Vanderbilt (5-14, 1-9 SEC) vs. No. 3 Kentucky (16-2, 9-0 SEC)
Friday, Oct. 31 • 6 p.m. CT • SEC Network+
Memorial Coliseum • Lexington, Ky.
Live Stats • Match Notes
Vanderbilt (5-14, 1-9 SEC) vs. RV Missouri (15-7, 6-4 SEC)
Sunday, Nov. 2 • 1 p.m. • SEC Network+
Memorial Gymnasium • Nashville, Tenn.
Live Stats • Match Notes
NEXT UP
• Vanderbilt volleyball travels to Lexington, Kentucky, for a 6 p.m. CT first serve vs. No. 3 Kentucky at Memorial Coliseum on Friday
• The Commodores then return home to face RV Missouri at 1 p.m. on Sunday
• Vanderbilt will honor its four graduating seniors, Isabella Bareford, Sydney Conley, Jackie Moore and Mia Soerensen, before Sunday’s match
• Both matches are streamed on SEC Network+
THE LAST TIME OUT
• Despite producing more kills, Vanderbilt fell to South Carolina, 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23)
• Vanderbilt volleyball libero Elli Kinney set a career-high with 20 digs
• Two Dores recorded double-digit kills; Reese Animashaun totaled 16, and Maya Witherspoon registered 10
• Moore and Soerensen posted nine kills each
• Bareford tallied 28 assists and 11 digs, recording her fourth double-double of the season
• Making an impact on both sides of the ball, Kayla Dunlap recorded a team-high four blocks and added six kills, hitting at a .455 clip
• Animashaun hit .385, recording six of Vandy’s 18 kills in the second set
• In set 4, Animashaun recorded six kills, at one point firing off three in a row
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
• With a perfect 9-0 conference record and ranked wins over then-No. 5 Penn State, No. 10 SMU, No. 3 Louisville and No. 9 Texas A&M, Kentucky has spent six weeks at No. 3 in the AVCA Rankings
• Craig Skinner, now in his 21st season, is the longest tenured head coach in the SEC and has led the Wildcats to eight SEC Championships and the 2021 NCAA Championship
• Kentucky leads the SEC in digs per set (14.92), is ranked No. 2 in kills (14.72) and assists (13.78) per set, opponent hitting percentage (.162) and is No. 3 in hitting percentage (.281)
• Two-time All-American, 2024 SEC Player of the Year and 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year Brooklyn DeLeye leads Kentucky and ranks second in the conference in kills, averaging 4.69 per set
• DeLeye is No. 3 in the conference in points per set (5.05)
• Three-time All-American Eva Hudson joins the Wildcats as a transfer from Purdue and currently ranks seventh in the SEC in points per set (4.75)
• Hudson set a three-set school record with 28 kills in Kentucky’s 3-0 sweep over Wisconsin (9.20.25)
COMMON(WEALTH) CONNECTIONS
• Before coming to Vanderbilt, head coach Anders Nelson spent 12 seasons at Kentucky, first as an assistant coach (2013-16) and then as associate head coach (2016-22) under Kentucky head coach Skinner
• Assistant coach Azhani Tealer played five seasons with the Wildcats where she was a two-time AVCA All-American, three-time AVCA all-region and four-time All-SEC honoree
• Skinner, Nelson and Tealer were members of Kentucky’s historic 2021 national championship team
• Skinner and Nelson are both Ball State alumni
• Kentucky associate head coach and alumna Meredith Jewell Frey was coached by Skinner and Nelson for two seasons in 2017 and 2018
• Freshman Kati Berezowitz has two older sisters who have ties to the Kentucky volleyball program. Maddie, her oldest sister, played for Skinner and Nelson from 2019 to 2021, and Molly, her older sister, is a current member of the Wildcat’s volleyball team
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
• Missouri travels to No. 16 Tennessee before facing the Dores on Sunday
• The Tigers are on a six-match win streak and are 15-7 overall and 6-4 in conference matches this season
• Two Tigers, Caylen Alexander and Maya Sands, were named to the AVCA Player of the Year Preseason Watch List
• Alexander joined Missouri’s squad this season after earning All-America honors and leading the NCAA in kills with 611 (5.09 per set) playing at Hawai’i in 2024
• Sands is the two-time reigning SEC Libero of the Year and was and All-America selection in 2024
• So far this season, Sands leads the SEC and is top 20 in the NCAA in digs per set, averaging 4.86
• Missouri ranks top 3 in the conference in service aces (1.74), blocks (2.57) and digs (14.55) per set
• Dawn Sullivan enters her third season as head coach
• In 2024, Sullivan led Mizzou to the program’s fifth-ever NCAA Sweet Sixteen and was named AVCA Central Region Coach of the Year
TIES TO THE TIGERS
• Defensive coordinator Russell Corbelli was an assistant coach at Mizzou from 2020-23 before coming to Vanderbilt
