Will the Real UT Please Stand Up?
Y'all act like you've never seen a champion before.
For a long while now there has been a bit of a cheeky back-and-forth between the fanbases of both Texas and Tennessee over the true ownership of the abbreviation UT. Seemingly adding to this debate has been both school’s use of some version of orange as their primary color (burnt > traffic cone), the use of the interlocking UT letters, and the use of the block (or as Tennessee calls it, the “power”) T.
Any hunt for an answer as to who is “the real UT” can get someone quickly in the weeds on the debate, especially on sites such as Reddit. Texas created its version of the block T and interlocking UT logos before Tennessee by 68 and 62 years respectively. The University of Tennessee was founded in 1794. The University of Texas was founded in 1883 making that a great year for us as Longhorns fans, and therefore the world. Then there’s Texas’s newcomer status in the SEC. And the history of many Texas Revolution fighters coming from Tennessee. And…well you get it. It’s contentious.
The SEC weighed in by officially abbreviating Tennessee as “UT” and Texas as “TEX” upon the Longhorns’ entrance into the conference. That’s cool, we’ll just take a league-best eight conference titles in our first year in exchange. Being the last SEC school standing in the College Football Playoffs was pretty neat too. That softball natty, after beating Tennessee along the way? Decent. Men’s swimming and diving champions? I can dig it. Another Director’s Cup? I like that. The 2024-2025 USA Today Network/SEC All-Sports Title? That’s a spicy meatball. But yea, Tennessee really showed why they were the real “UT” in the SEC this year I guess. Checks notes. Oh. Well. Um…
It’s all good though. We once again have the chance to let our play do the talking when Tennessee comes to Austin for a matchup at Gregory on October 8th. Texas handled the Volunteers with ease last season. Last week Josh mentioned that Vanderbilt still has that new car smell yet are expected to outperform four more established programs this year, and Mississippi State found itself in that bottom quartile of the SEC preseason rankings at #15 out of 16. Luckily for Texas, a trip to Starkville on the 5th should provide the perfect tune-up before the real showdown at Gregory: when the team in burnt orange gets to remind the visitors from Knoxville that respect isn’t given, it’s earned.
Mississippi State Bulldogs
Match Date: October 5, 2025
Match Location: Newell-Grissom Building - Starkville, MS
2024 Record: 11-14 (5-11, Southeastern)
NCAA Tournament: N/A
Postseason Rank: N/A
Result v Texas: L, 1-3 (8-25, 15-25, 25-21, 17-25)
Last season saw the first ever match between the Bulldogs and Texas as the #15 Longhorns drew the third largest crowd ever for a volleyball match in Starkville. State finished their season in an abysmal 13th place in the final SEC regular season standings so it’s not surprising that Texas was able to handle business pretty easily in that early November road match.
This year doesn’t look any better for the SEC’s less famous Hemsworth Bulldogs. State struggled to put 23 up against Texas’s 50 points in the first two sets before the Longhorns seemingly took a set off before closing out the match in the fourth. There’s little by way of the portal or player development to indicate that we shouldn’t expect a similar performance in the 2025 edition of this matchup.
Defensive specialist (DS) McKenna Yates led the team in digs on the season with 295 during her freshman campaign, that’s a good 49 shy of Emma Halter’s 344 and that mark indicated a down year when compared to her 441 in 2023 when not playing in the 6-2. Yates also splits time with rising junior Mary Neal who also proves to be a bit of a middle-of-the-road back court defender. Avery Parks is joining the team out of Brandon, MS where she won three state championships. The staff in Starkville is understandably enthusiastic about landing Parks, but much of State’s problems lie in relying too heavily on youth without any truly dominant, veteran presence.
Incoming outside hitter (OH) Laura Williams has transferred in from CSU-Fullerton after an average junior year campaign and while her experience may bring some value she’s undersized for her position at just 5’9. Junior Mele Corral-Blagojevich is more of a defensive-oriented OH and doesn’t provide too much of an issue to opposing teams hitting on the outside.
Another transfer rising senior pin hitter will be OH Brooke Doherty out of South Carolina, where she only played 19 sets for the Gamecocks through the whole season. No doubt both transfers are stop gaps for incoming freshmen Lindsey Mangleson and Hailey Campagna - with 1,139 kills and 2,062 kills, respectively, across their high school careers - to get up to speed in the college game, but it’s hard to imagine State having a truly solid threat from the outside in early October of this season.
