There are certain points on the sports calendar where the “preseason” ends even though the season technically started weeks ago.
For SEC volleyball, this is one of them.
We’ve had the invitationals. We’ve had the nonconference tests. We’ve had ranked teams knocking each other around the country and everybody trying to figure out exactly what they have.
Now the standings start counting.
The SEC conference schedule officially begins tomorrow, September 23, kicking off a race that runs through November 15. And for the first edition of This Week on the Court, we’ve got eight matches involving SEC teams, five ranked programs, a No. 1 team coming to town, Alabama heading into Baton Rouge, and a Friday-night ranked showdown that should probably be mandatory viewing.
So grab a Coke Zero, find SEC Network somewhere in the increasingly ridiculous maze of television apps, and welcome to the column.
Tuesday Warm-Up
Rice at No. 16 Texas A&M
Tuesday, September 22 — 6:00 PM CDT — SEC Network+
Texas A&M gets the week started at Reed Arena with one final nonconference match before diving into SEC play.
And the Aggies are coming in with some momentum.
A&M just handed Creighton another loss (five in a row to end non-conference play for my Bluejays), helping push the Bluejays down to No. 25 while the Aggies settled into the new poll at No. 16. Rice also recently ran into No. 11 TCU, so this isn’t a completely unfamiliar level of competition for the Owls.
Still, this feels like the appetizer.
Texas A&M has South Carolina waiting on Sunday for its conference opener. Before worrying about that, the Aggies have one more piece of nonconference business to handle at home.
Why watch: Ranked SEC volleyball on a Tuesday night. We don’t need a more complicated reason than that.
Wednesday: Let the SEC Games Begin
Four SEC matches hit the court, three of them conference games, while Missouri decides that beginning SEC play wasn’t difficult enough and heads off to face the best team in America instead.
Perfectly reasonable.
Jacksonville at No. 8 Florida
Wednesday, September 23 — 5:30 PM CDT — SEC Network+
Florida doesn’t begin conference play quite yet, but the Gators enter Wednesday looking like one of the teams nobody in the SEC should be particularly excited about seeing across the net.
Florida climbed two places to No. 8 in this week’s AVCA poll after beating Florida State in four sets. The Gators’ start is their best since opening 9-1 in 2023, and Logan King earned SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors after a seven-block performance against FSU.
Jacksonville is the final tune-up.
Then things get serious.
Why watch: Florida looks increasingly like a legitimate piece of what could be a brutal SEC title race.
Missouri at No. 1 Nebraska
Wednesday, September 23 — 6:00 PM CDT — BTN
Well.
Good luck, Missouri.
While most of the SEC is beginning conference play, the Tigers are spending Wednesday night visiting No. 1 Nebraska.
Nebraska remains atop the latest AVCA poll and recently swept Creighton for the 25th consecutive time. The Cornhuskers aren’t merely another ranked opponent; they’re the measuring stick everybody else is currently being compared against.
For Missouri, though, there’s almost nothing to lose here.
Go into one of college volleyball’s toughest environments, swing away, see how you measure up against No. 1, and come home knowing exactly which parts of your game hold up against elite competition.
Sometimes getting thrown into the deep end isn’t the worst way to learn how well you can swim.
Why watch: Any SEC team walking into the home of No. 1 is worth keeping an eye on.
South Carolina at Georgia
Wednesday, September 23 — 6:00 PM CDT — SEC Network
And here we go.
SEC play.
No ranking beside either name. No giant national showcase attached to it. Just two conference teams beginning the long process of trying to separate themselves from everybody else.
These are exactly the matches that become surprisingly important two months later.
The glamorous wins against Top 10 teams get remembered, but conference seasons are often shaped just as much by the nights when somebody steals a road match they weren’t supposed to get.
Georgia gets the home floor.
South Carolina gets the first chance to spoil somebody else’s conference opener.
Why watch: This is where the standings officially begin, and this one is broadcast on the actual SEC Network.
Alabama at LSU
Wednesday, September 23 — 7:00 PM CDT — SEC Network+
Now we’re talking.
The Crimson Tide head to Baton Rouge for their first SEC match after taking care of Southern in a dominant straight-set win Saturday. Alabama hit .459 in that match, with Kaleigh Palmer leading the way with 12 kills as the Tide won 25-16, 25-11 and 25-11.
Southern obviously isn’t LSU.
And Baton Rouge isn’t a quiet Saturday tune-up.
That’s why this one is interesting.
Conference play immediately asks Alabama to prove that what worked during the early part of the season can travel. SEC road matches have a way of exposing every little weakness that didn’t matter nearly as much in August.
Passing gets shakier. Runs get harder to stop. A comfortable five-point lead disappears in about ninety seconds.
And suddenly you’re in the fifth set wondering how the hell you got there.
Welcome to conference volleyball.
Why watch: Alabama’s first SEC test comes on the road, and we’ll immediately learn a little more about what kind of Tide team we’ve got.
No. 3 Kentucky at Vanderbilt
Wednesday, September 23 — 8:00 PM CDT — SEC Network+
This might be the most fascinating match of Wednesday night.
