No. 3 Kentucky volleyball (7-2) is set to open SEC play against South Carolina (6-4) as it seeks a ninth consecutive SEC championship.
The Wildcats enter conference play after a stacked non-conference schedule that matched them up against five top 10 teams, including each of last year’s Final Four teams and a three-set sweep of the reigning national champions. The Cats finished with a 3-2 record against those top 10 teams.
Reigning SEC Coach of the Year, Craig Skinner, enters his 21st season of SEC play with Kentucky. Skinner currently sits at 300-72 in SEC play, which is the most conference wins by any active coach in the SEC.
Kentucky is led by reigning SEC Player of the Year Brooklyn DeLeye. The junior continues her chase for the school’s career all-time kill record in the rally scoring era, currently sitting fifth on the list.
DeLeye is not the only Wildcat chasing kill records, as Purdue transfer Eva Hudson is coming off a match where she set the program three-set kill record at 28 in the Wildcats victory over Washington. With that performance, Hudson became one of only nine players in program history to record over 25 kills in a match.
Freshman Kassie O’Brien joins the outside duo offensively, leading the team with 238 assists in her first nine collegiate games.
Junior Molly Tuozzo leads the way defensively for Kentucky. The All-SEC libero has recorded 133 digs for the team. Tuozzo does not just thrive defensively; she also leads the team with 14 aces as well.
Lizzie Carr, sister of former Kentucky basketball forward Andrew Carr, joins Tuozzo defensively for the Wildcats. Carr, another Purdue transfer, leads the team with 31 blocks.
South Carolina looks to improve upon its ninth-place finish within the conference last season with the hiring of new head coach Sarah Rumely Noble. The new leader joined the Gamecocks after three seasons as head coach at Appalachian State.
Rumely Noble, a former Wildcat, comes back to Lexington searching for her first SEC win as a head coach. Rumely Noble spent four seasons as a player in Lexington, becoming the first ever Wildcat to win SEC Player of the Year in 2008 and setting the program’s all-time assists and aces records.
The Gamecocks will be without Ellie Ruprich, the program’s record holder in blocks in the rally-scoring era, and All-SEC star Riley Whitesides, who both graduated following last season.
Tennessee transfer Emily Beeker, standing 6-foot-5, has taken the role of replacing Ruprich guarding the net. Beeker has recorded 38 blocks resulting in a block per set in the team’s first 10 games.
Sophomore libero Victoria Harris joins Beeker on the defensive front for the Gamecocks. The former SEC All-Freshman leads the team with 148 digs.
The Gamecocks are led offensively by the duo of junior Nia Hall and senior Sarah Jordan. Hall, a transfer from Cleveland State, faced the Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season, recording 10 kills in the Vikings loss.
Both teams enter on winning streaks as Kentucky has won four straight, including two top 10 teams and two three-set sweeps, while South Carolina enters on a three-game winning streak including a five-set victory over rival No. 25 North Carolina.
The Wildcats will take on the Gamecocks at Historic Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday, Sept. 24, with first serve at 7 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast live on SEC Network.
