FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The No. 9 Tennessee volleyball team starts a two-stop SEC road trip Friday night at Barnhill Arena against Arkansas, with first serve at 8 p.m. Eastern, before heading to Oklahoma for a 3 p.m. Sunday match at McCasland Field House. SEC Network+ will stream both.
The Lady Vols arrive at 12-3 overall, 3-2 in league play and 3-1 away from Knoxville, and they have swept their last three opponents, most recently LSU at home. Tennessee has given up only five sets in SEC matches.
Offense is the calling card. Tennessee leads Division I at 14.56 kills per set and ranks sixth nationally in hitting percentage at .295. Kennedi Rogers averages a team-best 4.55 kills per set, 12th in the country, while middle blocker Chelsea Sutton tops the SEC at 1.38 blocks per set. Last week the AVCA put three Lady Vols, setter Caroline Kerr, Rogers and Jalyn Stout, on its watch list for national player of the year.
Friday marks the 52nd meeting between the programs and Tennessee’s first visit to Fayetteville since 2022; the Lady Vols swept Arkansas in Knoxville last year. The Razorbacks, 9-7 overall and 4-2 at home, are coming off their first SEC win of the season, a takedown of then-No. 12 Texas A&M, the reigning national champion, and every one of their five league matches has gone at least four sets. Arkansas ranks second in the SEC in blocks per set at 2.65, and Parker Duncan leads its attack with 193 kills.
Sunday brings an Oklahoma team that just beat both Texas and Texas A&M, its first back-to-back wins over ranked opponents since 2009. Sooners setter Avaya Maga is tied for the Division I lead at 11.65 assists per set. Tennessee beat Oklahoma in four sets in the final regular-season match last year.
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