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#6 Texas Volleyball vs Houston
Texas: 2-2 | Houston: 3-1
Wednesday, September 11th at 8pm
Gregory Gym | Austin, Texas
Television: ESPN2
match
Texas and Houston will meet for the third straight year after playing each other as conference rivals for just one season in 2023. The Longhorns have a 48-16 record against the Cougars all-time, including 22-4 at home. Last season, Texas won both games against the Cougars in front of record crowds at the Fertitta Center in Houston. The Longhorns last lost in this series in the 2000 season.
Current National Champion
The Longhorns enter the season as back-to-back national champions, defeating Nebraska in the 2023 title match in Tampa, Fla. Texas returns five starters from its title-winning team, including NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team members Madisen Skinner, Ella Swindle and Emma Halter. The 2023 national championship will be the program’s fifth, following an AIAW title in 1981 and NCAA titles in 1988, 2012 and 2022.
Preseason Rankings
Texas will begin the 2024 season as the No. 1 team in the AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll for the fifth time (2024, 2023, 2021, 2017, 2013). The Longhorns have appeared in the top four of the AVCA Preseason Poll for the 18th consecutive year and ranked in the top two for the 11th time in the past 18 seasons. Voted No. 1 in the SEC Coaches Poll, Texas is one of six SEC teams ranked in the top 25 with Kentucky at 9, Florida at 11, Tennessee at 15, Arkansas at 19 and Georgia at 25. In non-conference play, Texas will face four teams in the preseason rankings: No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 18 Minnesota, No. 5 Stanford and No. 23 Baylor.
Preseason Awards
Madisen Skinner led four Longhorns players who were named to the Preseason Volleyball All-SEC Team along with Emma Holter, Ella Swindle and Kentucky transfer Reagan Rutherford. The Longhorns were also named the preseason favorite to win the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll, marking the 14th consecutive year that Texas has been the preseason conference favorite to win.
Skinner Sr.
Three-time All-American and 2023 VolleyballMag.com National Player of the Year Madisen Skinner will play her final season of collegiate volleyball in 2024. Last season, Skinner ranked sixth nationally with 4.80 kills per set and seventh with 547 total kills. Her 547 kills are the third-most ever by a Longhorns player and the most since Mila Topic (593) in 2004. Skinner stepped up her play in the postseason, averaging 5.43 kills per set and hitting .316 while being named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
Consistent Success
Texas has been a consistent performer over the last decade and is the only Division I volleyball team to finish in the top 10 in each of the past 18 seasons. The Longhorns have finished in the top 10 in each of the last 221 AVCA polls. The last year Texas did not finish in the top 10 was October 11, 2010. The Longhorns have finished in the top five in 15 of the last 18 seasons, including 11 consecutive years from 2008-2018. Texas also holds the nation’s longest streak of consecutive NCAA regional semifinal (“Sweet 16”) appearances with 18. Of the last 18 regional semifinal appearances, the Longhorns have reached the NCAA regional final 17 times, the national semifinals 11 times and the national championship game seven times.
Championship Pedigree
Texas has won 29 conference championships, including 16 Big 12 titles and 13 Southwest Conference championships. The 2023 title would be a record seventh consecutive Big 12 championship for the Longhorns, who have won or shared the championship in 12 of the past 13 league championships and 15 of the 17 before that. Texas left the Big 12 Conference with more league championships than any other program.
Rank and file
UT has a 155-60 (.721) record against ranked opponents over the past 21 seasons (2004-24) and boasts a 71-15 (.826) home record against ranked opponents at Gregory Gymnasium (68-15) and the Frank Erwin Center (3-0) in that same span. The Longhorns were 14-2 against ranked opponents last season.
Home-court advantage
Home wins have been a major factor in the Longhorns’ 12 conference championships in the last 13 years. Over the last 15 seasons, Texas is 212-15 (.934) in home matches. In that same span, the Longhorns are 114-1 in home conference games. The Longhorns’ only home conference loss since 2010 came against Oklahoma on October 25, 2014. Texas has won 76 consecutive home conference games dating back to the 2014 season. During that streak, the Longhorns have completed 58 sweeps and only dropped 23 sets total.
Attendance
The Longhorns extended their sellout record with 29 consecutive games entering the 2022 season. Texas ranked fifth nationally in attendance with an average of 4,495 fans at their 16 home games last season. The Longhorns sold out all 16 home games in 2023 and finished the 2022 season with 12 consecutive sellouts at Gregory Gym. For the 2022 NCAA Regional Final against Ohio State, Texas broke the Gregory Gym attendance record with 5,344 fans.
MBU
Under head coach Gerrit Elliott, the Longhorns have produced a string of All-American middle blockers over the last two decades, beginning with Letitia Armstrong (2003-08) and Brandi McGhee (2003-07), followed by Lauren Paolini (2005-08), Rachel Adams (2008-11), Kat Bell (2011-14), Molly McKage (2012-15), Chiaka Ogbogu (2013-17), Brion Butler (2017-21) and Aszia O’Neal (2019-23). These nine All-American middle blockers have earned All-American honors a combined 25 times since 2005.
MBU More…
Following the graduation of All-American Asia O’Neal, three young players are set to carry on Texas’ tradition of great middle blockers. Aiden Ames is expected to be the Longhorns’ first true freshman starter in the middle since Chiaka Ogbogu in 2013. Redshirt sophomore Marianna Singletary and redshirt freshman Nya Banton will also play key roles this season. The Longhorns were third nationally with 2.89 blocks per set last season and recorded double-digit blocks in 21 of 32 games last season.
Winner takes all
Emma Halter played in all 61 matches throughout her career and won consecutive national championships in just her first two seasons at Texas. As a freshman in 2022, Halter was a defensive specialist, averaging 1.29 digs, 21 assists and 12 aces per set. Last season, Halter played every match for the Longhorns, averaging 3.87 digs, 141 assists and 38 aces per set. Halter may have had her best performance on the biggest stage, recording 19 digs, seven assists and two aces in the NCAA semifinal win over Wisconsin.
Freshman Setter
Ella Swindle made history in 2024, becoming just the third true freshman setter to lead a team to a national championship and the first since 2016 to do so. In the final against Nebraska, Swindle had it all: 21 assists, seven digs, five kills, two aces and one block. Over the course of the season, Swindle averaged 9.54 assists per set while adding 92 total blocks, 227 digs, 96 kills and 30 aces. She was named the AVCA Southwest Region Freshman of the Year and was named to the Big 12 All-Rookie Team.
USA Volleyball Hall of Fame
Gerrit Elliott, the winningest coach in Texas volleyball history, will be inducted into the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2023. Elliott is the recipient of USA Volleyball’s All-Time Great Coach award, which recognizes an individual who has demonstrated success and excellence in volleyball coaching over a long period of time. With 561 wins at Texas, Elliott passed Mick Haley as the winningest coach in Longhorns history. Elliott earned his 600th career win last season and enters the 2023 season with a career record of 611-122.
