Carolina/Alabama/Florida, vs. No. 4 Tennessee, 2, SEC Network
Vanderbilt/Mississippi State/Georgia vs. No. 2 Texas A&M, 5, SEC Network
Ole Miss/LSU/Missouri, vs. No. 3 Texas, 7, SEC Network
monday
Semifinals 1, 6, SEC Network
Semifinal 2, 8:30, SEC Network
Tuesday
Championship, 7, SEC Network
