The AVCA has the Bruins cracking into the top 25 for the first time in exactly two years.

Less than a week after playing in Atlanta, the Bruins are heading back to the American Southeast – this time, to Knoxville, Tennessee.

No. 25 UCLA women’s volleyball (2-0) will battle No. 17 Tennessee (0-2) Thursday afternoon before squaring off against Long Island (1-3) Saturday morning. The Bruins appear in the top 25 after beating then-No.14 Georgia Tech and Coastal Carolina at the GT Invitational over the weekend.

“We’ll prepare like we do any week, regardless of who we play,” said Coach Alfee Reft.

A Thursday win would mark the Bruins’ first 3-0 start to a season since 2021 – coincidentally, the last season they reached the NCAA tournament.

While increased travel has been a hot topic around UCLA athletics in 2024, Reft’s unit is all undeterred, eager to embrace their schedule.

“Everyone’s just super fired up to travel somewhere we’ve never seen before,” said junior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette. “Competing in some of the loudest crowds in the country, everyone’s just super excited.”

For players like freshman outside hitter Kiki Horne, returning to the Southeast also means playing closer to home again.

In UCLA’s last match in Georgia, the Raleigh, North Carolina, local said she was able to reconnect with friends and family she was unable to see since relocating to Westwood.

However, Horne added that her new home has welcomed her warmly.

“The team culture’s amazing,” Horne said. “I can say, without hesitation, that this is my second family for anything on and off the court.”

For the Lady Volunteers, a 0-2 start feels atypical for a program that went 26-5 last season, losing to the eventual national champions in Texas during the NCAA tournament.

But despite the team’s slow start, Tennessee’s preseason national ranking has notably dropped only two spots since the opening of its season.

Led by reigning SEC Co-Coach of the Year Eve Rackham Watt, the Lady Volunteers return setter Caroline Kerr. The reigning All-American Second Team awardee finished with 1,245 assists and 210 digs during her freshman campaign last season.

Long Island is on the heels of a 2023 campaign where it went 13-19 and lost to Nebraska – the national champion runner-up – in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Sharks return two NEC All-Conference players in libero Alasha Colon – the reigning NEC Defensive Player of the Year – and outside hitter Camelia Melendez, who racked up 360 kills to lead the conference last season.

UCLA will duke it out against Tennessee on at 4 p.m. Thursday, before a 9 a.m. Saturday matchup against Long Island.