The reigning national champions have had something to prove all season. The loss of the 2022 National Player of the Year and early injuries choked the preseason No. 1 team, whose three losses this season have pushed the Longhorns to the brink of the AVCA top-10.
But in two matches against the No. 9 BYU Cougars, No. 10 Texas finally found its voice… and made its statement loud and clear.
For a squad that has averaged a .246 clip all season, starting out the first set with a hitting percentage in the negatives was out of the ordinary for Texas. Eight attack errors and a service error set the Longhorns back to hitting -0.192, as they easily handed the Cougars the first set at a 25-13 margin.
With the jitters now out of their system (no volleyball pun intended), the Longhorns dominated the rest of the conversation. Texas out-blocked BYU 11-6 largely to the credit to Asjia O’Neal’s four stops at the net. Hitters Madisen Skinner and Jenna Wenaas combined for 29 kills on the night, while Skinner and Carissa Barnes aced three times apiece at the service line. Hitting an average of .335 over the course of the final three sets, the first match was Texas’ for the taking, 3-1.
“I’m super excited for the way this team is growing.”
Freshman setter @ellaswindle_ shares some of…
