Texas Dominates Ole Miss To Set Up Semifinal Showdown With A&M

It was a tournament of upsets and low-seed runs in Savannah the first two days of the SEC tournament, but that came to an end as the top 4 teams all won their respective matches in the quarterfinal round. Texas did their part with a convincing sweep over Ole Miss. The Rebels entered as the 14-seed in the tournament and earned two upset wins in the first two rounds, but the Longhorns proved too much to handle. In the semifinals, Kentucky will face Tennessee and Texas will face Texas A&M.

After the match, Jerritt Elliott was very complimentary of his squad, saying "I thought we came out really dialed in, really focused from the very first point." Texas looked sharp "in all facets of our game... our serving was really good, our serve receive was good, our blocking was some of the best we've had all season long, and obviously our sideout game and our attack percentage was really good." After two dominant sets and a hot start in the third, momentum carried them the rest of the way. Torrey Stafford highlighted the importance of closing out matches in those scenarios, saying "Going forward, we're trying to be the best third set team."

It was a complete game for the Longhorns, and a great start to the postseason. After the match, Ayden Ames mentioned that once you complete regular season play, it's a clean slate and it all comes down to how you execute in any given game. Texas executed very well in this one, showing the version of the Longhorns that can absolutely beat anybody in the country. And hopefully, that's a sign of things to come as the Horns continue through the postseason gauntlet.

That gauntlet continues with a rivalry rematch again Texas A&M tonight. This Texas team is hungry for revenge after the loss to the Aggies in the regular season, and they will get their opportunity to earn it. At this point in the season, these teams know themselves very well and they also know their opponents. In the end, it will come down to who can execute better in the big moments, and as Coach Elliott puts it, Texas will look to carry over "every aspect" of their execution against Ole Miss towards the next one.