SEC Volleyball

SEC Volleyball Update:

The Kentucky Women's Volleyball team got some good news, their coach and a player were honored in the Volleyball Magazine. Klefot got to be an All-American Second Team when she led the team in digs and led the way for the big blue this year to a magical run. Coach Skinner was named to honorable mention for the magazine's Coach of the Year honor and has gotten the team to several NCAA appearances over the past few years producing a great deal of All-Americans.

Tennessee is leading the way in SEC Volleyball so far this year; with Kentucky and Florida close on their heels. The Lady Vols are ranked 14th nationally; UK and UF are #16 and #17.

Volleyball in the SEC is all about the women as the SEC does not compete in men's volleyball. Unfortunately, the SEC is not the best conference in the volleyball world; actually, they are not even the second best. This is due mostly to the disinterest that the sport draws on a national level, so most great players do not travel very far from their home states.

The best program in the SEC at this time is the Florida Lady Gators. They were the only team to make it out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season, and they are the number one team in the nation as of right now. LSU and Tennessee are also both ranked in the Top 25 at this point, which is promising for the SEC's future.

If the SEC wants to compete on the national level, they need to generate interest in coming to the SEC programs, which is difficult to do when the programs are not winning on a consistent basis.

Kentucky Volleyball Dig. Thanks to ukathletics for the photo.

The conferences are ranked like this:

1. Pac-10 - The Pac-10 is the deepest and most talented conference in the nation when it comes to volleyball. They have not won a championship in the past few years, but they are the deepest conference in the nation, and they prove that by having seven teams ranked in the Top 25; four of which are in the Top 10.
2. Big Ten - The Big Ten probably has the best case to be the number one conference as of right now. They have won the last three national championships, and are poised to win another. They have five teams in the Top 25, including Penn State, the defending national champion. Picking up Nebraska will certainly help to boost the league's strength as well.
3. Big 12 - The Big 12 has another strong case for being higher on this list, as they have two teams in the Top 10 right now. Nebraska is a powerhouse for the league, but they will be losing them to the Big Ten, which will really hurt the Big 12 in volleyball in the long run.
4. SEC - The SEC is looking to finally break through in volleyball this season. The conference has as many teams in the Top 25 as the Big 12, and they have the number one team in the nation as well. The SEC could at least close the gap between them and the Big 12 if the Lady Gators can bring home the title.
5. ACC - The ACC is not really much better than the last conference on this list, as the ACC only has one decent volleyball program: Duke. The Lady Devils do compete pretty well, but they just do not have the support of a great conference every year.
6. Big East - The Big East has problems competing in volleyball. Like the ACC, the Big East only has one program that has had great success. St. John's is the only great program in the Big East, and it has the same problems that Duke has in that its conference just is not good enough to support it.

Thanks to utsports.com for photo #2 above. Thanks to ukathletics.com for photos 1, 3 and 4 above. All rights are reserved for these photos.

The SEC's rankings are pretty simple to piece together as well:

1. Florida Gators - The Lady Gators are the number one team in the nation right now, and they have only lost one game this season. That is a domination that the SEC has not seen recently, and they need to continue their run for the good of the SEC.

2. LSU Tigers - LSU comes in second due to their number 16 ranking in the polls right now. That is a great ranking for the SEC, and proves that the SEC can have more than one great team. LSU looks to win the SEC West this season.

3. Tennessee Volunteers - The Lady Vols are a great team, and they are ranked in the Top 25 because of it. They look to be Florida's number one competition in the SEC East this season.

4. Kentucky Wildcats - This is another team that could ruin Florida's good time at the top. They are talented enough that they could make a tournament appearance this season.

5. South Carolina Gamecocks - The Gamecocks are always in the discussion in the SEC East, but they are unfortunately not as good as some of the other East teams this season. That does not mean that they are a weak team, however, and they should still compete hard in every match.

6. Ole Miss Rebel Black Bears - Ole Miss has the problem of being in the same division as LSU. The Tigers are the best in the West, and Ole Miss will probably just have to settle for second.

7. Georgia Bulldogs - The Bulldogs are unfortunately the bottom of the SEC East, as the Vanderbilt Commodores do not participate in volleyball. The Bulldogs are still a good program, and they would probably be better off if they were in the SEC West.

8. Alabama Crimson Tide - The Crimson Tide are another team that should win over the lower ranked squads, but they have difficulty competing at a high level against the top of the conference.

9. Arkansas Razorbacks - Like Alabama, the Razorbacks just do not have the talent to compete in the SEC as of right now. They need a leader to come forward and lead them if they are ever going to climb out of the bottom of the SEC.

10. Auburn Tigers - The Tigers just barely stay out of the cellar on the SEC, but not by much. They will need to show some marked improvement if they want to stay that way.

11. Mississippi State Bulldogs - Mississippi State is relegated to the cellar in the SEC. Their program is very weak, and they have finally fallen below Auburn. It would not be difficult, however, for them to climb out of the cellar if they could bring in a bit more talent.

12. Vanderbilt Commodores - Does not have a volleyball program.

Check out Official Southeastern Conference Volleyball Site

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