The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Kentucky
No. 7 Volleyball preview: at No. 3 Kentucky
09.26.2026 | Volleyball
The Longhorns are set for their fifth top-10 matchup of the season.
Match 10: No. 7 Texas Volleyball at No. 3 Kentucky
Texas: 5-4 (1-0) | Kentucky: 9-2 (1-0)
Sunday, Sept. 27 – 12 p.m. CT (1 p.m. ET)
Memorial Coliseum | Lexington, Ky.
Television: ESPN
On the Call: Play-by-Play: Eric Frede | Analyst: Mary Wise | Reporter: Alex Glover Jemison
THE MATCHUP
• Texas leads the all-time series, 15-6, but Kentucky has won the last two meetings.
• Texas and Kentucky will meet in Lexington for the seventh time with the Longhorn's holding a 4-2 lead, including a sweep in the last time the teams met at Memorial Coliseum in 2024.
• The Wildcats swept Texas in Austin last November before rallying to defeat the Longhorns in five sets in the SEC Tournament Championship in Savannah.
• Both teams enter with 1-0 records in SEC play.
TEXAS LONGHORNS OUTLOOK
• No. 7 Texas enters Sunday's match with a 5-4 record after rallying from a two-set deficit to defeat No. 13 Tennessee, 21-25, 24-26, 25-18, 25-22, 15-11, on Friday in Knoxville.
• The victory marked Texas' first reverse sweep since Oct. 26, 2023, when the Longhorns rallied to defeat Baylor at Gregory Gym.
• Texas handed Tennessee its first home loss of the season in front of a Tennessee-record crowd of 9,226.
• The Longhorns have faced eight ranked opponents through their first nine matches, including five top-10 opponents.
• Texas has played five top-10 opponents in its last seven matches.
• Torrey Stafford led Texas with a season- and match-high 28 kills against Tennessee, adding 12 digs, four blocks and two aces. Her 28 kills were a season high and gave her four double-doubles this season.
• Nya Bunton recorded a career-high 14 kills against Tennessee and added four blocks.
Rella Binney posted a career-high 54 assists and 14 digs for her third consecutive double-double and fifth of the season. It marked her third consecutive match with at least 40 assists.
• Texas trailed 2-0 against Tennessee before winning the final three sets, ending the Lady Vols 18-set home winning streak.
KENTUCKY WILDCATS OUTLOOK
• Kentucky enters Sunday's match at 9-2 overall and 1-0 in SEC play.
• The Wildcats have won three straight, including a four-set victory over then-No. 3 Louisville and a four-set SEC-opening win at Vanderbilt.
• KU is 4-2 in Top-25 matchups this season.
• Kentucky has won the last two meetings with Texas, including a sweep in Austin last season and a five-set comeback over the Longhorns in the SEC Tournament Championship after Texas won the first two sets.
• Texas swept Kentucky, 3-0, in the teams' last meeting in Lexington in 2024.
IN THE RANKINGS
• Texas remains No. 7 in the latest AVCA Coaches' Poll.
• The Longhorns are one of five SEC teams ranked in the top 25, joining No. 3 Kentucky, No. 8 Florida, No. 13 Tennessee and No. 16 Texas A&M.
• Texas has faced eight ranked opponents through the first nine matches of the season, including four top-10 teams in its last five matches.
JERRITT ELLIOTT'S 26-YEAR TEXAS LEGACY
• Jerritt Elliott is in his 26th season as the head coach at Texas, making him the 16th-longest-tenured active head coach among NCAA Division I women's volleyball programs.
• His 26 seasons at Texas rank fourth among active coaches at Power Four programs and first among active head coaches in the SEC.
• Elliott took over the Longhorn program in 2001 after two seasons as the interim head coach at USC.
ELLIOTT APPROACHING 700 CAREER WINS
• Elliott has compiled 690 career Division I victories, ranking fourth among active Division I coaches and 24th all time.
• He has 640 victories at Texas, which rank 21st all time among coaches at a single Division I institution. He is three wins behind Northern Iowa's Bobbi Petersen (642) on the single-program list.
• Elliott is 10 wins away from 700 career Division I victories and 10 wins away from 650 victories at Texas.
STAFFORD'S SENIOR STEP
• Senior outside hitter Torrey Stafford leads the Longhorns with 138 kills, 3.94 kills per set, 152 points and 3.94 points per set.
• Has tallied five consecutive double-digit kill performances.
• She has recorded seven double-digit kill performances and four double-doubles through nine matches.
• Stafford posted a season-high 28 kills at No. 13 Tennessee, adding 12 digs, four blocks and two aces.
• She recorded 19 kills in Texas' win over Marquette on Aug. 24 and added 12 digs for her first double-double of the season while hitting .341.
• She recorded 12 kills in Texas' sweep of No. 18 TCU, 14 kills and 10 digs against No. 6 Louisville, 18 kills at No. 8 SMU, 16 kills with 11 digs against No. 6 Wisconsin and 28 kills with 12 digs at No. 13 Tennessee.
