It wasn’t pretty at first, but it was the type of win that No. 4 Texas volleyball desperately needed.

Having lost back-to-back ranked matchups, including a sweep against then-No. 3 Kentucky on Nov. 2, the Longhorns badly needed to get back on track against Florida on the road. For a team of their caliber, a “get-right” game should’ve been expected — and they got just that.

It wasn’t the resounding, dominant win that Texas was used to getting early in the season. But it was still character-defining.

Having lost a close fifth set against then-No. 9 Texas A&M on Halloween and two subsequent sets that had gone to deuce against Kentucky, the Longhorns’ magic of coming out of tight sets victorious had seemingly faded. And after starting this match being down 9-18, it looked like it was starting to unravel for a once-invincible Texas.

But despite eventually going on to lose the set, the “Texas fight” that was on display for a large part of the season came back in a big way. Back against the wall, the Longhorns clawed their way back to force a deuce with four set points. They would go on to lose after squandering three set points of their own, but the comeback itself boded well for them the rest of the match.

After the thrilling first set, it was smooth sailing for Texas. None of the remaining three sets was ever in doubt, and despite the hostile environment in Gainesville, the Longhorns completed the four-set victory in style. 

“We’re trying to get our rhythm back a little bit here,” head coach Jerritt Elliott said after the second set. “Obviously, (we) started off really slow … (but) they’re fighting hard, and I’m really proud of (the team) for that.”

Rhythm was a key emphasis for Elliott after the Kentucky match, and the Longhorns finally got it back. There were many standouts, as junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford notched her fifth 20-kill match of the season on the day she was announced as an AVCA Player of the Year semifinalist, and setters junior Ella Swindle and sophomore Rella Binney combined for 49 assists.

However, the biggest story was the role of redshirt senior outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein after being introduced into the lineup. She totaled six kills and two blocks on zero errors. For Elliott, it will be interesting to see if she gets more court time down the stretch.

For a team wounded after its first two losses, Texas bounced back with two more regular-season matches remaining on the schedule. The Longhorns will travel to Auburn next to face the Tigers on Nov. 12.