Texas volleyball officially kicks off SEC play Friday against none other than rival Texas A&M.
The SEC, a conference offering plenty of opportunities for success, is the newest frontier for the Longhorns. One of the newest opportunities for the team in the future will be the return of the SEC Volleyball Championship tournament in 2025.
The SEC hosted a Volleyball Championship tournament from 1979 to 2005.
“With the restoration of the SEC Volleyball Tournament, we will now host a championship event in every Conference sport, providing our programs additional competitive opportunities as they prepare for NCAA postseason competition,” said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a
SEC press release.
As a new member of the conference, Texas has never had a shot at an SEC title, but the Longhorns aren’t strangers to conference championships. Before leaving the Big 12, Texas demonstrated its outright dominance, claiming seven consecutive conference championships up to 2023 under head coach Jerritt Eliott.
With the reintroduction of the SEC Volleyball Championship, Texas will have more opportunities to find its place in the SEC. The tournament will begin next season and take place from Nov. 21-25 in Savannah, Georgia.
“We look forward to providing a memorable experience for SEC student-athletes, coaches and fans as we make Savannah home to the SEC Volleyball Tournament for the next three years,” Sankey said.
Before the elimination of the tournament, prior multi-time winners included Florida, Kentucky, LSU and Tennessee. Florida currently holds the most with 12, followed by Kentucky with five and four for both LSU and Tennessee.
As the schedule currently stands, Texas will have 16 SEC conference matchups in the remainder of this season. When this tournament is put into place next year, that number will increase, which could have an effect going into November and December for the NCAA tournament. Elliott has shown some disapproval of the number of games played during the season with the addition of a conference championship.
“I think the sport needs to drop lower in the number of conference games,” Elliott said. “I don’t think we need to play everybody home and away if we’re having a conference tournament. I think that’ll open up more opportunities for better midseason matches for the game to grow.”
The reinstatement of the tournament is also an opportunity for women’s college volleyball to gain more prominence on a national stage. A tournament such as this provides an opportunity for an earlier focus on volleyball and greater buildup heading into the NCAA tournament.
Further details will be released about the tournament as the SEC gets closer to the 2025 volleyball season.
