Texas redshirt senior Katie Hashman is entering the midpoint of her final season with a team that is playing some of its best beach volleyball in program history.
The Longhorns are currently ranked No. 4 with a 13-5 overall record, positioning them for a strong push to end the season.
“Joining this program in its first year, and now seeing how far we’ve come from being unranked to now being ranked in the top five,” Hashman said. “It gives me extra motivation to try to end on a good note.”
Much of that success has come from consistency at the top of the lineup, where Hashman and sophomore Brecht Piersma have started on court one as a duo in nearly every match, earning notable wins against Stanford and Southern California.
Beyond the top court, duos like freshmen sisters Anna and Kacka Pavelkova and senior Emma Grace Robertson and freshman Savannah Thomas have also been key factors in the team’s success.
Although Texas has had some standout pairs early on, they are still making adjustments throughout the season in an effort to find their best lineup.
“We’re still trying to figure out what some of our perfect fits are,” head coach Stein Metzger said. “So you’ll see some new matchups this weekend, and you’ll see some new faces get in there and play, and maybe even some different positions.”
This past weekend, at the Death Volley Invitational, a new pairing on court two, Robertson and freshman Lily Davis, won all four of their matches. The variety of players starting in each match has increased significantly as the Longhorns continue to experiment with lineups.
The Longhorns have not only switched partnerships in an effort to improve but also emphasized refining skills as a team.
“We’re really trying to improve our setting because that’s a very technical skill and a high-level skill,” Hashman said. “So we know that if we can just set a little bit better, we will be easily beating Stanford next time, instead of losing 2-3.”
No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Stanford have been two teams the Longhorns have yet to defeat — two of the sport’s most established programs — but with continued improvement, those losses could be turned into critical wins.
Texas will host both teams as well as No. 5 USC at the Texas Invitational — its first home matchup of the season this weekend and its toughest stretch, with two out of four opponents ranked above the Longhorns. They will remain at home the following weekend to host the Longhorn Showdown.
Texas is looking to use its home-court advantage to carry them through their next stretch of play.
“They take sports differently here, and I really want to create a platform for our student athletes to play in front of big crowds and have that feel,” Metzger said. “So that’s a huge goal for us. We know that we’ve got to do our part. We’ve got to do some more winning. So we’re working on that.”
By continuing to build consistency and momentum, Texas has the chance to continue to establish itself as a winning program throughout the rest of the season.
