Weekend Won
Texas volleyball sweeps their way through the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament
Last weekend marked yet another successful opening salvo in the NCAA Tournament for the Texas Longhorns volleyball team (20 in a row, to be specific), but the biggest news of the week may well have come on the eve of the regional semifinal round. On Wednesday, Texas officially announced they had distributed a request for proposal (RFP) for private contractors to bid on the construction of a new volleyball arena and multipurpose facility next door to the existing Moody Center.
The RFP outlines the details of the multipurpose arena, aiming to seat roughly 6000 fans with the capability to be expanded for other events including those hosted by the University of Texas as well as concerts and other shows. Part of the project also includes the development of an adjacent housing facility specifically for student-athletes at Texas. This housing facility would also be a mixed-use development with the capacity to house ground-level retail opportunities. In short, Texas wants this to be the unquestioned best volleyball facility in the country and expand their dedication to the growth of women’s sports as well as the overall well-being of all their student-athletes. Due to Title IX regulations, the next sport the University adds will almost certainly need to be a women’s sport; the new arena would certainly lend itself well to being a gymnastics facility if the athletic department decides they want to remind OU that Texas is better than them in everything, including the sports they hold most dear. The announcement also includes conceptual renderings of the arena and housing facility as well as the arena full during a volleyball match.
To top it off, Texas also announced that the project would be developed in a public-private partnership arrangement similar to the one that led to the construction of the Moody Center. Whoever wins the bid to see the project from planning to turnover stage will also be asked to finance the construction in addition to manage the facility after its completion. Texas would own both the arena as well as the student-athlete housing, and an outside entity would operate the arena.
Volleyball fans have been waiting since February 2024 for further information after Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte teased that the athletic department was interested in developing a “mini Moody Center” specifically for the volleyball program which was fresh off its second consecutive national title. The fanbase understandably reacted with mixed emotions at the time; Gregory Gym is a beloved arena for many due to its history and suffocating atmosphere, but it does lack for many of the modern amenities found around the country at larger volleyball programs like Nebraska and Wisconsin.
One of the largest benefits of this so-called “mini Moody” for the team itself would be the ability to install and store a Taraflex playing surface. Taraflex is the modern standard for volleyball surfaces, but due to logistical constraints stemming from UT Rec Sports’ control of Gregory Gym, the team is forced to play on classic hardwood during matches (the Greg is used for rec sports when it isn’t a volleyball game day). The new facility would remove that barrier, allowing Texas to flex its financial might and finally give the volleyball program a regular playing surface that they deserve. Texas volleyball’s practice facility - located under the north endzone of Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium - has two Taraflex courts, and the University pays to temporarily install Taraflex in Gregory Gym annually when Texas hosts national tournament matches.
While the intimate and suffocating nature of Gregory Gym will be missed (in addition to its prime spot in the middle of campus), I have no doubt the new arena would quickly gain a reputation as an intimidating place to play because the Texas fanbase is ultimately what gives the Horns their home-court advantage. Personally, I can’t wait for the new facility, especially as it will likely open with Texas volleyball hanging another national championship banner in the new rafters after multiple years of reminding Nebraska who their daddy is.
But for now, let’s focus on last weekend’s matches at Gregory Gym before we get too carried away thinking about national titles over the next 3-5 years.
Florida A&M
Bad time of year to have “A&M” in your name and face the Texas Longhorns.
Despite having a losing record overall this season, the Rattlers managed to heat up in and win the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament, providing them with the conference’s automatic qualifier slot for the national tournament. Unfortunately for them, Texas was not interested in playing with their food on Friday night, controlling every set en route to a 25-11/25-8/25-14 sweep.
While it is easy to lose focus against a team everyone expects you to beat handily, it was impressive to see how locked in the entire team was. Texas hit .425 offensively, delivered seven aces, blocked the Rattlers nine times, and held Florida A&M to a negative hitting percentage. Texas faced an overmatched opponent and beat them down thoroughly in every aspect of the match. The third set was the closest in the match, seeing Texas hit “only” .345 and allowing the Florida A&M offense to “explode” to an efficiency of .080.
Texas had a standout performance in each phase of the game. Ramsey Gary delivered three service aces, Torrey Stafford hit .462 (the “worst” of the Longhorns to record an attack was Cari Spears with seven kills on .250), and Emma Halter set a program three-set record with 25 digs. Every player on the team could’ve easily put in 50% effort and handled the Rattlers - the conscious choice every single player made to treat FAMU like any other dangerous opponent allowed them to be every bit as dominant (and then some) as they were fully capable of, even when rotating in players who don’t typically play a ton; every player on the roster minus true freshmen Callie Krueger and Addison Gaido saw time.
