No. 1 Texas Volleyball defeats Texas A&M 3-1 to advance to the Sweet Sixteen

For the second year in a row, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns defeated former Big 12 rival Texas A&M in the second round of the NCAA tournament to punch a ticket to the Sweet Sixteen. [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)] The Longhorns will travel to Lincoln Nebraska for the NCAA Regional round on December 13.

“This is a big win for us. Regardless of what seed you are you don’t take things for granted, you don’t look past teams,” Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott said. “We know that it is an honor to be in the round of 16, we have got some work to do with our next opponent, and we are just honored to represent our University and take that next step.”

The Longhorns played dominate volleyball in set one on Friday night, taking the opening set 25-14. Texas turned in a .684 hitting clip while holding Texas A&M to .000. Senior Bailey Webster and junior Haley Eckerman each led with five kills a piece.

Texas started off the second set slow against Texas A&M. The Aggies maintained a slim lead over through Longhorns through the first half of the set. After slowing working to a 12-12 tie, the Longhorns surged ahead going on to a 25-18 second set win to go up 2-0 before halftime. Texas hit only .234 in the second set but came away with 14 kills. The Longhorn defense held the Aggies to a 0.043 hitting clip and 11 kills in the set two. Webster led the Longhorns with five kills in set two.

Texas A&M surged to an 8-4 lead in set 3 and never looked back, picking up the 25-15 win. The Longhorns struggled throughout the set, hitting only 0.094 with 11 kills. Uncharacteristic errors also plagued the Longhorns, who committed eight errors to the Aggies’ three. The 15 points scored in the third set ties for the fewest points scored in a single set for the Longhorns so far this season.

After outhitting the Longhorns in set three, the Aggies jumped to a quick 4-1 lead in the fourth set, but the Longhorns slowly battled back thanks to a few key blocks by freshman Molly McCage and junior Khat Bell. Texas maintained a slight one point lead before going on a 7-0 run to go up 19-12.  The Aggies didn’t give up easily, fighting back with a 7-3 run to bring the set to within three, but three straight kills by Eckerman gave the Longhorns the 25-19 set four win and the match.

Texas outhit Texas A&M .298 to 0.121 and turned in 53 kills to the Aggies’ 45. Eckerman turned in a double-double with 20 kills and 15 digs while Webster contributed 18 kills. Eckerman also turned in a .514 hitting clip for the match.

“We have so much respect for Texas A&M and we know that it’s going to be a battle and it was tonight,” Elliott said. “[They] did an amazing job getting back in the match in game three and put the pressure back on us and I was proud of the way our team responded.”

The Longhorns will face the winner of the Duke and American University match that will take place on Saturday, December 7.

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