NCAA volleyball tournament final: Keys to Kentucky-Texas A&M

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- We get it. You're tired of hearing about SEC domination. The selection committee favors them, yada yada, because "it just means more."

But wait. ... We're talking about volleyball here.

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.

Skinner opened his news conference Friday by acknowledging the shift.

"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.

Daniels said when Greg Sankey became commissioner in 2015, he noticed that volleyball was the only sport among the conference's then-21 offerings that hadn't produced a national title. He met with the coaches in the conference and asked what the SEC could do to help win a championship. She said the coaches "really leaned into that question and started to think strategically about how to move forward.

"I think that is what we're seeing, the results of the fruits of that labor," Daniels said.

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."

It was a primer for things to come.

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.

Both teams like to talk about how grit and mental toughness have pushed them to the championship match. Now, there's one more win to be had in the 2025 NCAA volleyball season. The only certainty is that an SEC team will claim it.

Here are four other storylines to watch during the championship match.

Power of the pins

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.

But it won't be just a competition to see which team can outhit the other. Hudson said it might be as much about who can "outgrit" the other.

"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."

In Thursday's semifinal against Wisconsin, Hudson dominated in the fourth and fifth sets. Her final kill of the game sealed the Wildcats' fate and earned her 29 kills with a .455 hitting percentage. In the sweep against Pitt, Stowers and Lednicky led their program to its first title game with a combined 30 kills. When asked about her rise in kills in the past few games, Stowers said she's at a loss for words.

"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."

Remember October?

Kentucky beat the Aggies 21-25, 25-22, 25-15, 27-25 in an Oct. 8 thriller in College Station. Texas A&M has clearly hit another gear in December, though, knocking off No. 20 TCU, No. 9 Louisville, No. 1 Nebraska and No. 4 Pitt in the postseason. "That feels like a really long time ago," A&M outside hitter Emily Hellmuth said of the regular-season matchup. "It's hard to honestly remember, so much has happened since then. I do remember after the fourth set everyone, including all the fans and us, feeling so -- I don't know -- it was a confusing feeling of, we knew that we were about to go to the fifth. I think we left feeling like there was a lot of unfinished business there."

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."

Hudson echoed Thigpen.

"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."

Vibe check

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.

Last year's final drew an NCAA postseason record of 21,860 fans to the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. It didn't hurt that Louisville was playing Penn State. (The home team lost in four games.)

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 vibe has been amazing," Morrison said.

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.

Morrison took notice of all the red.

"One of the things I really respect about Nebraska fans is a lot of them have showed up," he said. "I know there was some stuff on social media, disappointment and that. I mean this: If we can do what I believe we can do at Texas A&M, I believe the 12th man can become that, too, where it's passionate about volleyball, might show up to the final four, regardless of if we're in it or not.

" ... 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."

X factors

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.

The Aggies' X factor heading into this game might be their ability to play with what their team has described as "so much grit." It also might be the nine seniors -- let's not forget about middle blocker extraordinaire Ifenna Cos-Okpalla -- on their roster who are ready to make their last college game the most memorable yet.

"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."