To get to the end, go back to the beginning.
“Our team is the deepest I’ve ever had as a coach, it’s the most talent I’ve ever had,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said last August, three weeks before the NCAA season began.
He added, “We know we have the talent. We’ve got four months to mesh them because they’ve never played together. They don’t know how to play together yet. They don’t know what their buttons are when the pressure is on. They’re going to have to learn all that stuff. That’s going to be the key for us.”
Mission accomplished.
Texas completed a nearly perfect season Saturday night with its sweep of Louisville in the NCAA championship match. The only stumble in a 28-1 year was on October 23 at Iowa State, a match in which the Longhorns dropped two sets by 27-25 scores and lost despite hitting .359 and getting 13 blocks.
It happens.
But that 18-25, 27-25, 12-25, 27-25, 15-10 defeat wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, superstar Logan Eggleston offered Saturday night. She was asked if maybe it actually helped the Longhorns.
“100 percent. I don’t think it’s ever good to go undefeated in a season because you don’t know how to battle…
