Austin Regional Preview: December on the 40 Acres

Texas has earned the right to host the regional rounds of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2022. Earning that home court advantage is a pivotal step towards the Longhorns' hopes of making it to Kansas City, and two games stand between the team and that goal. This weekend, three teams descend on Austin, so let's take a look at the competition in Texas' quadrant of the bracket:

Indiana

The Hoosiers are an up-and-coming program, making their first tournament appearance since 2010 and their first regionals appearance in program history. They don't have any experience at this stage, but their appearance is certainly no accident or Cinderella run. Indiana has been competitive in the Big 10 all season long and swept 5-seed Colorado on their way here.

The team is led by an extremely balanced attack from their 3 pin hitters: seniors Avry Tatum and Candela Alonso-Corcelles alongside true freshman Jaidyn Jager. Similar to the Horns, the Hoosiers have a lot of young talent, with their offense also run by freshman setter Teodora Krickovic.

Notably, this also acts as a reunion/revenge match for Ramsey Gary, who transferred from Indiana this past offseason. One of Ramsey's main reasons for transferring back in January was to go to a program that can win a national championship, so on Friday it all comes full circle as that ability will be put to the test.

Regional Finals

If Texas can get past the Hoosiers, they will face the winner between Stanford and Wisconsin. Both are teams that Texas scheduled and defeated in non-conference play, wins that gave big boosts to their resume and ability to host the regionals to begin with. However, both of those matches happened over three months ago and at this point in the season, these are three completely new teams.

Stanford

It took a battle for Texas to defeat Stanford when they came to Austin in September in the first-ever Texas Volleyball match held in the Moody Center. If this matchup occurs again, expect it to be a battle once again. 

The Cardinal are led by NPOY Semifinalist Elia Rubin, still looking to make the first Final Four appearance of her career. In 2023, Texas marched into the Stanford regional and stole that Final Four spot on their way to a National Championship, so I'm sure the Cardinal are determined to get their revenge and do the same.

Stanford is also home to Taylor Harvey's older sister Jordyn (their starting opposite) as the sisters could unite for a battle once again. Taylor leads the all-time sibling series 1-0, and there are few better motivators than a good sibling rivalry.

Wisconsin

Texas' matchup with Wisconsin in August went a little more smoothly for the Horns, traveling to the Kohl Center and getting a sweep. Recently though, the Badgers have been looking more and more dangerous with an unstoppable offense ever since setter Charlie Fuerbringer has returned from injury. That offense is led by Oregon transfer Mimi Colyer, who is also on the NPOY-Semifinals list.

Ironically, the last time Texas and Wisconsin faced off in the postseason was also in 2023, when Texas defeated Wisconsin in the Final Four. No matter who Texas plays in this regional, there are revenge narratives all around, which will only add more fuel to the fire of competing in December.