Friday I'm in LOVB #4
The downs and ups of a long season
Welcome back to Friday I’m in LOVB from Point Texas. Yes, we did skip a week. That’s my fault. Approximately one-tenth of an inch of ice coated Austin, which was enough to effectively shut things down here for a few days. While that kind of thing was fun when I was, say… ten years old or so, the truth is when your life gets put on hold - even for just a few days - as an adult it tends to put you very, very behind. On everything.
As such, I found myself facing an approaching Friday deadline with roughly zero spare hours to spend on writing, and LOVB Austin found itself with back-to-back losses. The mood was pretty sour around here. So I made the call and let Josh’s offseason article on the Longhorn’s roster questions stand alone for that week.
Not to fear though, we just have a slightly longer article this week as I cover the last four matches for Austin. Three of the four found Austin playing not in the greater 512 area code, although only two of the matches were considered true road matches.
The results were mixed for Austin, but this past week saw two much-needed victories to keep Austin in the second spot in the overall league standings.
Match Five: Houston 3 - 0 Austin (Saturday, January 24th)
Last season, Austin played a few of its home matches on the Texas State campus in San Marcos, presumably in an effort to expand the geographic footprint of the team to cover more of central Texas/the Hill Country. Similarly, this season Austin slated one match in the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio. This was that match. Austin may never play there again.
While the conditions of this match were already a bit…funky, to say the least (the winter storm was slated to hit the region later that evening and the match got pushed to an earlier starting time to allow participants and fans time to safely travel home), it’d be hard to place all the blame for what ended up being a dismal performance for Austin all on the home-but-not-home setting or the sliding serve time. Nor would it be totally fair to level a finger at the absolutely front-loaded nature of Austin’s season so far, although still is very far ahead in sets played so far in 2026.
No, it really is hard to make excuses and put the blame for that Saturday’s performance on anything other than the team coming out very flat against a not-very-good Houston squad that itself had already been swept in two of its three matches so far on the year, all of which were losses.
Not when Austin lost each set by an average of over seven points.
Not when Austin hit an abysmal .049 attack efficiency on the match.
Houston ran up the score early in set one with a flurry of attacks by opposite hitter Jordan Thompson, converting 17 hits into 10 kills. Austin found no answer offensively or defensively and was quickly swamped in Houston’s 25-14 dominant set one win.
The momentum would never fully swing back Austin’s way. Outside hitter Jess Mruzik would lead the set two effort for Houston with six kills, all while the visitors managed a balanced attack that saw six different players record kills. Logan Eggleston and Madisen Skinner did their best to try to right the ship for Austin from the pin positions, and Austin did manage to squeeze out a bit more offense in the second, reaching the 20 point mark - but Houston proved to be too much, and Austin was in a two set hole quickly.
The third set bookended the match with another 25-14 win for Houston, with Thompson continuing to run the offense efficiently. Houston finished with 45 kills to Austin’s 25 while managing to outblock Austin by a mark of nine to four also.
Match Six: Austin 2 - 3 Salt Lake (Thursday, January 29th)
As if things couldn’t get worse after getting swept by Houston, enter the squad that had managed to sweep Houston themselves - twice. Salt Lake had been managing to stay towards the top of the standings with only one loss on the season entering this match, and a hard-fought win against an Austin squad that had just been unexpectedly punched in the throat helped further their cause.
Especially when they got to pull victory from the jaws of defeat in a reverse sweep.
Perhaps it was cosmic payback for Austin’s own reverse sweep in the quarterfinals of the inaugural LOVB Finals. If a penance was owed, that’s fine - I think most Austin fans will take an early regular season loss in exchange for the 2025 Finals championship - but it still stung to see Austin come out strong for two sets before tripping on their own lead and allowing Salt Lake to claw back in front of a raucous home crowd.
Austin shot off to a 25-20 set one win with an effective use of Asjia O’Neal and Molly McCage in the slide. O’Neal would be efficient throughout the entire match, recording six blocks with 12 kills, demonstrating her toolset in both the defensive and offensive sides of the court. She would continue to play well through the second set, helping to spur fans to hope for a quick road victory for the team in purple - this time by leading a controlling performance from the service line. Asjia recorded back-to-back aces, accounting for half of Austin’s four aces on the evening.
Former Longhorn great Khat Bell made her first appearance on the court this season, subbing in and providing a strong offensive showing at the right pin. Combined with Eggleston’s dependable hitting from the left side, Austin was up early on the road by securing the 25-23 second set win.
Then the wheels began to fall off.
Salt Lake made some substitutions and was able to boost their blocking game in the third set. Both squads began to trade off impressive defensive feats, but Salt Lake would managed to find the advantage late to earn a commanding third set win, 19-25. Despite continued defensive greatness from the likes of McCage and O’Neal into the fourth, Salt Lake found itself on another run in which they again won with a six point advantage, 19-25.
Finally, we reached the fifth set, and Austin’s first five-set loss since April of 2025. Austin managed to keep the final set within striking distance until a service error opened the gates for Salt Lake to run the tables to close out the match. A 10-11 advantage for Salt Lake turned into a 10-15 set five win and closed out the reverse sweep for the home squad.
Match Seven: Austin 3 - 1 Nebraska (Sunday, February 1st)
Austin wasn’t done with their late January traveling, as they made their way up to Omaha for another rematch of the 2025 Finals championship match. Thankfully, Austin - who won the opening match of 2026 against Nebraska - was ready to reverse their recent trajectory with a decisive road win.
