Increased NCAA Competition Forces SEC Volleyball Championship to Return After 20 Years

The upward trajectory of women's sports is changing the landscape of competitive sports, and women's volleyball is among the frontrunners. In 2023 Nebraska set the world record for attendance at a women's sporting event with a 92,003-strong crowd at Memorial Stadium on August 30. Now, with increasing demand and competition, the SEC is revving a long-dead tournament.

On September 18, the Southeastern Conference announced they're bringing back the SEC Volleyball Championship next year. The championship tournament originally ran from 1979 to 2005. While it's unclear why the conference discontinued the tournament, but they have clarified why the championship tournament is returning after two decades.

"With the restoration of the SEC Volleyball Tournament, we will now host a championship event in every Conference sport, providing our programs additional competitive opportunities as they prepare for NCAA postseason competition," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey stated in the official statement . What's even better? 2025 is just the beginning.

Enmarket Arena in Savannah will host the 2025 SEC Volleyball Championship from November 21 to 25, next year. However, thanks to a three-year contract, we already know the dates for the 2026 and 2027 editions. The post-season tournament is all set to return to Enmarket Arena from November 20 to 24, 2026, and November 19 to 23, the following year.

The return of the tournament lines up with the increasing viewership across all platforms. NCAA women's volleyball beat men's college basketball viewership on September 20. The game between the Nebraska Huskers and Stanford garnered a peak of 325,000 viewers. Meanwhile, Louisville vs. Kentucky reached 318,000. Yet, that's not all.

Earlier this week, Huskers vs. Louisville averaged 684,000 viewers . This also gives us a clue as to why the SEC chose Enmarket Arena as the venue has a high seating capacity of 9,500. President and CEO of Visit Savannah and Savannah Sports Council, Joseph Marinelli, praised the SEC. He called the move, "One of Savannah's most significant sports milestones." The announcement also generated buzz among the conference teams.

Old and new volleyball rivalries are set to ignite Throughout its original two and two-and-a-half decades run, the championship tournament saw intense rivalries between the SEC teams. While multiple universities won the title, some won more than others, and the Florida Gators dominated the tournament. Florida won 12 titles, including the final 2005 edition, where they beat Alabama to claim the title.

Besides Florida's dominance, Kentucky won the tournament five times, followed by LSU and Tennessee with 4 titles each. Meanwhile, Arkansas and Georgia also managed to win the title. However, things will be different next year as there are some new (and popular) kids on the block. The Texas Longhorns are among the prime candidates to make a mark.

While the Longhorns never got the opportunity to play in the original run, they have dominated the Big 12, with seven consecutive titles so far. So, although the renewed SEC Volleyball Championship is still a year away, the excitement has already started building.