Lucky Seven
Another week saw two more sweeps by a dominant Texas squad
Texas has not dropped a set in nearly a month, a fact that should fill Longhorn fans with a ton of optimism. Since battling for that 3-2 win over Louisville back on September 10th, Texas has won seven straight matches with a score of 3-0. Four of the seven came against top 25 opponents. That type of dominance is nearly unheard of, and is truly something most teams only dream of. Just ask the football team (ok, don’t, we can just ignore what’s been happening on Saturdays for the time being).
Of course there have been some ups and downs during this period at the individual player level, but in every match, it seems that when one player or position group ended up with a down match, someone else would step up and carry the weight. That kind of teamwork is what separates championship-caliber teams from the kind of squad Texas had last year in what ultimately ended up as a very short post-season berth. Let’s hope this continues.
Elliott has a lot of true freshmen playing in key spots, and inconsistency should be expected as the ladies continue to transfer their respective games to the college level. The upcoming week will continue to test the squad’s mettle with a home match against a really good Tennessee team sitting at #17 in the country on Wednesday before loading up and flying out to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama on Sunday.
It’s hard to imagine that Texas won’t have a set or two escape from them at some point, but they showed the ability to handle adversity and pressure earlier in the season against opponents like Stanford and Louisville. Fans should be optimistic that this team can continue to add to the win column, especially as the SEC schedule gets a bit easier for a while following the Tennessee match.
Either way, seven straight sweeps is a mark the Texas squad hasn’t hit since 2019, and there have been some excellent (and national champion) teams on the Forty since that time. If there is one thing that is certain, fans are being treated to something incredible here. As we reach the midpoint of the season, it’s easy to imagine that - barring any major setbacks - the 2025 season will truly be one Longhorns fans will remember for a long while.
Trophy Case
Let’s continue to tally those awards!
Individual
Week 6
Cari Spears (Opp)
SEC Freshman of the Week
Week 5
Torrey Stafford (OH)
SEC Offensive Player of the Week
Abby Vander Wal (OH)
SEC Freshman of the Week
Week 4
Cari Spears (Opp)
AVCA Player of the Week
SEC Player of the Week
SEC Freshman of the Week
Ella Swindle (S)
SEC Setter of the Week
Week 3
Cari Spears (Opp)
SEC Player of the Week
SEC Freshman of the Week
Week 2
Torrey Stafford (OH)
AVCA Player of the Week
SEC Player of the Week
SEC Offensive Player of the Week
Cari Spears (Opp)
SEC Freshman of the Week
Week 1
Emma Halter (L)
SEC Player of the Week
SEC Defensive Player of the Week
Preseason
Torrey Stafford (OH)
Division I Player of the Year Award Watchlist
Preseason All-SEC Team
Emma Halter (L)
Preseason All-SEC Team
Team (AVCA Ranking w/ First Place Votes)
Week 6
#2 (3)
Week 5
#2 (4)
Week 4
#2 (4)
Week 3
#2 (3)
Week 2
#2 (0)
Week 1
#2 (0)
Preseason
#5 (0)
Red Lights
The only thing red this week is the Red River Shootout in Dallas. Hook ‘em! (Ok but I do have some red lights for the offensive line but as this is a volleyball article I’ll save them for the message boards)
Yellow Lights
Freshman Inconsistency
Sure, in my intro I mentioned that when there have been down matches for any of the players we seem to simultaneously have someone else step up to have a massive game themself. And that has been one of the keys to the team’s continued dominance week-after-week. But consider the possibility of multiple key freshmen having a bad match. At any given time, Texas could have Taylor Harvey, Abby Vander Wal, and Cari Spears all on the court at once. All three are true freshmen.
