By Steve Lansdale
AUSTIN, Texas — For the fifth time in as many years, and the 12 time in program history, the University of Texas volleyball team is headed to the NCAA semifinals after the Longhorns swept Creighton, 25-29, 25-20, 25-11, Saturday at Gregory Gym.
UT will face [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]Nebraska in Thursday’s NCAA semifinal Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. The time of the match against the Cornhuskers, who beat the Longhorns in last year’s NCAA championship match, has not yet been determined.
Junior outside hitter Ebony Nwanebu led the Longhorns’ offense, hitting .619 while hammering out 13 kills, while freshman outside hitter Micaya White had 12 kills and hit .458. Senior setter Chloe Collins and junior libero led both teams with 34 assists and 12 digs, respectively, while sophomore outside hitter Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani led the Longhorns with four blocks.
As a team, the Longhorns outhit the Bluejays, .425-.154.
“I honestly felt like I could set to anyone out there,” Collins said. “I always feel that way, but just to know all my hitters were on fire tonight. As a setter, that’s awesome. You want to have as many options as you possibly can, and they brought it tonight. I’m just so proud of them, proud of this whole team and what we accomplished tonight.”
Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott first gave a tip of the cap to the Bluejays, who were in the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time in program history, before giving credit to his players, starting with the UT seniors.
“It was a great win,” Elliott said. “Congratulations to Creighton. What a special run they had, a very well-coached team, and some special athletes. This sport continues to grow.
“I couldn’t do this without the seniors and the players that we have in this program. It’s just kind of a special run. We were on the brink of elimination last night, down 11-5 in Game 5, and this team showed a lot of heart. I was wondering how they were going to respond with that emotional win, and I asked them to go home, desensitize and be ready to compete. Once again, they make me proud as a coach and do the things that we need to do to win. This year’s been a little more up-and-down. We were concerned at times at the many meetings and things we were working through. We probably had more meetings this year. But they were bought into what they were doing. I told them, just stick to the course. Here we are again, going back to the Final Four again.”
The Longhorns’ victory gave them an 87-30 all-time record in NCAA tournament matches, and improved their all-time mark in matches at Gregory Gym to 67-9 — a run that includes 33 consecutive NCAA tournament wins since 2006. UT is 34-2 in NCAA tournament matches since Elliott took over the program.
With the win, Texas improves to 87-30 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches and 67-9 in tournament matches in Gregory all-time, which includes 33-straight NCAA Tournament wins at home that dates back to 2006. Under Coach Elliot, the Horns improve to a 34-2 mark in tournament matches in Gregory.
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