It’s becoming almost second nature for No. 2 Texas volleyball to win big non-conference matches. The Longhorns defeated the No. 9 TCU Horned Frogs at home to claim a fifth top-10 victory and continue their undefeated season.
The performances of junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford and freshman outside hitters Cari Spears and Abby Vander Wal, who each had double-digit kills, propelled Texas to a second straight sweep.
In the first set, Texas took advantage of a passive attacking effort by TCU and grabbed an early 13-3 lead, which the team never gave away. Both teams were sloppy service-wise, but the Horned Frogs’ .000 hitting percentage was too much to overcome as the Longhorns claimed the set handedly, 25-12.
TCU responded with more consistent swings in the second set, outplaying Texas at times early on. The Longhorns managed to keep it close and grabbed a 13-12 lead midway through the set. The two teams played an extremely long rally with several aggressive swings, particularly from TCU.
But scrappy play by Texas would be the difference, as it thwarted all of TCU’s attacks and won the point on a combined block by freshman middle blocker Taylor Harvey and Spears, igniting the crowd and sparking momentum that the Longhorns wouldn’t let go of.
Texas continued its trend of capitalizing on hustle points, as fittingly, a block by senior outside hitter Devin Kahahawai would win Texas the set, 25-17.
“Ultimately, I’ve had teams that haven’t been as good as this team right now (capitalizing on hustle points),” head coach Jerritt Elliott said. “That’s some good leadership, that’s some good trust and they’re doing a nice job.
Another hustle point by the Longhorns left them poised to seize full momentum again. At 6-5, Stafford recorded an incredible dig to eventually set up Vander Wal to win the point and ignite the crowd again.
After a kill by Harvey and a TCU timeout, it looked like Texas had seized full momentum again. But TCU would bounce back after being down 5-9, highlighted by three consecutive blocks to even the score at 11.
However, Stafford kept the Longhorns ahead as she had five kills in the latter half of the set to complete her match-leading tally of 15. Texas used the Stafford onslaught to win the set 25-18 and complete the sweep.
Texas will finish its non-conference schedule on Sept. 19 against No. 21 Baylor at Gregory Gymnasium before opening Southeastern Conference play against Vanderbilt on Sept. 24.
