When a long rally in the first set of the Southeastern Conference volleyball tournament turned into an opportunity to find junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford on the left side of the court, junior setter Ella Swindle took full advantage.
Getting on the other end of a dig by freshman outside hitter Cari Spears, Swindle launched the ball outside and set the stage for a powerful strike that would travel deep into the court and sail backwards off the hands of Ole Miss junior outside hitter Shayla Meyer.
With that kill in the books, the score read 22-8 in favor of Texas. Coincidentally, Stafford’s kill total also read eight, meaning that she had single-handedly scored as many points as the entire Ole Miss team had in the first set.
The final score of that set would become 25-11, a score that accurately reflected where the match was headed.
Despite having accomplished two upsets against No. 11 LSU and No. 6 Missouri to earn its shot against the Longhorns, the No. 14-seeded Ole Miss couldn’t overcome Texas’ aggressive start to extend its upset streak to three on Sunday night in Savannah, Georgia.
The Rebels left the matchup defeated, losing the next two sets with respective scores of 25-17 and 25-8.
Stafford, who proved to be too much for the Rebels to find a solution for, finished with 16 kills, eight digs and two blocks. She used this game to further demonstrate her prowess and the weight that her offensive force can have in big games like this one.
However, even though Texas’ offense was headlined by their star junior, multiple other players made strong contributions. Spears and sophomore middle blocker Ayden Ames also tallied 11 and 5 kills, respectively, which also helped illuminate Swindle’s ability to help foster a spread-out offense that can attack from all angles.
The team also rallied around senior libero Emma Halter’s serve, as she sent the ball over the net from behind the service line eight times in a row in set one and nine times in a row early into set three. The Longhorn veteran helped Texas stay in the driver’s seat for long stretches, which helped them maintain control over the game’s outcome.
While their dominant offensive performance is probably what will occupy the Longhorns’ highlight reel from this matchup, it’s worth noting that their defense showed up in ways that they haven’t consistently mastered this season.
“I think our big emphasis has been defense,” Stafford said. “We switched it up a little bit the past few weeks. 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.”
The focus made itself known on Monday against the Rebels. They established a final sideout percentage of 73.7%, along with recording nine blocks compared to the singular block the Rebels had throughout the matchup’s duration.
Texas has struggled to generate strength in terms of blocking throughout this season, but it seems as though it might be starting to click at the right time.
With their upcoming semifinal matchup against the Texas A&M Aggies set for Monday at 7:30 p.m. CT, the tournament is subject to becoming more challenging. The Aggies served the Longhorns with one of their two losses so far this season, which only increases anticipation around how their SEC tournament battle goes.
That being said, starting on a victory as dominant as this one could help the Longhorns establish momentum as they head into their next fight.
