(Nicos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)
AUSTIN (KXAN) — There’s only one team that isn’t the No. 1 seed in its region heading into the NCAA volleyball national semifinals, and that’s the defending national champion Texas Longhorns.
The second-seeded Longhorns avenged their early-season loss to top-seeded Stanford 3-1 in the regional final on Saturday at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, Calif. Texas will play Wisconsin on Thursday in Tampa, Florida. It is the 15th time in school history that Texas has reached the national semifinals.
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The specific scores were 25-16, 15-25, 25-19, and 25-22.
Madisyn Skinner put the Longhorns on their back in the deciding set, notching eight of her match-high 24 kills in the frame with an ace to lift them to victory. Asjia O’Neal had 10 kills with five blocks while Bella Bergmark and Molly Phillips combined for 12 blocks.
Texas was more efficient offensively than Stanford, getting 50 kills for a .342 hitting percentage. Stanford had 59 kills but hit .278, well below its national average of .318. The Cardinal had 20 offensive errors to Texas’ 11 and the Longhorns hit 61 percentage points above their season average of .281.
Stanford committed 14 serving errors in the match while Texas committed seven. Ella Swindle had 41 assists and 11 digs for Texas while Emma Halter had 13 digs.
Nebraska and Pittsburgh will face off in the other semifinal on Thursday. The winners of the semifinals will play in the national championship at 2 p.m. on December 17.