Penn State
Most years, I would not describe Texas fans as unreasonable for complaining about having the typically-unfortunate honor of facing the defending national champion in the second round of the NCAA tournament. This year’s Penn State, however, is not last year’s. Despite the addition of two-time All-American opposite Kennedy Martin via the transfer portal and starting the year as the preseason #2 team, the Nittany Lions took a massive step back in 2025. The most public issue Penn State dealt with was the sudden and unexpected departure of sophomore setter Izzy Starck early in the season in addition to her subsequent (mid-game!) announcement that she would be entering the transfer portal at the end of the year. All of this totals out to a program and team that are in disarray and falling well short of expectations.
For the second time in the opening weekend of the tournament, Texas had an opportunity to absolutely dominate an overmatched opponent, and that’s exactly what they did en route to a 25-16/25-9/25-19 sweep. Right from the jump, Texas was calm and in control of everything that happened on the floor. Penn State never held a lead until the earliest points of the final set, and their lead was never larger than a single point. Texas held Penn State to hitting .124 while hitting .452 themselves, an improvement even over their dominant performance against Florida A&M one night earlier. That dominance included forcing Penn State to hit negative in set two while hitting an absolutely unconscious .700 themselves.
The Texas block again turned in nine blocks, giving the team back-to-back matches of at least three blocks/set. Since the start of the SEC tournament five matches ago, Texas has averaged 2.8 blocks/set, a marked increase from their season-long average of 2.1 (for reference, the 2022 and 2023 national title teams average 2.5 and 2.9 blocks/set). While yes, this is not the Penn State of yesteryear, the Nittany Lions still wield one of the most dominant pin hitters in the country in Kennedy Martin, so the improved net defense continues to be heartening.
As far as individual performances are concerned, the law firm of Stafford, Spears, & Vander Wal all individually hit at least .467 with Torrey leading the way with 21 kills on .556 hitting percentage. Ayden Ames and Nya Bunton both got involved on at least four blocks apiece, another positive development at the net. Both Emma Halter and Ramsey Gary were once again great on the back row despite being called upon to make plays very rarely.
While both matches for the weekend saw Texas dominate, it is tough to draw too many conclusions. Could we see them go on an absolute rampage through the tournament? The talent and focus level certainly seems to be there. However, we have discussed in past articles how the youth of this team makes them subject to wide variances in performance. The late season utilization of Whitney Lauenstein and Devin Kahahawai gives the impression that things may not be so dire if AVW or Cari Spears is having an off match, so that inconsistency from the freshmen may be less of a problem than we think. The next rounds will certainly provide far more challenges for the Longhorns.
Next Up
Texas somehow drew the midday slot for their regional semifinal on Friday, 12/12 against defensive specialist Ramsey Gary’s old team: the 4th-seeded Indiana Hoosiers. Consider this official notice to block off some time in your workday calendar to accommodate this unfortunate scheduling. First serve is scheduled for 11 AM CT on ESPN. That’s basically prime “professional development” time. Your boss literally won’t be able to say no.
Anyway, the Hoosiers will come into the lunchtime crowd at Gregory Gym having swept both of their opponents so far in the tournament in the Toledo Rockets and the #5 seed Colorado (who Colorado State famously put BTA on in their home-and-home series this season - GO RAMS!). Indiana finished the season 14-6 on the year in the B1G with a 23-7 overall record in spite of losing libero Ramsey Gary to the good guys in the past offseason. Four of Indiana’s losses this year came on the road, dropping road tilts in sweep fashion with unranked Western Kentucky and Michigan State, a sweep loss to Wisconsin, and a four-set loss to their primary rival Purdue in West Lafayette. They do have ranked road wins against Penn State (who shouldn’t still be ranked, let’s be honest), USC, and UCLA.
Indiana runs a very fast offense, and three different players have recorded more than 350 kills this season: OH Candela Alonso-Corcelles, OPP Avry Tatum, and OH Jaidyn Jager. Seven players for the Hoosiers have recorded at least 45 blocks as well. All three made the All-Big Ten teams in addition to freshman setter Teodora Kričković (hopefully the commentators have practiced their Serbian before Friday between Kričković and Anja Kujundžić).
