When all else fails, feed the ball to junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford.
For No. 3 Texas, that was the M.O. all match as the team cruised to a sweep over No. 15 Indiana to advance to the regional final. The AVCA Southwest Region Player of the Year’s outstanding efficiency led the offense as she finished with 19 kills on a .679 hitting percentage. Most impressively, however, she had zero attack errors through the entire match.
“I think that we were passing really well, and (junior setter Ella Swindle) and (sophomore setter Rella Binney) were setting up really good balls for me to score,” Stafford said. “So I think that I really wanted the ball in the tight sets towards the end, so I could put the ball down.”
Going into the match, the Longhorns knew that the Hoosiers loved to play with tempo. Indiana tried to force Texas out of system with dinks and move quickly on attacks to prevent the Longhorn block. Nonetheless, Texas felt prepared and was terrific defensively.
“We’re just going to control our side of the board with our tempo and create less chaos,” senior libero Emma Halter said before the match.
The Longhorns finished with 12 blocks, which was their second most this season for a three-set match. Their hounding presence at the net forced the Hoosiers into 23 errors, and the Longhorns’ scrappiness also allowed them to generate attacks, even on points where they were out of system.
Although defense and blocking had been a struggle for Texas throughout the regular season, the incremental schematic improvements toward the back-end of the season have led to the impressive defense in this tournament.
“The challenging part with the way that we schedule our preseason (is that) it’s hard to be able to add (defensive) layers on during that time because we’re playing Louisville and Stanford and all these great teams,” head coach Jerritt Elliott said. “So incrementally, (associate head coach David Hunt) has done a really nice job of just adding little layers to it, getting them to understand the concepts a little bit more.”
Despite Texas’ great offensive and defensive performances, Indiana didn’t make it easy. There was a brief scare in both the second and third sets as Indiana mounted a comeback in each set.
In the second set, the Hoosiers saved three match points and nearly saved a fourth. However, Indiana lost a challenge after a kill from freshman outside hitter Abby Vander Wal barely hit the line, giving Texas the set. In the third set, Indiana came back from a 10-15 deficit to tie it at 18, and then 20. But Texas never gave up the lead, as it ensued with four kills and a block to seal the match.
Having not reached the regional final last season, Texas returns, marking the 18th time in the last 20 seasons for the program. The Longhorns will face No. 10 Wisconsin on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four on Dec. 18 in Kansas City, Missouri.
