Texas volleyball traveled to California this past weekend to face No. 2 Stanford University. The Longhorns fell to the second ranked team in the country in three sets, losing 0-3.
Texas headed into Sunday’s match as a rare underdog. After starting the season atop the volleyball rankings at No. 1, the team has since fallen, entering the game at No. 6.
Stanford entered the day’s match at 6-0, having defeated three ranked teams this season. With this loss, Texas became the fourth.
Stanford controlled the match for a majority of regulation, with the Cardinal dominating in the first set and carrying wins in the next two sets. Texas played some of their best volleyball in the second set, holding Stanford to a 0.184 hitting percentage. In the other sets, the Cardinal held hitting percentages over 0.400, while Texas failed to have a hitting percentage over 0.300 throughout the game.
In the third set, Texas briefly held the lead until Stanford went on a 7-1 scoring run and took a 14-8 advantage. The Longhorns were able to pull within a couple of points before Stanford cemented the final score of the set to 25-22.
This is the second time in the past two seasons that Stanford has swept Texas in volleyball. Texas faced Stanford twice last season, dropping the first game and winning the second in the regional final of the NCAA national championship tournament.
Texas began its season off to a rocky start, now sitting even with a record of 3-3. After kicking off to a good start with a top five win against then No. 3 Wisconsin, the team has struggled, alternating wins and losses in the five games afterward.
Senior outside hitter Madisen Skinner once again led the team in kills, posting a season low with 12, accompanied with seven digs and two blocks. Other team leaders included sophomore setter Ella Swindle with 24 assists, junior libero Emma Halter with 11 digs and freshman blocker Ayden Ames with five blocks.
Having lost against their second ranked team this season, the Longhorns will once again drop in the national rankings. Texas losses now include No. 2 Stanford, No. 18 Minnesota on Sept. 2 and unranked Miami on Sept. 7.
Texas continues its road trip this Wednesday when they take on in-state opponent Baylor in Waco. The Longhorns have not dropped a game to Baylor since 2021 and will look for a good win to rebound from Sunday’s loss.
