Weekend Preview: #19 Lady Vols Prepare for Final Road Trip of Regular Season Against Vanderbilt & #2 Kentucky

Friday, November 7

Nashville, Tenn.

8 p.m. ET

University of Tennessee

Vanderbilt

Weekend Preview: #19 Lady Vols Prepare for Final Road Trip of Regular Season Against Vanderbilt & #2 Kentucky

November 06, 2025 | Volleyball

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The #19 Tennessee volleyball team hits the road for the final time in the regular season, facing off against Vanderbilt and #2 Kentucky. The Lady Vols get the weekend started against Vanderbilt on Friday at 8 p.m. ET, with the match streamed on SEC Network+. They then finish the road trip against Kentucky, with the match televised nationally on ESPN and scheduled for 5 p.m ET.

Tennessee enters the weekend coming off a hard fought loss at home against then #9 Texas A&M. Hayden led the Big Orange Tennessee attack, with her 11th-straight double figure kill effort of the season with 17. Izzy Mogridge got her first collegiate start, putting up a career-high 32 assists. Mogridge added 10 digs in the match to achieve the first double-double of her collegiate career. Gülce Güçtekin led the floor defense with 12 digs, while Chelsea Sutton led the team at the net with six blocks.

Vanderbilt is coming off a five set win at home against Missouri. The Commodores have three players with over 200 kills this season, with Jacquelyn Moore (241), Kamryn Chaney (218), and Reese Animashaun (207) leading the team. Chaney is also one of the top servers in the nation, entering ranked 20th nationally and second in the SEC with 0.50 aces per set. Chaney is also second in the conference in total aces with 33 this season. Moore is also the team leader in blocks, entering play with 91. Isabella Bareford is the team leader in assists, entering competition with the seventh-most in the conference with 761 and ranked ninth at 9.17 assists per set. Hailee Mack and Elli Kinney have been a force from the backrow, with the pair leading the team with 240 and 210 digs respectively. This will mark the first meeting between Tennessee and Vanderbilt in volleyball, with the Commodores playing their first season in the sport since 1980.

Kentucky is coming off a road sweep over Texas, becoming the first team to sweep the Longhorns since 2013. The Wildcats have one of the top offenses in the country, entering the weekend ranked in the top 15 in assists per set (13.89, second), kills per set (14.84, third), and hitting percentage (.288, 11th). Brooklyn DeLeye and Eva Hudson are the top attackers for the WIldcats this season. DeLeye has 334 kills on the campaign with a .293 hitting percentage, while Hudson has 316 kills this year on an impressive .307 hitting percentage. Leading the team in hitting percentage is middle blocker Lizzie Carr. The redshirt junior has a .359 hitting percentage, ranked as the sixth-best in the conference. Fueling up the offense is freshman setter Kassie O'Brien. O'Brien is third in the SEC and 16th in Division I at 10.45 assists per set and 810 assists in 2025. Carr is also the team leader in blocks with 82 and fifth in the conference at 1.25 blocks per set. Kentucky leads the all-time series with a record of 51-37, winning last season's meeting in Knoxville back on Oct. 16, 2024.

The Tennessee offense has been producing at a high level this season. One of the top offensive teams in the nation, The Lady Vols enter the week with a .289 hitting percentage, second-best in the SEC and ranked tenth in Division I. The production has come from multiple sources this season, with five players over the 100-kill mark. Leading the team in kills is Hayden Kubik, coming in with 271 on the season. The senior hitter has 10 or more kills in 17 contests. Paityn Chapman and Chelsea Sutton follow, each with 161 kills each. Rounding out the list for the Lady Vols is Mackenzie Plante at 139 and Starr Williams with 106. Four players have a hitting percentage over .300. Chelsea Sutton leads the team at .380, the fourth-best percentage in the conference. Three other players enter the week strong, with Zoë Humphrey, Caroline Kerr, and Paityn Chapman each over the .300-clip.

The Lady Vol defense has been key to the team's success in 2025. Tennessee is holding opponents to a .189 hitting percentage, ranking fifth in the SEC. Tennessee's block defense has been impressive all season. The Lady Vols rank eighth in the conference in blocks per set at 2.41. Leading the team in blocks is Chelsea Sutton at 89, followed by redshirt freshman Zoë Humphrey at 67. The Lady Vols floor defense has been strong as well. As a team Tennessee has 1,030 digs, averaging 13.55 digs per set. Leading the team is Gülce Güçtekin with 3.84 digs per set and 292 digs, both marks ranking eighth in the conference respectively.

In her redshirt junior campaign at Tennessee, Caroline Kerr is continuing the play that has made her a two-time all-American. Kerr leads the team with 646 assists, averaging 9.36 assists per set. The setter is helping lead an offense that is tenth in the nation in hitting percentage at .289 and top 20 in kills per set at 13.96. Kerr has 2,960 assists in her career, the eighth-most in program history. Kerr also ranks in the top 10 in assists per set, with her 10.61 total sitting sixth all-time. Kerr has tallied 30 or more assists in 12 matches, including tying her career-high with 57 assists against Florida. That marked her 11th career match with 50 or more assists. Kerr also notched a double-double in the match, adding 15 digs.