Burnt Orange vs Big Blue: Who Comes Out On Top?

NCAA volleyball fans from across the nation will be treated to a top-5 showdown on ESPN when Kentucky comes down to Austin. After a loss against Texas A&M, this matchup becomes all the more important for the Longhorns. After the Halloween match, Jerritt Elliott highlighted the importance of Texas' mentality on Sunday, saying "we've got to make sure that we are dialed in from the very first point, ready to play some better volleyball." Kentucky is too good of a team to be rattled or mentally checked out.

Fortunately, Texas has a secret weapon up their sleeve. Associate HC Ben Josephson spent his last two seasons with Kentucky, and he says he's got a pretty good idea of what the Wildcats will throw their way. After coaching for the program for a couple of years, he knows a lot about the strategies and philosophies of that coaching staff, and can now help prepare his Longhorns for the challenge. 

It all starts with their lethal outside duo. They have potentially the best outside duo in the country with reigning SEC Player of the Year Brooklyn DeLeye and Purdue transfer Eva Hudson, and these two will get A LOT of opportunities. The last time either of them failed to reach double digit kills in a match was in mid-September. Slowing this pair down is the priority.

In order to put stress on the opposing block, Kentucky puts more of an emphasis on getting the ball to these two with tempo than they do on spreading out the offense. Because of that, success begins at the service line, and Texas will look to disrupt it with aggressive and varied serving. Forcing the Wildcats out of system would put more pressure on the true freshman setting up this offense, Kassie O'Brien, and take some pressure off the Texas block.

According to Josephson, Kentucky will also look to block scheme a lot, targeting certain attackers with their middle blockers, including another Purdue transfer, 6'6" Lizzie Carr. This game will be a good mental test for setter Ella Swindle to see if she can out-scheme the Kentucky block defense.

With both teams carrying top-3 rankings, the environment in Gregory gym is expected to be as loud as it has been all season long. Texas will aim to protect its home court in a match with massive postseason implications. For now, Texas is firmly in position to host the regional rounds of the playoffs, but a loss on Sunday starts to put that control into question. Kentucky is fighting that same battle-within-the-war, and they need this win even more than the Longhorns to reach that goal.