“Amazing night for the Texas Longhorns” puts defending champs back into NCAA semis
Texas celebrates beating Stanford
If it’s possible for the defending national champions to fly under the radar and still be one of the best teams in women’s volleyball, the Texas Longhorns found a way to accomplish it.
When the stakes ratcheted up, however, a proud program was more than up to the task.
The Big 12-champion Longhorns (26-4) will return to the NCAA Divisioon I Women’s Volleyball Championship national semifinals with a chance to wrangle back-to-back NCAA titles after taking down host Stanford (29-4) in four decidedly different sets (25-16, 15-25, 25-19, 25-22) Saturday night in the regional final.
In the third and fourth sets before a crowd of 4,312 at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto, California, seventh-seeded Texas rose to championship heights behind two returning stars from its 2022 title team, outside hitter Madisen Skinner and middle blocker Asjia O’Neal. That followed a five-set nail-biter two nights before in the round of 16 against Tennessee.
“What an amazing night for the Texas Longhorns,” coach Jerritt Elliott said. “I’m just proud of this team, from where they started at the beginning of the year to get to this point after a tough Thursday and compete like this tonight.”
The deciding stanza was air-tight, and an ace by setter Kami Miner pulled Stanford even at 22. But Skinner, itching for a shot at a third NCAA title after also hoisting the trophy with Kentucky as a freshman in 2021, put the hammer down with two tremendous cross-court kills, the second coming in transition after All-American Kendall Kipp was dug.
O’Neal closed the show with a rejection against Kipp, the Pac-12 player of the year, on a “trouble ball” created by a darting floater from serving specialist Keonilei Akana, who had clinched the title last season with an ace on championship point against Louisville.
The Longhorns will play Wisconsin (29-3) on Thursday night in Tampa. Wisconsin of the Big Ten, which won the 2021 national title, advanced by beating Oregon, which finished second in the Pac-12 to Stanford.
Skinner, a high-flying and physical 6-foot-2 junior, had 24 kills against six errors on 47 swings for a .383 hitting percentage. She served two aces and made six digs. Nine of Skinner’s scoring spikes came in the fourth set and she put the finishing touches on the third with two kills. Skinner has recorded 20 or more kills in all four of Texas’s NCAA matches.
O’Neal, a 6-foot-3 senior who played with the USA women’s national team in Volleyball Nations League last summer, had 10 kills with one error in 19 attacks (.474), two aces and five blocks. The timing of her contributions was more important than the numbers. O’Neal assisted on two key blocks in the third set that created 22-18 separation and three kills and block assist in crunch time iced a one-sided first set.
Texas had a 12-3 advantage in blocks as Stanford, the second overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, hit .250, .219 and .182 in the sets it lost.
The Cardinal, the early season favorite to win it all this season, got production from pin hitters Elia Rubin (17 kills, .333, nine digs), Kipp (16 kills, eight digs, a block) and Caitie Baird (14 kills, two blocks, four digs). But middles Sami Francis and McKenna Vicini, who combined for eight kills and three blocks.
Stanford, which had six aces but 14 errors, saw its season end again on its home court in a regional final. Last year, the Cardinal — which won NCAA titles in 2016, 2018 and 2019 — was upset by San Diego.
“We did a great job blocking,” Elliott said. “The first time we played them, they tooled us to death. The key this time was going low and tight.”
Added O’Neal, who was thanked by her coach for returning to school for another season: “Compared to where we were earlier in the season we’ve grown so much. That was (a reason) why we were successful tonight. We knew (Stanford) was going to do great things because they’re an incredible team, but we were able to just pat their backs and move on.”
How did this star-studded Texas team fly under the radar? It got off to a head-scratching start by losing in four at mid-major Long Beach State in its season opener, although O’Neal did not play. In their third match of the season, the Longhorns were swept on their home court by that same Stanford, with Skinner hitting just .083.
That rough stretch continued when Washington State handed Texas another rare home-court setback, leaving Elliott’s squad with a 5-3 record entering Big 12 Conference. The Longhorns won their first 13 league matches, but again appeared vulnerable when they were swept at 10-loss Kansas State. They were ranked No. 7 in the final regular-season VolleyballMag.com Super 16 Media Poll.
But all those tribulations were dust on the trail when Texas notched the final point against Stanford at 12:02 a.m. Eastern to conclude an 8-hour, 2-minute four-match marathon of regional matches and book its trip to Tampa.
“I’ve been coaching a long time and this might be the greatest transformation of a team from start to finish,” Elliott said. “We just talked about staying with the process, trusting each other, and we never panicked.”
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