As Texas volleyball closed out its regular season in Gregory Gymnasium on Sunday, the Longhorn fans made one thing clear: there is no place like home.
Three of Texas’ previous four games had been on the road, and coming back to the Forty Acres seemed to be just what the doctor ordered for this team.
“It was nice to be back,” junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford said. “I feel like we’ve had so many away trips.”
It wasn’t easy, and it certainly wasn’t always pretty, but Texas took down the South Carolina Gamecocks 3-1 to tie the bow on a 21-2 regular season record.
The matchup doubled as a senior day celebration for each of the Longhorns’ four seniors: libero Emma Halter, outside hitter Kenna Miller, outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein and opposite hitter Devin Kahahawai. Stafford emphasized what these seniors have meant to the Longhorns so far this season.
“We have really strong leaders on our team, and I think that, coming in, I knew I was welcomed by them,” Stafford said. “It’s going to be a hard goodbye, but I feel like they laid the foundation for the rest of our team.”
Of this year’s graduating class, Halter has assumed the most prominent role on the court for Texas this season. This matchup was no exception, as she recorded 10 digs, eight assists and two crucial service aces.
One of these aces helped tip the momentum in favor of Texas in a choppy fourth set. South Carolina had been up 11-10 when Halter stepped back to serve, which set the stage for a successful block by redshirt sophomore middle blocker Nya Bunton and Kahahawai and a kill by Stafford.
Halter then made it 13-11 with her ace, halting the pace of South Carolina’s offensive momentum and forcing the team to call a timeout. Given that Texas had lost control of the game in the third set and failed to achieve a sweep, the new life they found behind Halter’s serve made quite a difference.
“I think that we always talk about doing our job, and I think that kind of went out the window (in the third set), and we were doing other people’s jobs and not really staying in the moment,” Stafford said. “So in the fourth set, we just came out more (sharp) and did our job.”
Stafford, who finished the matchup with 25 kills and two blocks, emphasized that defense has been the focus in practice during this more difficult stretch of Texas’ season, and it will likely continue to be a main priority in their upcoming practices.
“We switched it up a little bit the past few weeks,” Stafford said. “We kind of simplified it to make it better when we’re in game. I think that’s probably something that we’re really focused on.”
She went on to reaffirm that they are eager to improve in several areas, looking to be the best version of themselves come Southeastern Conference tournament time, which is under a week away.
