No. 8 Texas volleyball enters the SEC in style, facing off against rival Texas A&M in College Station on Friday. In their first SEC match of the year, the Longhorns pulled off the victory, overcoming the Aggies in four sets, 3-1.
Rivalries are one thing, but entering an opposing team’s home turf for the first game of SEC play is a whole other animal. The Longhorns started the game on shaky ground, having alternated wins and losses so far early into this season. It was not until last week that Texas pulled off consecutive wins for the first time this year, with the win against A&M bringing their streak to three.
Texas took control early on against the Aggies, pulling off the win 25-16 in the first set. Texas A&M reciprocated, winning the second set, 25-14. From then on the sets remained close, with Texas winning the final two by no more than five points.
The third set proved to be the closest with Texas winning by two points 25-23. Senior outside hitter Madisen Skinner once again led the team in kills with 11, tied with her teammates, redshirt senior and opposite hitter Reagan Rutherford and junior outside hitter Devin Kahahawai. Skinner and Rutherford came into the match with SEC experience, both having been former teammates at Kentucky until transferring — Skinner in 2022 and Rutherford last year. Kahahawai had another impressive game taking over the fourth set with five kills and the game-winning service ace.
An uncharacteristic aspect of Skinner’s game was her recorded 10 errors against the Aggies. Overall the team finished with a hit percentage of 0.175, a total of 50 kills, 46 assists and five blocks.
The Aggies now sit at 9–2 on the year, with only one ranked win over then No. 23 Baylor. Their two losses thus far include No. 7 Wisconsin and now Texas. Texas’ record is currently 6–3, and though it is a less-than-ideal start for the two-time national champions, two of their three losses come against ranked opponents, including then-No. 2 Stanford.
The win over the Aggies offers a positive note for an early season that has seen some murky play. Three of Texas’ four losses last season all occurred before October and it seems a similar situation is currently playing out.
Texas continues its road trip when they travel to Louisiana to face off against unranked LSU on Sunday. The game will take place at 2 p.m. and will be streamed on the SEC Network.
