Players to watch at reborn SEC volleyball tournament

The Florida Gators won the SEC volleyball tournament title the last time it was played, but not a single player on this year’s team remembers it. In fact, just over half of the players on top-seeded Kentucky’s roster were alive. To put a finer point on it: Kentucky was still 15 years from becoming the first team in the SEC to win an NCAA volleyball championship. And Texas, a four-time NCAA champion, was still 19 years from joining the conference.

The SEC volleyball tournament returns this week for the first time since 2005. It features four teams ranked in the top 25, including three in the top six. The games begin Friday at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia, and a champion will be crowned Tuesday.

The winner earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

“It reminds me of March Madness,” Texas star Torrey Stafford said. “It’s kind of like that vibe, and I’m excited for it.”

Kentucky, the No. 1 seed, is ranked second in the country. Texas A&M, ranked sixth, is the No. 2 seed, and Texas, ranked third in the nation, is the tournament’s No. 3 seed. Tennessee, the fourth seed, is ranked 18th in the country. The top four seeds get byes 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 testing and steppingstone for going into the NCAA tournament,” Kentucky’s Brooklyn DeLeye said. “Because it’s one and done, and you kind of can figure out your weaknesses going into the biggest part of the year.”

Here are 10 players to watch in the tournament that has been revived after a 20-year hiatus.

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. She added 25 in Texas’ regular-season finale against South Carolina on Nov. 16. Stafford delivers booming attacks from both the front and back rows with a heavy arm that can go over, inside and outside blocks. Stafford, who made back-to-back trips to the final four with the Panthers, is surrounded by determined freshmen who will look to her to guide them to postseason success.

Cari Spears, Texas: The 6-3 outside hitter is part of a fantastic freshman class at Texas 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. Alongside fellow freshman outside hitter Abby Vander Wal (225 kills) and freshman middle blocker Taylor Harvey, look for Spears to deliver a dominant postseason debut.

Brooklyn DeLeye, Kentucky: You won’t find a better pair of pin hitters in the country than the dominant duo at Kentucky. DeLeye, a 6-2 junior, was the 2024 SEC Player of the Year and is still putting up big numbers this season in a more balanced offense. She led Kentucky in kills (401) and points (436) during the regular season, averaging 4.66 kills per set (second-best in SEC) and 5.07 points per set (fourth-best in SEC).

Eva Hudson, Kentucky: There’s no rest for the weary when DeLeye rotates to the back row because it means that Hudson, the 2025 SEC Player of the Year, rotates to the front. The 6-1 senior transfer from Purdue has numbers eerily similar to DeLeye’s: 390 kills (fifth-best in SEC) and 4.94 points per set (sixth-best in SEC). The most noticeable difference between the two Wildcats might be that Hudson plays with fire while DeLeye is mostly ice. Hudson, who led the Big Ten in kills last season, gets one shot at the postseason with Kentucky, so the urgency will be there from first serve on.

Logan Lednicky, Texas A&M: The senior’s dad, granddad and great-granddad were all Aggies. So expect the 6-3 left-handed outside hitter to bring some extra fervor to Savannah for her first SEC tournament. Lednicky, 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.

Ifenna Cos-Okpalla, Texas A&M: The 6-2 senior middle blocker’s name litters the national leaderboards. She’s 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, Cos-Okpalla had a season-high 15 kills, including four in the fifth set, and a season high in points with 19.5.

Hayden Kubik, Tennessee: The senior outside hitter started her career at Nebraska alongside big sister Madi Kubik, but Hayden became a star at Tennessee. The versatile 6-2 Kubik had 338 kills during the regular season and averaged 4.23 per set. Her 4.67 points per set rank eighth in the SEC. She served 22 aces and racked up 175 digs heading into the postseason.

Alexis Stucky, Florida: The setter’s long list of accolades goes back to her childhood when she was a nine-time 4-H Horse state champion in Wyoming. The 6-2 redshirt junior brings a blend of poise and craftiness to Florida, which lost three of its final four matches heading into the tournament. Stucky, who missed parts of the past two seasons recovering from a torn ACL, had a rare volleyball triple-double in October against Auburn, finishing with 10 kills, 12 digs and 42 assists. Florida, the No. 5 seed, will be looking to win its 13th SEC tournament title.

Maya Sands, Missouri: The back-to-back-to-back SEC Libero of the Year had double-digit digs in all but two matches during the regular season and leads the conference with a total of 490. You can hardly blame her teammates when they claim there’s no need for them to play defense while Sands is on the court. The former UNLV star set a career high with 32 digs in an October win over South Carolina. The senior also has 29 aces this season, including three in a loss to Kentucky earlier this month. Missouri, the No. 6 seed, will count on Sands to help build its résumé for Selection Sunday.

Jurnee Robinson, LSU: She doesn’t overwhelm opponents with her 6-1 frame, but Robinson’s velocity and passion are another story. The Tigers’ junior outside hitter has one of the hardest swings in the country and more kills (495) than anyone in the SEC. For evidence of her dominance, rewind to early October when she totaled 67 kills on 139 attacks while hitting a combined .338 in back-to-back five-setters against Tennessee and Florida. Robinson, who pummeled 23 kills vs. UCLA in her first collegiate game two years ago, tallied 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 Haduck and Karina Mattera provided reporting for this story.

Schedule

Friday

No. 9 Oklahoma 3, No. 16 Arkansas 1
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

Semifinal 1, 6, SEC Network
Semifinal 2, 8:30, SEC Network

Tuesday

Championship, 7, SEC Network