• Was named to the 2026 AVCA Division I Women's Volleyball Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.
• Stafford led Texas with 516 kills, 33 service aces and 580.5 points in 2025 while earning AVCA First-Team All-America and Southwest Region Player of the Year honors. She spent the summer training with the U.S. Women's National Team.
SPEARS' SECOND ACT
• Sophomore outside hitter/opposite Cari Spears ranks second among Longhorns with 143.5 points, 4.07 points per set, 120 kills and 3.43 kills per set.
• She has recorded at least 10 kills in seven of nine matches, including each of the last six.
• Had 18 kills in back-to-back matches against No. 8 SMU and No. 6 Wisconsin.
• Her 18 kills against Wisconsin matched her season and career high, while she added three service aces and hit .326.
• Spears has collected 14 service aces this season, the most on the team.
Selected to the 2026 AVCA Division I Women's Volleyball Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.
• She entered her sophomore season after earning AVCA Third-Team All-America and Southwest Region Freshman of the Year honors as a freshman. Spears finished second on the team with 358 kills in 2025, averaging 3.25 kills per set while hitting .295, and became the first Texas freshman to earn AVCA National Player of the Week honors. She enters 2026 as a Preseason All-SEC selection and on the AVCA Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.
NYA AT THE NET
• Senior middle blocker Nya Bunton has recorded 70 kills (2.00/set) through nine matches while hitting .410 on the season.
• She has added 39 total blocks (1.11/set).
• Collected her 100th career block in the win against Wisconsin (9/13).
• Bunton recorded seven or more blocks in three matches this season, including a match-high eight blocks in Texas' sweep of USC on Sept. 2.
She also posted a career-high 10 kills in Texas' sweep of No. 18 TCU.
• Against Wisconsin, Bunton established career highs with 13 kills and 25 attacks while hitting .480, adding two blocks and a dig.
Bunton followed with a career-high 14 kills and four blocks at No. 13 Tennessee.
BINNEY SETS THE TABLE
• Junior setter Rella Binney has recorded five double-doubles through nine matches and leads Texas with 303 assists (8.66/set).
• She has recorded at least 30 assists in five matches this season, including three consecutive matches with at least 40 assists.
• Binney recorded 36 assists and a then-career-best 11 digs against Marquette, followed by 21 assists and 10 digs against No. 18 TCU.
• She then recorded a career-high 42 assists and 10 digs at No. 8 SMU before setting another career high with 44 assists and a career-best 21 digs against No. 6 Wisconsin.
• Binney followed with another career performance at No. 13 Tennessee, recording career highs of 54 assists and 14 digs.
• Her performance against Tennessee marked her third consecutive double-double and fifth of the season.
GARY TAKES THE REINS
• Senior Ramsey Gary leads Texas with 134 digs and is averaging 3.83 digs per set.
• Has tallied three consecutive 20-dig performances: 27 at SMU (9/9), 25 vs. Wisconsin (9/13), 21 at Tennessee (9/26)
• She has recorded double-digit digs in five of nine matches this season and posted a career-high 27 digs at No. 8 SMU on Sept. 9.
• Gary followed that performance with a match-high 25 digs against No. 6 Wisconsin.
• She also had 16 digs against Marquette and 15 digs against No. 18 TCU.
• Gary was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and two-time all-region honoree during her career at Indiana.
ANDERSON MAKES HER MARK
• Freshman outside hitter Henley Anderson has made an immediate impact in her first season with the Longhorns, ranking fourth on the team with 61 kills and averaging 1.74 kills per set.
• Her five service aces are third-most among Longhorns.
• She has added 24 total blocks and four service aces through nine matches.
• Anderson recorded a career-high 15 kills at No. 8 SMU on Sept. 9, helping Texas force a fifth set.
She has started all nine matches this season.
RANKED SUCCESS
• Texas owns a 174-70 (.713) record against ranked opponents over the last 23 seasons (2004-26).
• The Longhorns are 80-17 (.825) at home against ranked opponents at Gregory Gymnasium, the Frank Erwin Center and Moody Center during that span.
• Texas went 12-4 against ranked opponents in 2025.
• Texas is 4-4 against ranked opponents this season, with its win coming against No. 13 Tennessee.
• The Longhorns have faced four Top-10 opponents this season: No. 1 Nebraska, No. 6 Louisville, No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 8 SMU.
• Texas has faced eight ranked opponents through its first nine matches.
ROAD HORNS
• The Longhorns have won 62 of their last 66 true road matches dating back to the 2019 season.
• Texas went 13-0 in true road SEC matches before suffering its first loss at Texas A&M on Oct. 31, 2025. Since 2011, Texas is 136-25 (.845) in true road matches, with only seven of those losses coming against unranked teams.
Texas Volleyball is Presented by Huntington Bank