I don’t imagine Texas will consider their tournament trend of sweeping their opponents, but as long as they don’t get distracted asking the age-old question “what the hell is a Hoosier?”, they should be able to secure the win without too much stress. If the Longhorns do defeat the Hoosiers, they’ll advance to the regional final on Sunday, 12/14 (exact time TBD). No matter what, the opponent will be a familiar one for Texas this season as #2 Stanford and #3 Wisconsin will face off in the other regional semifinal at Gregory Gym 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Indiana match.
Stanford makes their second trip to Austin this season following the early-season tilt with the Longhorns in a five-set thriller in the first volleyball match played at the Moody Center. Texas held off the Cardinal in their bid for a reverse sweep despite falling behind 10-5 in the final frame. Texas volleyball fans were treated to a masterclass in back row defense as the legend of Ramsey Gary finally began alongside the ever-beloved senior libero Emma Halter. Stanford star Ella Rubin led the way for Stanford, recording 18 kills on a hitting percentage of .245. She was joined by three of her teammates in recording double-digit kills in the match. This was also the match that started to raise concerns for many Texas fans as the Horns only produced six blocks. Texas will need to see the late season blocking improvements continue if they want to beat the #2 Cardinal for a second time this year. Stanford dropped a set to both of their opponents last weekend, Utah Valley and Arizona, and were the ACC champions this year; the Cardinal split matches with Louisville (#2 in the Nebraska region of the bracket) and beat Pitt (#1 in their region) in their only match in 2025.
On the Wisconsin side, Texas fans will remember the red hot start the team had to the year with consecutive sweeps over Creighton and the Badgers during the “neutral site” series in the opening weekend in Madison, WI. The Texas block in particular was very impressive against Wisconsin, recording ten blocks in the three sets against the Badgers. The Longhorns were able to hold Wisconsin to hitting only .141 in front of a hostile crowd. Oregon transfer left pin and All-American Mimi Colyer has proven to be a monster for Wisconsin over the course of the 2025 season; Texas held Colyer to her second-worst hitting performance of the year with 14 kills while swinging .093.
Texas saw their freshman pins lead the way with both Cari Spears and Abby Vander Wal recording double-digit kills. It was also Torrey Stafford’s worst-hitting game in burnt orange as she swung .161 with nine kills, one of only two matches in which she failed to clear double-digits this season. If there are any bookies taking bets on NCAA volleyball this weekend, I would put the house on Stafford not getting held down like that again if Wisconsin is the opponent for Texas on Friday. Wisconsin finished second in the B1G behind overall #1 and undefeated Nebraska this season. The Halloween night loss against the Huskers was the last time Wisconsin dropped more than one set in a match, and the Badgers swept their way past Eastern Illinois and North Carolina last weekend.
If all goes well, Texas will be playing in Kansas City for yet another Final Four appearance next weekend!
Other Notes and Matches of Interest This Weekend
After a four-set victory over the TCU Horned Frogs, Texas A&M now gets to go toe-to-toe with the 2-seed Louisville Cardinals in Lincoln, NE on Friday, 12/12 at 6 PM CT on ESPN2. The Aggies will need to solve the inexplicably-toothed birds if they want their shot at overall #1 Nebraska.
I think the other regional semifinal in Lexington, KY will be one of the most entertaining matches for volleyball fans. #2 Arizona State and #3 Creighton should be a great time. They’ll be the first regional semifinal match in this tournament with first serve scheduled for 12 PM CT on Thursday, 12/11 on ESPN2.
The unseeded Cal Poly Mustangs upset #5 BYU in the first round, then punched their ticket to the regional semifinal by avoiding a reverse sweep against #4 USC. As the only team remaining in the Sweet Sixteen that isn’t one of the top four seeds in their region, the Mustangs are the Cinderella story of the tournament. They’ll face #1 Kentucky on Thursday, 12/11 to most likely end their underdog story. But maybe that won’t be the end… They’ll play 30 minutes after the conclusion of Arizona State v Creighton on Thursday, 12/11 on ESPN2.
The transfer portal opened this past Sunday, 12/7. While it’s far from impossible, I’d be blown away if anyone on the current Texas roster entered during this window with their title hopes still very much on the table. However, we know that Jerritt and his staff are well-versed in the ways of the portal, so it’s worth keeping an eye on names that could serve as additional depth pieces potentially at middle blocker or pin hitter. Jerritt’s also seemingly always hunting big game in there, so we definitely can’t pretend that anyone on this team is perfectly safe from being recruited over (other than Torrey Stafford). We’ll discuss the portal and the roster at large in more depth in a future article after the conclusion of the season.
Picking up Alexis Stucky (Florida setter) off the portal would make my year. I was so impressed with her play in the SEC tourney. Calm steady talented veteran leadership.