AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas volleyball team and Ted Lasso’s AFC Richmond soccer club have something in common.
They believe.
The Longhorns won a hard-fought second-round match in the NCAA tournament against Southern California in three sets Dec. 6, marking the last time they’ll play in Gregory Gym this season. Texas hits the road for State College, Pennsylvania, to take on Creighton in the regional semifinals at noon CST Friday. It’s the 19th consecutive time the Longhorns have made it to the Sweet 16, and two more wins put them in a familiar place they’ve been in the past two seasons: the Final Four. The match will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Junior libero Emma Halter said the way her team battled against the Trojans was similar to how they pulled off a comeback 5-set win over Mississippi in the regular season finale. It was the team’s first 5-set win of the season after losing five consecutive such matches and gave them a big lift heading into the national tournament.
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“It was a big confidence booster. We were down by a lot and were able to come back and win and stay composed,” Halter said. “It told us a lot about each other. We can do whatever we set our minds to and we never stop believing. … Belief is the biggest thing. If you don’t believe in yourself, you’re not going to win.”
Longhorns head coach Jerritt Elliott said the team trusts each other now, and going through some growing pains early in the season helped the team develop that trust.
“For them to be able to fail a little bit, and then work hard to trust one another and work through those situations, it teaches you how to trust,” he said. “They know they are playing their best volleyball right now.”
They’ll have to continue that trend at Penn State if they want to have a shot at making it a third consecutive national championship. They face a Creighton team that’s 31-2 this season and seeded No. 2 in the regional. The only teams to beat the Bluejays are Louisville and Nebraska, both in five sets and both are No. 1 seeds in the tournament.
It won’t get easier because with a win they’ll play either the top-seeded Nittany Lions on their home floor or Marquette. That match won’t happen, however, without a win over the Bluejays. Elliott said the coaching staff put together a huge scouting report on potential opponents over the next two matches, but they have to distill it so the team doesn’t suffer from the sports cliche of paralysis by analysis.
“We know we’re a good team and we’ve got to take it one game at a time,” Elliott said. “The best thing I can do is be relaxed around the staff, and then my staff is relaxed around them, showing confidence in what we do and keeping it simple. Some coaches will start giving bigger scouting reports and more stuff on like, and that makes the moment bigger than it is.”
Four Longhorns named to AVCA All-Region Team
Madisen Skinner and Marianna Singletary were named first-team American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Southwest Region performers while Reagan Rutherford was tabbed as honorable mention.
Skinner led the Longhorns with 386 kills and 4.81 points per set while Singletary racked up 134 blocks (18 solo, 116 assists) for 1.44 blocks per set.
Ayden Ames was named the region’s freshman of the year, notching 142 kills with a .351 hitting percentage to go with 86 blocks (11 solo, 75 assists). It’s the second consecutive year a Texas player has won the award with Ella Swindle capturing the honor last year.