No. 3 Texas volleyball was swept by unranked Kansas State in Manhattan on Wednesday night.
This is the last time these teams will face each other in conference play because of Texas’ move to the Southeastern Conference.
Both the Wildcats and the Longhorns had very similar statistics: the number of kills, blocks and aces were almost the same between the two teams, but Texas struggled defensively. Between miscommunication that led to balls dropping on the court to perfectly placed kills by Kansas State, Texas was unable to find their chemistry in key moments.
Throughout the season, when the Longhorns have struggled through a set against tough teams, they managed to come back from behind.
In the first set, Texas was on its way to another comeback. Down by three points, kills by senior middle blocker Asjia O’Neal and junior outside hitter Madisen Skinner and an ace by junior Keonilei Akana tied the two teams 21-21.
However, after two service and two attacking errors, the Longhorns lost the first set, 22-25.
Overall, serving was an issue for the Longhorns this game. The team had 11 service errors throughout the game, whereas Kansas only had five.
After the errors ended the first set, Texas was determined to win the second set as they grabbed an early 7-4 lead. However, the lead was quickly lost as Kansas State went on a 7-1 run, getting three kills and a service ace consecutively. Texas trailed behind for the rest of the set, losing the second set with the same score as the first, 22-25.
Despite losing the first two sets, a reverse sweep wasn’t out of the question; Texas did it before against Baylor, winning the game 3-2.
Similar to the second set, the Longhorns were able to pull ahead with a 5-1 run, giving them a 15-12 lead. However, Kansas State went on an 8-2 run immediately after.
Senior opposite hitter Molly Phillips got a kill that almost brought the Longhorns back into the game as they trailed behind by one point 20-21. Phillips hit eight total kills, giving her a .417 hitting percentage.
However, Kansas State didn’t let the pressure deter it and closed out the final set 25-21.
Texas is back in action on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against Cincinnati.
