No. 9 BYU has only lost three games this season: two against No. 10 Texas and one game against No. 7 Washington State. Meeting for the first time in the Big 12, the Longhorns won both games in the series 3-1. 

“We’ve been in the gym every single day. We’ve been out of the gym trying to build that chemistry together,” Emma Halter said after the game. “So it’s kind of fun to see the puzzle pieces come together and I think it’s just going to continue to get better.”

The game showed the Longhorns resilience and their ability to come back from behind. 

The Cougars were able to take an early lead by finding gaps in the court, forcing the Longhorns to dive across the court for the ball. For most of the first set, Texas trailed by two points, unable to find an opportunity to overtake BYU. 

Texas’ chances of winning the first set began to look up with a “boom” from the student section as junior outside hitter Madisen Skinner got an ace that hit sideways off the arms of a BYU player, tying the game 18-18. 

However, with two errors in a row, Texas began to lose their momentum. BYU extended their lead by three points and got the opportunity to win the set 21-24. 

Three points later, Texas fans were on their feet. 

The points went back and forth. With a big hit by Skinner, the BYU libero ran off the court to save one of the balls. The ball was bumped over the net by BYU before the BYU libero got slammed in the chest with another hard hit by Skinner, tying the game 26-26. 

Despite their efforts, Texas was unable to take the lead and lost the first set 28-26. 

The second set looked completely different.

Once Texas took the lead, BYU was not able to catch back up. The Cougars began to look rattled; the point differential increased from two to ten points with big hits by Skinner and senior middle-blockers Bella Bergmark and Asjia O’Neal. 

The Longhorns were able to win the set by 12 points, 25-13.

After getting shut down in the second set, the Cougars came into the third set looking for revenge. Taking an eight-point lead at the beginning of the first set, morale in Gregory Gym was low. 

The Longhorns didn’t give up, though. Battling back from behind, Texas tied the game 14-14. And after a BYU ball handling error that tied the game 21-21, Texas took the lead for the first time in the set. 

With what looked like a point-winning hit over the net by BYU, the Longhorns saved the ball by getting it over the net any way they could. Molly Phillips used the palm of her hand to hit the ball up and Emma Halter got it over the net. 

After the save, the crowd began to roar, but not as loud as when Skinner and O’Neal teamed up for a block to give them 24-21.  

Texas took the third set 25-22 after Phillips spiked the ball off of BYU’s block.

“I just love our fight,” head coach Jerritt Elliott said about the third set. “We never quit, (we) found a way, and it takes a lot of heart to be able to do that.”