LOVB Austin off to a raucous start in second season

The GIST: The second League One Volleyball (LOVB, pronounced “love”) season is officially underway. Here’s what went down during Wednesday’s season-opening rematch between defending champ Austin and runner-up Nebraska, plus where to watch the NCAA-stars-turned-LOVB-rookies you know and love this weekend. Bump to it.

💪 Austin rallies to win epic five-setter: Much like in last year’s championship, Austin outside hitter Logan Eggleston and opposite Madisen Skinner set the tone on Wednesday, leading their squad’s electric offense back from dropping the first set. This connection runs deep — Eggleston and Skinner played one season together at Texas in their college years.

👀 Next up: Collegiate loyalties put to the test: Remember Texas A&M senior Logan Lednicky, who led her team to their first NCAA championship just three weeks ago? Well, she made her LOVB debut in Houston’s straight sets loss to Salt Lake last night, where she was pitted against her former NCAA partner in crime, Ifenna Cos-Okpalla.

• Now Cos-Okpalla’s Salt Lake takes on Madison tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET before Lednicky’s Houston faces Nebraska Sunday at 4 p.m. ET and Skinner’s Austin clashes with Atlanta at 7:30 p.m. ET. That’s a whole lot of aces.