***EDIT: Longhorns will take on fourth-seeded Nebraska in Saturday’s NCAA title match at 6:30 p.m. CT (ESPN2). Not on Sunday as this article originally reported***
By Steve Lansdale
OMAHA, Neb. — Big 12 Player of the Year Amy Neal registered a career-high 25 kills and junior All-America Paulina Prieto Cerame added 19 to lead the No. 3 University of Texas volleyball team (30-2) past second-ranked Minnesota, 3-1 (26-24, 27-25, 23-25, 25-21), giving the Longhorns a spot in the NCAA Championship match.
Texas will face [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] Nebraska for the national championship at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. UT’s championship showdown against the Cornhuskers will mark the Longhorns’ fifth appearance in the sport’s ultimate game, their first since 2012.
Freshman Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani had a career-high 15 kills for Texas, while junior setter Chloe Collins handed out 64 assists and sophomore chipped in with a match-high 20 digs.
Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott said the Longhorns ultimately won because of the strength of their serves and their ability to disrupt Minnesota’s gameplan through exceptional passing.
“This is ‘the little team that could,’” Elliott said. “We have got some matchup issues. Amy is not a very big blocker, Chloe is not a very big blocker. We’ve got some situations where we have got to be smart, we’ve got to be good with our serving to get them off the net, and I think that’s kind of what we were able to do.
“We’ve got four really solid passers, and we can do some things with it. We were able to really control the ball. This is one of the best passing teams we have had — not one of the most physical, but we were able to control the ball.
Sunday’s finale against the Cornhuskers will be the second meeting of the season between Texas and Nebraska. The Longhorns edged the Huskers, 3-2, Sept. 4 in Austin.
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