Following back-to-back national championship wins, Texas volleyball looks to continue improving its program to cement its legacy as the college volleyball dynasty of the 2020s.
Building a program as successful as Texas over the past couple years doesn’t just happen overnight, it is the result of a systematic effort from those within the University to prioritize volleyball. As seen with the athletic department’s current fixation on the sport, the program is primed to continue its reign at the top.
Going into next season, Texas will look to replace the skill of departing seniors Carissa Barnes and Asjia O’Neal.
O’Neal was one of the team’s stars and a first-team All-American athlete in 2022 when she finished with nearly 200 kills on the season. While that production on the outside is always difficult to replace, through a strong incoming transfer and freshman class, Texas should be able to sustain the loss of O’Neal.
Texas will lean on a promising 2023 recruiting class with an emphasis on front line players. Texas was able to sign the top middle blocker in the country in Nya Bunton. In addition, directly replacing O’Neal on the outside will be the tandem of Jordyn Byrd, Florida’s 2021-2022 Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year, and Sydney Helmers, a three-time all-state selection out of Kentucky.
“Sydney is another physical outside hitter that has a lot of great skill sets. We feel that she has the skills to be one of the premier outside hitters in the country,” Head Coach Jerritt Elliott said. “We’re excited about her range, her size, her physicality and the things that she brings to the table.”
Texas also looked to the transfer portal to fill more immediate needs. Elliott landed his biggest target of the transfer season in former Nebraska Cornhusker Whitney Lauenstein. Lauenstein will be a pivotal piece of the 2024 roster after finishing second in kills during Nebraska’s 2022 campaign.
In addition to reloading the roster, Texas Athletics continues to try and find other ways to widen the gap between the rest of the nation. In a Texas Athletics Town Hall last week, Athletic Director Chris Del Conte made headlines by talking of Texas’ newest athletic endeavor.
“One of the things we’re looking at is to build a mini Moody (Center) for volleyball and other things on campus. That’s on the docket that we’re working through right now,” Del Conte said.
In only its second year after being built, the Moody Center has become one of college basketball’s premiere environments as seen by on-court results and has also become one of the centers of UT entertainment. The mini Moody would serve a similar purpose as a dual athletic and entertainment venue, giving Texas another revenue stream to pour back into student life, including athletics.
However, a new arena would mean saying goodbye to Gregory Gym, where Texas volleyball has played all of its home matches since 1998. With an average crowd of about 4,995, the program is in need of a private facility. The movement on a volleyball-specific arena is evident of the attention that Texas pays to one of its largest non-revenue sports and the intention to cement Texas as a generational athletic powerhouse.
