Kentucky Volleyball faces Oklahoma, Mizzou this week; No. 7 Texas follows

Coming off a win against Florida, No. 13 Kentucky begins a three-game home stretch at Memorial Coliseum with matches against Oklahoma, Mizzou, and Texas between now and Oct. 13.

The Wildcats’ win against then-No. 15 Florida was its first SEC victory of the season. On Sept. 27, Kentucky dropped the first SEC match to No. 24 Auburn in a reverse sweep. As it stands, the ‘Cats sit at 7-6 (1-1 SEC), with five losses coming to top 10 ranked non-SEC teams.

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Oklahoma Sooners: Wednesday, Oct. 2 | 8:00 p.m. EST

Tonight, Kentucky battles the 7-3 (1-1 SEC) Oklahoma Sooners led by Emma Grome‘s Co-Setter of the Week, Payton Chamberlain. The Sooners are coming off a win against unranked Tennessee. At the time of the win, Tennessee was ranked at 20 on the AVCA Week 4 Coaches’ Poll. Since then, the Vols fell out of the rankings, although Oklahoma failed to make it in.

Though the Sooners have a better record than Kentucky, Oklahoma doesn’t have much to show for it. They’ve yet to beat a currently ranked team, making the only reputable win the one against Tennessee. In fact, Oklahoma was swept by 5-9 (1-1 Big West) UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 20. Hopefully Kentucky can pull out a win in the first of the three-match stay.

Missouri Tigers: Sunday, Oct. 6 | 1:00 p.m. EST

On Sunday, Kentucky takes on its fourth SEC match of the season against the 9-4 (1-1 SEC) Missouri Tigers. Just like Oklahoma, Mizzou’s record is a smoke screen. While the record looks impressive, Missouri hasn’t played a very difficult schedule. The Tigers were swept by No. 12 Creighton and No. 4 Louisville earlier in the season. Their other two losses come from South Dakota and Texas A&M.

This past week, outside hitter Mychael Vernon was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week for her performance in two matches against LSU and Texas A&M. The graduate student totaled 43 kills on a .407 clip making her the most efficient Tiger. Vernon ranks fifth in the SEC for kills (191) and sixth for points (215.0). Kentucky might have some defensive trouble on its hands, but other than that, the ‘Cats should come out on top.

Texas Longhorns: Sunday, Oct. 13 | 1:00 p.m. EST

Kentucky closes out the three-game home stand with a match next Sunday against the Texas Longhorns. Funnily enough, two former Wildcats will be making their return to Memorial Coliseum: Reagan Rutherford and Madisen Skinner. The new Longhorns marked their spots as Kentucky Volleyball legends over the last couple of years. Now, both players are making names for themselves in Austin.

However, there’s no true star of Texas Volleyball. The team is perfectly well-rounded, no matter what rotation it’s in. Kentucky’s defense will definitely struggle against No. 7 Texas, but that doesn’t mean to count them out. As long as libero Molly Tuozzo and hitters Brooklyn DeLeye and Megan Wilson carry their weight, Kentucky can come out on top.