TAMPA, Fla. – Texas volleyball delivered its second straight national championship to its fans.
literally.
Fueled by a precise serving game, top-ranked Texas stunned Nebraska at Amalie Arena as it cruised to its second straight national title. The 25-22, 25-24, 25-11 sweep capped an improbable repeat for the Longhorns, who had never topped the national poll this season and entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed.
But Texas (28-4) played its best volleyball in December, while knocking off top-seeded Stanford, Wisconsin and finally Nebraska. This has become a habit for the Longhorns, who have not lost a set in their last two national title games.
Texas was at its best at the service line. The Longhorns fired 12 aces, including five from center blocker Asjia O’Neal, who capped career bests for any Longhorn volleyball player with four kills and three blocks.
Junior outside hitter Madison Skinner, a leading candidate for National Player of the Year, once again paced the Texas offense with 16 kills while setter Ella Swindell had 21 assists while becoming the third true freshman to lead her team to a Division I championship. Libero Emma Halter joined Skinner, O’Neal and Swindle on the all-tournament team after collecting nine digs.
Emotions were running high throughout the match between two teams that have each won five national titles, especially in a tense first set. After a questionable four-touch call on the Texans nullified Wenas at the end of a marathon rally, Elliott made no secret of his frustration from the officials and drew a yellow card as a warning. Moments later, Elliott became even more agitated by an apparent substitution violation by Nebraska that was not called, resulting in Nebraska receiving a red card and a point.
But with the set tied at 22-22 to the excitement of the Cornhusker crowd, Texas showed off its tournament form by scoring three straight points, including an ace by Kunele Akana that closed out the set.
The next two sets lacked such drama as the Longhorns cruised to victory over hard-hit Nebraska (33-2) as the match broke the NCAA attendance record for an indoor volleyball competition with 19,727 fans in attendance for Sunday’s final.