Elizabeth MerrillCloseElizabeth MerrillESPN Senior WriterElizabeth Merrill is a senior writer for ESPN. She previously wrote for The Kansas City Star and The Omaha World-Herald.Follow on XCharlotte GibsonDec 21, 2025, 07:14 AM ET
For the first time in the conference’s history, two SEC teams will be battling for the volleyball national championship Sunday afternoon when No. 2 Kentucky plays sixth-ranked Texas A&M at T-Mobile Center (3:30 ET, ABC). It took the league nearly four decades to celebrate its first national championship when Craig Skinner’s Kentucky Wildcats won in 2020 — actually spring 2021 because of COVID-19.
But this pairing is not a fluke. The Southeastern Conference had three teams (Kentucky, Texas and Texas A&M) ranked in the top 10 in the final regular-season poll, and a Wisconsin upset of Texas prevented the final four from being three-fourths SEC. Sunday’s outcome will ensure that four teams currently in the SEC have won the national championship in the past six years (Kentucky 2020, Texas 2022 and 2023), though Texas didn’t join the conference until 2024.
“Kudos to the SEC and the coaches in our league,” Skinner said, “for getting our conference in the position to be an elite league in the sport of volleyball in the NCAA.”
Skinner, an assistant when Nebraska won a national championship in 2000, knew the dearth of SEC dominance might hinder recruiting when he took the Kentucky job in 2005. So, he used the “Come join us and be the first SEC team to win a national championship” pitch.
“To be really good, you’ve got to invest a lot of time,” Skinner said. “I’d been a part of a national championship program. I just wanted people to feel what that was like. Not just winning it, but the work and the time and the competitive desire it takes to get to that point, because that’s the way life is.
“So, for us to do that, I think, broke down doors that either Kentucky could do it again or someone else in the league can. We’re very proud of doing that.”
Tiffany Daniels, the SEC’s associate commissioner and senior woman administrator, said nonconference scheduling, school investment and strong coaching hires have played a part in the ascent. A little bit of pride didn’t hurt, either.
Another thing that might have helped the league in the NCAA tournament was the return of the SEC tournament this fall. It was the first conference tournament for volleyball in two decades, and Texas A&M coach Jamie Morrison admits he was “a little bit iffy” on the prospect at first. None of the other major conferences — the Big Ten, ACC and Big 12 — hold conference tournaments.
“Commissioner Sankey begged and pleaded us,” Morrison said. “They wanted something to build — and this is a bad word, but — commercialization around, which is not a bad word anymore because it has to go that way in order for our sport to be viable and in order for a lot of things to happen.
“I think they did an amazing job with that. All of a sudden we got really good volleyball against really good teams in pressure situations.”
Kentucky and Texas A&M were pressure-tested during their runs to the final. The Wildcats rallied from a set down against Wisconsin in the national semifinals and advanced in five sets. The Aggies escaped a two-set hole against Louisville in the regional semifinals and then upset Nebraska in a pressure-packed fifth in the regional final.
Traditionally, the best pin hitters in the title game claim the title for their team. Last year, it was Penn State’s Jess Mruzik. The year before that, it was Texas’ Madisen Skinner. And the year before that, it was Texas’ Logan Eggleston. Well, you get the idea.
There are several powerful pins in Sunday’s championship game — on both sides. The Wildcats feature Purdue transfer Eva Hudson (4.59 kills per set) and Brooklyn DeLeye (4.62 kills per set), and the Aggies showcase Logan Lednicky (4.11 kills per set) and Kyndal Stowers (3.50 kills per set). They’ve accounted for 351 kills in the tournament.
“Who lasts the longest, honestly,” she said. “And I think that’s what most of these games in the end, especially during the final four championship, comes down to, right? Players like Kyndal and Logan never stop fighting. They’re never going to stop swinging away. And we’re the same way.”
“Pure gratitude. This is crazy,” Stowers said. “This is an absolute crazy experience. We have had faith in ourselves all year. From the first game of the season, we knew we were capable of this.”
Kentucky outside hitter Asia Thigpen took note of the Aggies’ big block presence in the regionals last week in Lincoln. “They’ve grown as a team since [October],” Thigpen said. “We have, too. I think just continuing to instill confidence in ourselves that we can do this.”
“Both of our teams have gotten so much better since then that it’s kind of like playing a whole new team,” Hudson said. “And I mean, kind of a similar game plan, but you’ve got to be ready for anything at this point in the tournament, too.”
A massive number of fans from Nebraska were supposed to travel down Interstate 29 to Kansas City this weekend, but Texas A&M squashed those plans last week with the upset over the No. 1 Cornhuskers. Still, the vibe has been festive in the City of Fountains.
The sport’s popularity has grown each season, and this weekend’s interest in Kansas City is no exception. Downtown restaurants have had waiting lists, and the crowds were lively at T-Mobile Center on Thursday night for the semifinals.
The NCAA said the attendance for Thursday night’s semifinal session was 18,322 — a sellout. Kristin Fasbender, the NCAA’s director of championships and alliances, said the empty seats in the lower bowl during the first match were mostly team-block allotments that were eventually occupied by fans who hadn’t shown up yet for the second match. “There’s lots of excitement,” Fasbender said.
Nebraska fans, still working through their stages of grief, have helped fill up the arena. On Thursday night, the crowd erupted when a fan in Husker gear appeared on the video board.
” … We need to grow volleyball fans, and take a card from Nebraska in that and go. I think the crowd has been amazing. I had a bunch of thumbs-up. I couldn’t tell if it was ‘good job’ or ‘gig ’em’ from Nebraska fans as I was walking out [Thursday] night.”
Though Hudson and DeLeye make most Kentucky headlines, Hudson believes her team’s X factors are middle blocker Lizzie Carr and Thigpen.
“When Lizzie Carr gets going, we’re dang near unstoppable,” Hudson said. “She’s such a fire to the team. But then we also have Asia Thigpen, who is one of the most competitive people I’ve ever known, and she makes me better. Without them, we wouldn’t be here.”
Hudson added that Thigpen, who is 5-foot-11, oftentimes gets overlooked because of her height — emphasizing her ability to be their secret weapon on the court.
“I want to end my collegiate career as a winner,” senior Ava Underwood said. “We go into the gym every single day with the mindset that we’re going to be the grittiest team out there. We all want to play for each other. We want to win for each other.”
In his third season with the Aggies, Morrison led his program to its first final four and first national championship game. After sweeping Pitt in the semifinals, he credited his seniors for changing the future.
“We built this. Not just a team that can go to the final four and play for a national championship this year, but I think something that is going to last,” Morrison said. “That’s what I came to Texas A&M to do — to build something that is going to last. This group has helped us do that.”
CloseElizabeth MerrillESPN Senior WriterElizabeth Merrill is a senior writer for ESPN. She previously wrote for The Kansas City Star and The Omaha World-Herald.Follow on X
Skinner opened his news conference Friday by acknowledging the shift.
“I think that is what we’re seeing, the results of the fruits of that labor,” Daniels said.
Here are four other storylines to watch during the championship match.
UK’s Craig Skinner on nail-biting semifinal win, all-SEC national title game (2:24)Skinner tells SEC This Morning’s Peter Burns about the Wildcats’ comeback win and previews their championship match against familiar conference foe Texas A&M. (2:24)