The No. 2 Texas volleyball team used its plethora of offensive weapons to sweep Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday at the Frank Erwin Center, improving its record to 19–0.
In total, the Longhorns recorded 49 combined kills along with 47 total assists to keep the ball moving. The 19–0 record is tied for the second-best start in program history, trailing only the 26–0 win streak in 1990.
Juniors Logan Eggleston and Brionne Butler, former Big 12 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, had relatively quiet nights, which allowed the Texas underclassmen to take a step forward on offense.
Freshman outside hitter Melanie Parra led the team with 10 kills on the night, the last of which gave the Longhorns a 25-22 win in the third set. Parra’s performance from the service line, combined with her kill total, furthered her status as a breakout performer in the second half of the Longhorns’ season. Her emergence on the court has earned praise from head coach Jerritt Elliott.
“We like what Melanie (Parra) is doing,” Elliott said after Texas’ victory over Texas State March. 8. “She does a lot of things that you don’t see on the stats. She has a lot of clean touches, her passing is good, she’s good from the service line, and she’s just a really good volleyball player.”
However, Parra wasn’t the only Longhorn making plays.
Sophomore opposite hitter Skylar Fields, fresh off an exceptional 13-kill game against Texas State on Monday, recorded nine kills and two blocks against the Islanders.
Of course, none of Texas’ big offensive plays were possible without the work of junior setter Jhenna Gabriel, who dished out 33 assists to her teammates Wednesday night.
All three sets began in similar fashion with A&M-CC keeping things tight, taking short but definitive leads and capitalizing on Texas errors.
The first set was as back and forth as could be. Any time it looked like the Islanders were about to pull away with a lead, Texas found a way to get the ball into its stars’ hands to create a momentum-stopping kill.
The Longhorns eventually hit their stride, closing out the set on a 4-0 run with an Eggleston ace to put a cherry on top of the opening set victory.
The Islanders jumped out to an early 6-3 lead in the second set. That advantage was quickly broken up by the Longhorns, who rode a .438 hitting percentage to a 25-20 set victory.
Errors plagued both sides of the net, with Texas committing eight errors to A&M-CC’s 11. Despite the unforced errors, the Longhorns still put up eight service aces, with five of them coming from graduate libero Morgan O’Brien.
Although Texas showed moments of weakness on Wednesday, the Longhorns’ newcomers found their rhythm, got the ball in their hands and received valuable playing time that will help Texas’ depth heading closer to the postseason.
Texas will play its first away match since November in San Marcos on Tuesday at 6 p.m. against Texas State, who will try to get revenge on the Longhorns after Monday’s defeat.
