Texas volleyball fell to Oklahoma 3-2 in a five-set Red River battle on Sunday afternoon after a series of losses during conference play. Now, after losing two games at home in one weekend, the Horns will be back on the road and looking to stop the bleed.
Kept to a hitting percentage of .187 compared to Oklahoma’s .293, the ball was more often on the Longhorns’ side of the court than the Sooners’. The Horns didn’t produce as much productivity on the offensive side of the ball, serving 54 kills with 155 attacks. Oklahoma, in comparison, produced 66 kills off of 150 attacks.
Defensively, the Longhorns only put up 47 digs and 10 blocks against Oklahoma’s powerful offense. Serving was the one front in which Texas was able to outperform Oklahoma, with nine aces and two fewer serving errors than what the Sooners collected.
The sets looked incredibly similar to Missouri’s beatdown of Texas on Friday. During both games, Texas started out strong in the first set before playing a shaky game and lagging behind in the fifth set. Against Oklahoma, the rivals went 25-21, 25-27, 19-25, 25-17 and 15-9 in an unexpected shootout against the unranked Sooners.
This was the second loss in a two-game conference bender at Gregory Gym over the weekend, and is the third conference loss that the Horns have suffered in a row. Sitting at 7-3 for conference play, Texas now is looking at another drop in rank that may put the team out of the Top 10, as they currently sit at No. 9.
The last loss against Texas A&M resulted in a nine-day break for the team to rest and regroup. In a media availability on Wednesday, head coach Jerritt Elliott expressed how important that time was in preparation for the stint against Missouri and Oklahoma.
“You replay every play, you watch the film … it’s just out of character of what we’ve been doing,” Elliott said. “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.”
Both losses over the weekend were the result of nearly three hour fights, during which the Longhorns struggled to be clean offensively and execute in receiving defensively. Junior libero Emma Halter recognizes the flaws, but also sees the silver linings.
“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.”
Overall, Texas volleyball is now sitting at 12-6. While they’re not out for the count yet, the way forward through the conference will be an uphill battle.
“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 Longhorns will travel next to Starkville, Mississippi to play the Mississippi State Bulldogs on their home turf. They will be looking to make a comeback from the three-in-a-row losses Wednesday at 6 p.m.