After the defensive play just a few days before, Austin’s offense began to reassert itself. Madisen Skinner led a strong .362 attack efficiency for Austin on the day with an 18 kill performance. Austin combined excellent swings from the pins with sneaky dump action to jump to an 18-12 lead in the first set, and although Nebraska was able to cut into that advantage late, the visitors closed the set with a score of 25-22.
Austin slowed down heavily in the second as they fought for points, and Nebraska was able to build an insurmountable lead. It began to look like the early-lead-into-a-crashout that Austin experienced in Salt Lake on Thursday was repeating, this time just a set early as Nebraska rolled to a 16-25 second set win. Fortunately, unlike that match in Utah, Austin regained its composure by converting defense into offense via some big stuff blocks in the third set. Austin also ramped up pressure from the service line, and a late ace by Molly McCage helped propel Austin to a 25-15 win in the third to go up two sets to one.
Set four saw a back-and-forth battle with twelve tie scores before Austin found another gear and ran away with the set and the match. Eggleston helped push the Austin offense to develop a series of late runs, allowing Austin to take set four 25-16. Eggleston managed to record 17 kills of her own, bolstering the one-two punch Austin has with her and Skinner as the pin hitters, and she snagged Player of the Match honors for her efforts.
Austin found itself with a very needed road win, and their most complete match in weeks.
Match Eight: Atlanta 2 - Austin 3 (Wednesday, February 4th)
Austin found itself in another match with 2025’s regular season champion Atlanta, including their second in the ‘Match of the Week’ Wednesday slot on USA Network. Austin won an early home five-setter against Atlanta before traveling to Georgia just days later and losing in four on the road. Austin would break the tie at the H-E-B Center on Wednesday, although it would take another five sets to do so.
To no one’s surprise, the first set once again became the Madisen Skinner show. Skinner swung for eight kills and helped Austin go on a four point run to win the opening set 22-25. The close, back-and-forth action continued into the second set, with both teams tied through thirteen points each. Atlanta was able to pull away late and tied the match at a set apiece with a score of 25-21.
The third set found Austin in the driver’s seat, with continued offensive contributions from the likes of Skinner, Asjia O’Neal, and Madi Banks. Atlanta managed a late run, but it came after being down by greater than 20 points, and Austin closed out the set 14-25. It was time for the two teams to trade again, this time with Atlanta finding all the holes in Austin’s defense and building the early lead. Austin fought back and managed to pull within one point late, but Atlanta would then go on a small run and take the fourth 25-21.
In what has become a staple this season in close matches, Asjia O’Neal brought her intensity and win-at-all-costs mentality and along with Skinner led Austin to a later victory with both players recording three kills in the fifth. Austin took an early lead and rode it to a 13-15 win, closing out another five-setter this season and completing the two match rebound after the disappointing double loss the week prior. O’Neal would get Player of the Match honors, her 17 kills and two blocks being instrumental in Austin’s win. Skinner recorded 21 kills herself, with Eggleston (15), Banks (9), and Molly McCage (7) all adding to the strong offensive outing.
Next Up for Austin
Austin gets a rematch and chance for redemption against LOVB Houston at 7:00p Central on Saturday, February 7th. The match will be streamed on Victory+ from the Berry Center in Houston, Texas.
Other Results
Saturday, January 24th, Salt Lake took on Madison at home and won three sets to two.
Houston traveled to Atlanta on Wednesday, January 28th, and won three sets to one.
Friday, January 30th saw Madison travel to Omaha to take on Nebraska. Nebraska won three sets to two.
On Saturday, January 31st, Salt Lake recorded another sweep, this time against Atlanta, three sets to zero.
Sunday, February 1st saw Houston earn another sweep of their own, taking down Madison three sets to zero.
On Thursday, February 5th, Salt Lake visited Madison and won three sets to one.
Standings (as of Thursday, February 5th)
Salt Lake - Record: 6-1, Sets: 18-8, Points: 593-514.
Austin - Record: 5-3, Sets: 18-18, Points: 755-744.
Nebraska - Record: 3-3, Sets: 13-13, Points: 569-586.
Houston - Record: 3-3, Sets: 11-10, Points: 481-474.
Madison - Record: 2-5, Sets: 13-16, Points: 605-633.
Atlanta - Record: 1-5, Sets: 8-16, Points: 502-554.
Other League Upcoming Matches
Saturday, February 7th: LOVB Atlanta at LOVB Madison - Alliant Energy Center Madison - 1:00p Central (Stream on ESPN+)
Saturday, February 7th: LOVB Nebraska at LOVB Salt Lake - BYU Smith Fieldhouse, Provo - 4:00p Central (Stream on Victory+)
Wednesday, February 11th: LOVB Nebraska at LOVB Houston - Fort Bend County Epicenter, Houston - 7:00p Central (LOVB Match of the Week, Broadcast on USA Network)
LOVB Austin Song of the Week
Here’s two songs since we skipped a week, one covers the downs and ups of the past two weeks and one is anticipation of a trip down to Houston this upcoming week!
With the mixed performance the past two weeks, here’s On and On by Djo, which really captures that back and forth feeling:
For the road trip down to Houston this week, we’re listening to Thoroughfare by Ethel Cain, which is all about life on the road throughout the south:
Stay tuned as we build the 2026 LOVB Austin Playlist!