Texas volleyball has revamped and reloaded into a NCAA title contender again
In his three decades as a volleyball coach, Jerritt Elliot has seen his share of star power and stellar squads while leading a dozen teams to the NCAA women’s volleyball Final Four, including 11 during his 22 years leading the Texas Longhorns.
But this year’s Final Four team holds a special place in Elliott’s heart — and it just may hold up a second consecutive national title if the Longhorns continue their late-season surge.
“I've been coaching a long time, and this might be the greatest transformation of a team from start to finish I’ve had,” Elliott said after his second-seeded team stunned top seed Stanford on Saturday in Palo Alto, Calif., to reach this week’s Final Four in Tampa, Fla. “We just talked (all season) about staying with the process and trusting each other, staying committed to one another, the team unity and the work ethic every single day in practice.
“And we never panicked. We just stuck with it, and we stuck with what we do. And when you do that, good things happen. It's just a great lesson for our players, and this is the reward. So I'm very proud of them and what they did.”
What did Texas (26-4) do while reaching its 11th Final Four in the past 16 seasons? The Longhorns managed to overcome the graduation of Logan Eggleston, last season’s national player of the year who led the team to its fourth NCAA championship and the second under Elliot in 2022. They broke in four new starters, including three players — freshman setter Ella Swindle, defensive specialist Carissa Barnes and outside hitter Jenna Wenaas — new to the program. And they eventually developed into an offensive force as Swindle adapted to the collegiate game and found her rhythm with Texas’ array of attackers.
“A lot of the girls, we hadn't played with ever before,” said outside hitter Madisen Skinner, the Big 12’s player of the year who’s in her second season at Texas. “Just building that trust and building that connection takes time. And we’ve had a lot of time to work on it; it's been a long season.”
More: Golden: Veteran Asjia O'Neal is powering Texas to volleyball playoffs
Offensive improvement keys postseason surge
That work has paid off for the Longhorns, Elliott said. During a 5-3 stretch to open the season, Texas had a hitting percentage of .250 or lower four times while topping .300 just twice. But the Longhorns have hit less than .250 just once in the 18 matches since the start of October and topped .300 eight times.
In Saturday’s decisive regional final win over Stanford, the Longhorns had 50 kills on 114 swings for a hearty hitting percentage of .342.
Skinner took over Eggleston’s role as the go-to attacker and has at least 20 kills in six of her past seven matches, and Elliott said Swindle’s ability to incorporate middle blockers Asjia O’Neal and Bella Bergmark into the attack has provided balance to the offense.
A healthy O’Neal also helps. The All-American, sixth-year senior battled an injury early in the season but gradually worked her way back into the offense. After not reaching double-digit kills through the first month of the season, she's averaging 10 kills a match in four postseason contests while maintaining her presence as one of the top defensive middles in the nation.
“Offensively in the first month of the season, we were hitting below .200,” Elliott said. “We couldn't find any offensive rhythm. We had a lot of components that weren't working, and we also had Asjia out, so we couldn't develop any of our systematic things from an offensive standpoint. So you can see right now we're putting up some really big numbers offensively. That growth has been huge, and a lot of credit goes to Ella, her growth and ability to get in the gym every single day and work hard.”
More: It's official: Former Nebraska pledge Ayden Ames signs with Texas volleyball
Big challenge awaits in NCAA semis
Swindle’s name has been popping up on some freshman All-American lists after amassing over 1,000 assists and averaging 9.5 assists per set.
But Swindle and the Longhorns face their biggest challenge of the season in Thursday’s semifinal match against Wisconsin — quite literally. The most intimidating rotation in the nation features six players at least 6-feet-3 and three players with at least 100 total blocks.
“They're big, they’re physical, and they played a tough brand of volleyball,” Elliott said. “But we’re physical and we’re dynamic, too. We're just going to have to take good swings and swing high and hard.”
Skinner, who had 16 kills against Wisconsin as a freshman playing for Kentucky in 2021, thinks the Longhorns have played their way into preparation for a Final Four that includes third-ranked Wisconsin as well as the other top seeds in Pittsburgh and Nebraska. And she’s looking forward to the challenge.
“I just love competing at a high level,” she said. “I mean, we're getting to see teams that we've never played before or don't play very often. And so just to be against new players that are super successful and talented in what they do is just always a good experience. And it's fun just to be able to battle against different conferences and different teams.”
Thursday's NCAA semifinals
Pittsburgh (27-5) vs. Nebraska (32-1), 6 p.m., ESPN; Texas (26-4) vs. Wisconsin (30-3), 8:30 p.m., ESPN
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas volleyball team is set to defend its NCAA championship crown