Not because Kentucky enters as No. 3.
Because Vanderbilt isn’t exactly hiding anymore.
The Commodores are receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll, sitting immediately outside the Top 25 conversation, while Kentucky arrives in Nashville after jumping from No. 4 to No. 3 following a four-set victory over Louisville.
That Louisville win was no fluke performance, either. Brooklyn DeLeye had 22 kills, Morgan Gaerte added 20, and Kassie O’Brien delivered a season-high 59 assists.
So Vanderbilt’s reward for beginning conference play?
One of the hottest teams in the country. But they’re at home and at night.
That’s exactly the sort of setting where an SEC season can get weird in a hurry.
And yes, the column banner does have the crew in Kentucky attire. Hey, I love my Crimson Tide in all sports, but in Volleyball I’m a Kentucky and Creighton guy.
Why watch: Kentucky is one of the nation’s elite teams, Vanderbilt is knocking on the Top 25 door, and Memorial Gym gives the Commodores a chance to make a rather loud opening statement.
Friday Night Volleyball
No Thursday matches on our slate. That’s fine, as Friday makes up for it.
No. 7 Texas at No. 13 Tennessee
Friday, September 25 — 6:00 PM CDT — SEC Network
This is the big one for week one.
If you’re only watching a single match from this week’s column, clear Friday evening.
No. 7 Texas travels to No. 13 Tennessee. It’s on the SEC Network.
And Tennessee just gave everybody a reason to stop treating that No. 13 ranking casually.
The Lady Vols went to Penn State and beat the Nittany Lions in four sets, their first victory over a Top 10 opponent since 2021 and their first Top 10 road win since beating No. 6 Florida in 2011. Kennedi Rogers matched her career high with 21 kills while adding 10 digs, and Caroline Kerr finished with 42 assists and 13 digs.
That win pushed Tennessee three spots upward in the latest poll.
Now Texas comes to town.
The Longhorns are sitting at No. 7 and represent precisely the sort of opponent Tennessee needs if that Penn State performance is going to become something more significant than one great September night.
This isn’t a tune-up. This isn’t a measuring-stick match where somebody gets to shrug afterward and say they learned something.
This is two ranked SEC teams with legitimate national aspirations meeting in September to kickoff conference play.
Put it on the big television.
THEIA’S GAME OF THE WEEK: No. 7 Texas at No. 13 Tennessee
It’s also a fun preview of sorts of a big football game the next day, when #1 Texas takes on #14 Tennessee at 11am on Saturday. Will either school claim the weekend in a sweep, or will it be split?
Auburn at Arkansas
Friday, September 25 — 7:00 PM CDT — SEC Network +
Auburn heads to Fayetteville for our final SEC matchup of the week, giving us the increasingly pleasant problem of having legitimate Friday-night volleyball to watch instead of searching through Netflix for forty minutes before ultimately rewatching something from 1997.
Neither team carries a number beside its name this week. But that doesn’t matter.
Conference wins spend exactly the same in November.
Arkansas gets the home floor. Auburn gets a chance to grab an early road victory. And both know that once SEC play starts, opportunities become increasingly expensive to waste.
Also, what I’m about to say is a cardinal sin… but as an Alabama guy, my dislike of the Auburn Tigers is only in football and basketball. I actually do like Auburn in volleyball, gymnastics, and softball.
Why watch: Friday-night SEC volleyball doubleheader. Texas-Tennessee at 6 at SEC Network, and Auburn-Arkansas at 7 on SEC Network +. That’s a pretty good evening.
Since we’re apparently giving everybody in the Halls a job now, I’ve claimed the clipboard.
Here’s what I’m watching this week:
Can Tennessee do it again? Beating Penn State on the road dramatically changes the feel surrounding Friday’s Texas match. Another performance at that level would tell us the Lady Vols belong firmly in the national conversation.
How high is Kentucky’s ceiling? The Wildcats just beat Louisville and moved to No. 3. Now comes the different challenge of carrying that momentum into SEC play against a Vanderbilt program receiving Top 25 votes.
What does Alabama look like when conference play begins? The Southern sweep looked exactly like a team taking care of business should look. LSU provides a much better test of where the Tide actually stands.
And can anybody make Nebraska uncomfortable? Missouri has the unenviable opportunity to find out.
This Week’s Watch List
Tuesday
Rice at No. 16 Texas A&M — 6 PM — SEC Network+
Wednesday
Jacksonville at No. 8 Florida — 5:30 PM — SEC Network+
Missouri at No. 1 Nebraska — 6 PM — BTN
South Carolina at Georgia — 6 PM — SEC Network
Alabama at LSU — 7 PM — SEC Network+
No. 3 Kentucky at Vanderbilt — 8 PM — SEC Network+
Friday
No. 7 Texas at No. 13 Tennessee — 6 PM — SEC Network
Auburn at Arkansas — 7 PM — SEC Network+
And with that, This Week on the Court officially has a home in the Halls.
Football may own Saturdays down here, but SEC volleyball doesn’t need Saturday.
It can take the rest of the week.
See you on the court.