This rotation isn’t even that wild to imagine, as Spears and Harvey have both been starters in most matches this season. We’ve also seen the younger players also have rough matches. Spears struggled with Swindle sitting and wasn’t able to truly connect with setter Rella Binney as she filled for a match. Just days after being named the SEC Freshman of the Week, AVW had an absolutely abysmal showing against Mississippi State: she hit a poor -.273 (yes, negative), while also posting a 1.70 on passing on ten attempts.
Again, when these things have happened, someone else has stepped up, and in general, the team has been able to carry the offending freshman to give them the grace of a learning experience. The fear is if multiple young players have issues in the same match. Such an event could drive an unexpected loss at some point in the season.
Look, this scenario is probably not going to happen, but the pendulum can swing with young players. Hopefully, continued success will help them steer clear of mental hangups or other issues that can pop up, and the freshmen will be playing like seasoned veterans come December.
Service Woes Continue
Yes, I don’t like seeing this continue to be in here anymore than you do, but facts are facts. Texas continues to struggle to produce aces in the service game while still averaging 5+ errors from the line in matches. Generally, these are lost points, momentum swingers, and disruption caused by taking Texas out of a good rotation they like.
Against Georgia, Texas had a 3:8 Ace:Error ratio; that mark was only slightly improved to 3:5 against Mississippi State. Silver linings might be to say that Texas still totaled more aces than their two opponents last week: Miss State only notched one ace against Texas, and the Longhorns still outpaced Georgia in that department as well (the Bulldogs managed 2). But the issues in the errors department are still worrisome and need to get cleaned up soon.
Hopefully, as the Longhorns face some of the bottom-half SEC teams this becomes an area where Elliott really gets the squad to focus on some of these fundamental pieces that can pay dividends if cleaned-up come tournament time. Eight errors in a postseason match just isn’t going to cut it against the level of competition the Horns will see at that point in the year.
Green Lights
The Pins
We continue to see strong performances from opposite hitter Torrey Stafford and opposite Cari Spears. Combined, the two were responsible for 54 of Texas’ 102 kills last week. Both of them have been fairly reliable in digs and serving this year as well.
One of Texas’ big problems in the 2024 season was having a lack of an attack from one side of the court. This season, the Longhorns have been able to utilize much more of their playbook by having reliable attackers on both the left and right. Ignoring her poor performance against Mississippi State last week, Abby Vander Wal has also been a joy to watch at the MB2 position.
Outside of week 1, at least one of the pin hitters has taken some SEC weekly honor. Torrey Stafford was a known quantity coming in as a transfer (although her instant chemistry with the team was impressive!), but seeing the freshmen really step up and fill their roles so quickly this season has been a positive development. This has really allowed Swindle to flourish as the starting setter by giving her great options to set to.
The Fans
The hype coming into the season from the fanbase was palpable, and the fans continue to show up and ratchet up the noise at our home matches. Gregory has been impressively intimidating this season, regardless of the day of the week.
Selling out all home matches (including the big one in Moody early in September!) has been an important affirmation of the importance of this sport in the overarching hierarchy of Longhorns sports, and serves as a great signal that the popularity of women’s sports is on the rise in Austin as much as it is anywhere else. Happily, the energy and noise brought by these sell-out crowds isn’t similar to that we’ve seen at some Texas sports in the past (think of the sometimes listless crowds inside the Erwin Center for basketball games), and has truly contributed to Gregory being one of the loudest and most intimidating road destinations for opposing teams in all of NCAA volleyball.
Seeing the fanbase really get behind this team has been massively impressive. Texas has two more home matches next week before closing out October on the road, so the fanbase has a chance to give the squad a proper send off before we next see them in Gregory on November 2nd against #3 Kentucky.
Next Up
A home and away for the Longhorns this week:
#17 Tennessee Volunteers (12-1, 3-0, W11) - 6:30 PM CT TONIGHT at Gregory Gymnasium in Austin, TX (SECN+)
Alabama Crimson Tide (8-6, 0-4, L5) - 2 PM CT on Sunday, 10/12 at Foster Auditorium in Tuscaloosa, AL (SECN+)