The setter role is paired by the reliable but not-too-flashy junior Erin Kline and sophomore Cayley Hanson. A duo of incoming transfer middle blockers (MB) - McKenna Dressel from Nevada and Gha'Naye Whitfield-Moss out of Delaware - look to plug up holes in the defense at the net, but neither logged more than 86 blocks last season at their former schools (Ayden Ames had 88 as a freshman for the Longhorns, and Marianna Singletary led with 134).
Statistically, State ranked near the bottom of the SEC in hitting percentage (.198), opponent hitting percentage (.246), and total team blocks per set (1.9) last season - metrics that reflect both offensive inefficiency and defensive vulnerability.
Overall, State has some interesting incoming freshmen who could help to lay the foundation for future success, but currently their roster is too young with not enough experienced talent. They enter 2025 as deserving residents of the SEC basement and barring a big surprise, Texas should treat this as a chance to see more of the Mississippi countryside.
Tennessee Volunteers
Match Date: October 8, 2025
Match Location: Gregory Gymnasium - Austin, TX
2024 Record: 15-12 (8-8, Southeastern)
NCAA Tournament: Unseeded, Lost to #7 Georgia Tech in First Round
Postseason Rank: N/A
Result v Texas: L, 0-3 (20-25, 14-25, 20-25)
Tennessee ended their regular season ranked seventh in the SEC standings and were able to squeeze out an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament before being sent packing by Georgia Tech in the opening round. The Lady Vols final match of the regular season was a November 27 meeting against Texas at Gregory, and the Longhorns were able to close out that match in short order. Tennessee was virtually absent on defense, only tallying 19 digs and zero blocks. SEC coaches seem fairly convinced that this season’s version of the Vols will perform pretty closely to last year’s, having ranked Tennessee #6 in the 2025 preseason poll.
This is a good point to note how top-heavy the SEC really is. Tennessee may have landed in the middle of the standings at 8–8, but even teams ranked fourth through eighth feature All‑Americans and award winners, and Tennessee has plenty of veterans and newcomers who can heat up any night. With that in mind, despite Texas’s dominance last season, this Lady Vols squad has the ingredients to give us serious trouble.
Tennessee had some attrition in their more senior ranks after the conclusion of last season, but found a way to piecemeal replacements for some of those losses via the transfer portal. After losing two players on the backline to graduation, Tennessee picked up former Wisconsin starter and junior national team player for Turkey, Gülce Güçtekin. The 5’5 libero averaged just over 10 digs per match in her time with the Badgers and had seven 20+ dig performances. Crucially, she brings postseason experience to the Vols, having made the Elite 8 in all three of her seasons at Wisconsin.
Volleyball fans from the Houston area might remember Zoë Humphrey. The St. Pius X alumna was one of the top players out of Texas when she signed with UCLA in 2024. Her final year of high school saw her earn AVCA High School All‑America First Team honors. After redshirting her freshmen season with the Bruins, the MB brings a depth of talent at the net to Tennessee, with four years of eligibility remaining. She’ll be able to spend this season developing behind senior Keondreya Granberry, who was named to the AVCA South All-Region Team last year. She tabbed up 289 kills and 93 blocks during that campaign.
Tennessee also managed to grab OH Starr Williams out of New Mexico State, where she was a 2024 All-CUSA First Team and 2023 CUSA All-Tournament Team selection. She joins fellow senior transfer and 2024 All-Big 12 Second Team selection Brynn Williams out of Texas Tech. The senior transfers are set to help Tennessee find some solid offense from the pin hitter positions while crucially helping to provide necessary defense in the front court.
Paityn Chapman returns at opposite hitter after a freshman season that earned her two SEC Freshman of the Week selections with her posting 225 kills and 69 blocks on the season - making her second on the team in both categories. Importantly for Tennessee, setter Caroline Kerr will continue to serve as a foundational piece for the Vols to build around for another season. A few examples of the honors Kerr earned last year include being named to the AVCA South All-Region Team and receiving SEC Setter of the Week recognition multiple times. Her ability to control tempo and distribute efficiently gives Tennessee a solid backbone, especially with rising attackers like Chapman stepping into larger roles.
Like the 2024 edition of Texas, Tennessee also suffered from ups and downs that led to several fifth set losses and an inability to close out. Two senior OH transfers along with experienced transfers like Güçtekin can help the Vols garner more consistency in their play.
Tennessee may still be middle-of-the-pack material for the SEC, but unlike opponents such as Mississippi State, it should be stressed that there is no free lunch. The Lady Vols will be looking to steal a match on the road in payback for last year’s embarrassment, and if they are able to find more consistent play this season, they most likely will put up much more of a fight this time around. In the end, Texas will have to play to its full potential to remind the country that there’s only one UT, and it sure as hell doesn’t wear traffic cone orange.
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