Opening Salvo
Texas takes on Arizona State and Marquette to start the season.
It’s just about summer, which means here at Point Texas we are kicking off our match preview articles. After having to take some time off due to some personal commitments, I’m finally back to give Josh a bit of a break by trading off on these articles. Yes, you get to deal with my bad jokes and even worse volleyball takes once again. Congrats!
We’re adding in our new pGIS system to our previews of opponents this year - something we’re super excited about. That being said, please forgive our mess as we figure out the best ways to implement this data system into our match breakdowns. Josh took an initial stab at it last week with his Longhorn roster preview, and I’ll be giving it a go this week in looking ahead at both Arizona State and Marquette’s rosters and potential starting rotations.
The Longhorns play their opening weekend up in Wisconsin as part of the AVCA First Serve Tournament in Milwaukee. The event features ten competitive programs and runs from August 21st through August 24th. Texas’ two schedule matchups could be key in capturing early season momentum in a fashion similar to what we saw Elliott and company do in the 2025 season when they swept both Creighton and Wisconsin in the Opening Spike Tournament in Madison.
Other teams playing in Milwaukee that weekend include SMU, Texas A&M, Louisville, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Xavier, and Wisconsin.
Arizona State Sun Devils
Match Date: August 22, 2026
Match Location: Fiserv Forum - Milwaukee, WI
2025 Record: 28-4 (17-1, Big 12)
NCAA Tournament: #2 Seed, Lost to #3 Creighton in Sweet 16
Postseason Rank: #12
Result v Texas: L, 0-3 (18-25, 28-30, 15-25)
ASU came in for an early season matchup against Texas at Gregory and caught a hot Longhorns squad that was riding a five-match win streak to start the season, including four wins against top 25 opponents. The match saw the Sun Devils drop their second match of the year (they’d only suffer two more losses for the entirety of the season after) in a sweep that helped elevate Texas to a consensus top-two team just a few matches before SEC conference play began.
ASU was able to challenge Texas in the second set, taking the Longhorns past the 25 point mark in a late back-and-forth derby, however the Longhorns were otherwise well in control the rest of the match. 2025 featured a really good ASU roster, so can we expect even better play from the 2026 version? Or does Texas have an easy start to the season?
Key Losses
OH Bailey Miller (6.8 pGIS, #28 nationally at OH/RS)
MB Colby Neal (5.7 pGIS, #30)
OH Tatum Parrot (4.8 pGIS, #74)
Key Returners
OPP Noemi Glover (7.7 pGIS, #14)
MB Ella Lomigora (4.4 pGIS, #65)
Key Additions
OH Una Vajagic (6.3 pGIS, #45)
OH Aniya Clinton (5.2 pGIS, #59)
Glover returns for her senior season as the de facto leader of the Sun Devil squad. The 2025 AVCA First Team All-American was the only Big 12 player to receive such an honor, and her junior year marked her third time she was nominated for it. She was a semifinalist for National Player of the Year honors as well.
Noemi brings a massive swing to the right side, racking up 423 kills during her junior year campaign. She’s also fairly serviceable on the defensive side, especially with her ability to dig. Glover was a huge get in the transfer portal for ASU coming out of Oregon going into last season, and no doubt the faithful in Tempe are hoping for an even stronger performance in the Opposite’s senior year.
The addition of Serbian National Team player and former Wisconsin Badger Una Vajagic should add a strong offensive presence at the other pin position and should help make up for the loss of Bailey Miller. Texas fans may remember her performance in the Longhorns’ elimination match last December: she racked up 15 kills while managing to record eight digs in the Badgers’ upset of Texas in the Elite Eight. She figures to rotate with graduate transfer Aniya Clinton, who spent all four seasons of her undergrad career at Kansas State.
The Sun Devils also added senior S Isabella Constantini out of University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. While she doesn’t have a pGIS rating against T50 opponents, she still earned accolades during her two seasons with the Vaqueros, including the honors of Southland Conference Setter of the Year for both seasons.
ASU’s team is rounded out by several promising freshmen and a few redshirt sophomores. While the team did lose some key personnel to graduation, with Glover maintaining that veteran presence along with some big pickups in the transfer portal it’s hard to argue that this season’s Sun Devil team shouldn’t be eyeing another decent tournament run. It may seem reassuring that Texas takes on this squad first match of the season - with the hope being that the younger/newer additions won’t be fully integrated and accustomed to this level of competition at the start of the season - but that was a belief people had about last year’s Longhorns squad, a team that didn’t lose a match until the last day of October.
Marquette Golden Eagles
Match Date: August 24, 2026
Match Location: Fiserv Forum - Milwaukee, WI
2025 Record: 18-11 (11-5, Big East)
NCAA Tournament: Unseeded, Lost to #2 Louisville in Round 2
Postseason Rank: Unranked (received 43 votes)
Result v Texas: L, 1-3 (14-25, 13-25, 25-19, 17-25) [2022 Sweet 16]
Marquette had an up-and-down season but managed to place fairly well in the Big East, making it to the semi-finals of the conference tournament before falling to a very good Creighton team. In a bit of a disappointing season - especially given it being standout Hattie Bray’s final season at Marquette as a graduate student - the Golden Eagles’ ability to make some noise in their conference earned them a spot in the NCAA tournament, where they managed to easily sweep a seeded Western Kentucky squad before ultimately losing to a solid Louisville team in a valiant two-sets-to-three effort.
Marquette’s last match against Texas came in the third round of the 2022 NCAA tournament, where the #1 seeded and eventual champions Longhorns team made quick work of the Golden Eagles. With a down-year in 2025, will another off-season with development and additions put Marquette in a position to get revenge against Texas nearly four years later?
Key Losses
MB Hattie Bray (7.7 pGIS, #6)
OH Natalie Ring (7.6 pGIS, #12)
S Isabela Haggard (5.5 pGIS, #27)
Key Returners
N/A
Key Additions
Carson Tyler (7.8 pGIS, limited in T50)
As Marquette’s roster currently stands, the Golden Eagles may be in for a rough season ahead. MB Hattie Bray and OH Natalie Ring both officially graduated out of the program, ending two storied careers at Marquette. The now-sophomore setter that made waves quarterbacking Marquette’s offense last season as a freshman Isabela Haggard, has transferred to Baylor, leaving no experience at that position.
Senior MB Julia Stanev provides some veteran experience, but her 0.7 pGIS last season on one start (10 matches played in total) doesn’t leave a lot of confidence in her ability to become the vocal leader and centerpiece of their defense at the net that Bray provided the last few seasons.
Meanwhile, Marquette’s roster is mostly rounded out with unproven freshmen and returning sophomores that saw limited playing time last season. Junior OH Carson Tyler transferred in from Ball State, where she earned MAC Player of the Year honors last season. She posted an impressive 7.8 pGIS during that campaign, but she had limited opportunities against T50 programs, leaving questions as to how well that performance will carry over to the higher level of competition in the Big East.
It could be tough-sledding for this Golden Eagles squad with very limited experience across the board, and with the Longhorns having veteran experience in key positions as well returning, highly promising younger players like Cari Spears and Abby Vander Wal, Texas should be able to make quick work of this late Monday night match.
Up next for our previews? Vegas, baby! The Longhorns will roll the dice against two top-rated opponents in showdowns in Sin City as they take on TCU and Nebraska. Great news on that: I missed the deadline for this article so you all are getting a two-for-one special with two articles this week! With that kind of luck, maybe Vegas is in the cards for all of us. Hook ‘em!