TAMPA, Fla. — In 2009, here in this same arena, Texas women’s volleyball lost one of its most heartbreaking matches, one that longtime coach Jerritt Elliott still calls his most painful defeat. On Sunday, in the first NCAA volleyball championship match to be televised on ABC, the Longhorns and Elliott replaced that bad memory with a much happier one.
The Longhorns repeated as national champions and did something no team had done in NCAA women’s volleyball history: win back-to-back titles via sweeps. The No. 2 seed Longhorns did it by knocking off three No. 1 seeds in a row: Stanford in the regional final, Wisconsin in the national semifinals and Nebraska in the final. The Longhorns won 25-22, 25-14, 25-11 on Sunday; last year they swept Louisville in the title match.
Last season, Texas carried the mantle as country’s best team all the way through the championship match. This year, with freshman setter Ella Swindle learning the ropes, Texas had a few more bumps in the road early on, including a loss at Long Beach State in the season opener Aug. 25.
