No. 7 Texas welcomed fans back for its home opener against No. 2 Stanford and National Championship celebration, but quickly spoiled by a straight-three set loss. This is the first time Texas has suffered a sweep since 2014 against Oklahoma and its first home loss since 2021 against Rice. The Longhorns drop to 2-2 on the season.
Gregory Gym started with an electric unveiling of the 2022 National Championship banner. The team welcomed back alumni Logan Eggleston, Zoe Fleck and Kayla Caffey for the celebration.
The first set marked the tone for the rest of the match after Stanford used an early 5-2 run to take a 12-7 lead, leading to a Texas timeout. The Longhorns responded with their own run of 9-3, capped by an ace from sophomore libero Emma Halter to give Texas a 16-15 lead, getting the Longhorn faithful up on their feet in thunderous roars as Stanford had to call a timeout. Both teams traded points in an intense back-and-forth, but Stanford pulled ahead. Stanford took an important rally point to lead 23-20 and held on to win the first set.
Stanford kept up the momentum from the first set and maintained a comfortable lead against Texas throughout the set. Texas managed to find themselves down 23-20 at the end of the set, but back-to-back errors cost the Longhorns and gave Stanford a 2-0 lead in the match.
Texas fans got back on their feet to start the third set hoping to will the Longhorns to a set victory, but Stanford never blinked, leading them to their most dominating set of the match, with Texas never posing a threat. Stanford took the set 25-15 and completed the straight-set sweep.
Stanford showed why it’s a top 10 team in the country. The Cardinals played above their averages in both categories, hitting .396% and averaging about 15.6 kills per set.
The Longhorns suffered 20 hitting errors, which led to a season-low hitting percentage of .130% Head coach Jerritt Elliott talked about the statistical and playing differences between the teams.
“They played extremely well. I was just super impressed, and we couldn’t slow them down,” Elliott said. “I don’t think we’re broken; I think we’re a younger team.”
Texas’ senior star player Asjia O’Neal looks to take it upon herself as a team leader to guide this young Longhorn team throughout the season and break out of their rocky start.
“It’s really just finding ways to encourage your teammates,” O’Neal said. “I do take that responsibility as a sixth year; I’m one that they look up to.”
Texas will continue to try and right the ship and get their first home win against FGCU at Gregory Gym on September 8th, at 5:00 p.m.
