Texas fell to Missouri in a matter of five sets on Friday at home in Gregory Gym. Although the Longhorns had victorious first and third sets, the team fell short in the other sets, putting Texas volleyball at 7–2 for conference play.
The Horns put up a good effort, with 61 kills made out of 160 attacks — more efficient than Missouri, who was blocked to a hitting percentage of .224 compared to Texas’ .256. The attack game was also cleaner on Texas’ side, with only 20 attack errors compared to Missouri’s 28.
The defensive side also came to play, with the 59-dig count coming largely from the leadership of junior libero Emma Halter. Halter has been a tremendous playmaker and leader for the Longhorns throughout the season.
“She doesn’t take days off. She has this joy about the game,” said head coach Jerritt Elliott of her at a Wednesday press conference. “She (shows) gratitude to everyone, with teammates and coaching staff members. She’s one of the special ones for sure.”
While this season has had its ups and downs, Halter has plenty of faith in her teammates and in their connection. Although the team’s last game resulted in a loss to A&M, Halter recognized that there were still improvements.
“We need to be able to sustain long rallies better and execute at a more efficient level, but at the same time our chemistry felt a lot better,” Halter said. “It felt like we all were in it.”
That chemistry was an integral piece of the defensive efficiency in the game against Missouri. Although the Horns took a hard-fought loss, blocking was at a high with 12 total throughout the game, outdoing Missouri by six.
To Halter, these losses are just more chances to improve.
“We know that it’s not an easy road, and you lose sometimes to get there,” Halter said. “We know that losses don’t define literally anything, and all you can do is learn and grow from them.”
The game against Missouri is the first of a two-game stint at home against fellow SEC teams. Next on the schedule will be Oklahoma on Sunday. Prior to the difficult weekend ahead, the Horns took time after the A&M game to regroup and rest.
“I just did a lot of things that helped me to be grounded,” Halter said.
Elliott spent his time watching film and looking for improvements to be made.
“You think I slept,” Elliott joked. “You replay every play, you watch the film … it’s just out of character of what we’ve been doing. But you’re also trying to realize how can we work on different things and try to break it down. We’ve got to be better.”
After a nearly three-hour fight against Missouri, the Horns will need to regroup and return to what they focused on this week in order to prepare for another battle against Oklahoma. With the rivalry running deep, it will be an uphill road for Texas to come out of Gregory victorious at 1 p.m. this Sunday.
