If there was one thing that the Longhorns used to their advantage Wednesday night, it was momentum.

In the first set between Texas and TCU, the Longhorns started out with a 6-0 lead. From there, Texas built it to a 15-9 advantage. While the young Texas team let TCU come back into the set, the Longhorns regained control and won the set.

In the third and final set of the match, the Longhorns once again gained momentum and took control. After a close first ten points, Texas lengthened its lead to 20-11, and then took the match from there.

“We had to be patient with the ball and control the ball to get good swings,” head coach Jerritt Elliott said. “We had a lot of opportunities to do that but we shot ourselves in the foot early on. I told them that we got our foot off the pedal in game one, we made mistakes that are fragile in this conference. They did a good job of responding to that message and the game. We were a lot better in game two.”

TCU defense proves tough

While Texas swept the Horned Frogs and took the match, the TCU defense proved tough against the Longhorns.

TCU led for most of the second set due to its great defense. Every point went back and forth and the Horned Frogs didn’t let up when Texas took the lead.

Blocks were big for TCU as they doubled Texas’ total, tallying six through the night. Five of those came from sophomore Mattie Burleson who was a key player for her team throughout the night. Burleson and teammate Yvonne Igodan kept the team alive in the second set with constant blocks and kills.

Webster and Eckerman come alive

Wednesday night might have been one of Bailey Webster’s best games. The junior outside hitter had a .647 hitting percentage going 12-of-17 with only one error. She also tallied 12 kills just behind her teammate Haley Eckerman. Eckerman led the team in kills with 13 while recording an ace to continue her streak one a match in every match this season.

“I was not really hot tonight on blocks,” Webster said. “You do not have a great blocking game every time. It is something I need to adjust quickly and improve.”

The duo of Webster and Eckerman has had almost 900 attempts this season with a close to .300 hitting percentage, a very good stat for the two. Both have had consistently effective kills and hitting percentage throughout their season so far. The two have a higher efficiency and hitting percentage than the rest of the team combined.

The all-around consistency of Webster’s play combined with the unpredictable kills for Eckerman makes the duo a deathly combination. The two consistently scare opponents and make Texas a hard team to play against.