It wasn’t pretty this time, but just as the team has done for its previous five matches, No. 2 Texas volleyball swept Georgia on Wednesday and improved its record to 11-0.
This match marked the first Power Four road match for the Longhorns in the last month, and at times, they looked a little shaky without the immense crowd support they’ve had in their home stretch.
Nonetheless, it was another outstanding match for the Texas outside hitters. Freshman Cari Spears led the team in kills with 15, junior Torrey Stafford had another double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs and freshman Abby Vander Wal notched a double-digit kill night with extremely efficient hitting.
The match’s pace was certainly different for Texas compared to its last few matches. Neither team was particularly aggressive with its attacks, and the slowness of play caused Texas to be fairly sloppy at times. The Longhorns had 15 attack errors, and despite finishing with an efficient .358 team hitting percentage, there were key stretches where they were off-balance.
A lot of it came as a result of Georgia’s attack strategy. Rather than spiking, the Bulldogs looked to generate kills with soft, well-placed taps over the net. Combined with their outstanding net defense, scoring 10 blocks, the Longhorns found themselves in an unexpected test.
Texas won the first set 25-17, but over the course of the match, Georgia’s strategy proved to be effective. The Bulldogs grabbed an early advantage in the second set, and although Texas would go on to win the set 25-21, its attacks were certainly not as coordinated.
To start the third set, the Longhorns were out of rhythm even more. The Bulldogs used their active defense to gain firm control of the set and grab momentum as the midway point of the set arrived. Texas found itself down 13-15, with its sweep streak on the line, when a timeout on the floor was called.
And that was all Texas needed to regain control of the set. Vander Wal, in particular, came up huge in the final stretch with three kills, and more aggressive attacks helped propel the Longhorns to their sixth consecutive sweep.
After a difficult and competitive match against No. 21 Missouri, Texas has finally gotten a brief breather to play back-to-back unranked opponents. The Longhorns look to surpass their 14-0 start in 2022 and continue their win streak against Mississippi State on Oct. 5.
