Varsity's Horns Hold Strong in Revenge Victory Over A&M

Revenge has been taken! In a match that mattered in so many ways for the Horns, they were able to get rid of the ghost that has been hanging over their heads since the Halloween loss to Texas A&M by beating the Aggies 25-18, 16-25, 27-25, 25-19 in the SEC tournament semifinals.

True Team Win

It took a collective effort in this match to beat Texas A&M. All three pin hitters got into double-digit kills. Both middles Ayden Ames and Nya Bunton earned 7 kills, and Ames set a new career high with 8 blocks. Emma Halter added 11 digs and her ability to run the secondary offense, collecting 6 assists.

After the match, Ames mentioned how well the team was able to be uncommon and to have a deep toolbox, themes that have been a point of emphasis from the coaching staff all season long, especially from Associate HC Ben Josephson. In the second set, Ames says Texas got a little bit too common, which allowed the Aggies to take command.

A New Era

Torrey Stafford emphasized what the win means about how much this team has grown since that loss nearly a month ago, especially on the mental side of the game. "In all aspects of our game, I feel like we've gotten stronger, but I think on the mental side, we've gotten tougher and we have a lot of freshmen on our team," adding that the loss served as a "wake-up call" for them to realize "we have something that we want to prove." 

Ames added that we are entering "a different stage of Texas Volleyball," as there have been signs the past two matches that Texas could be peaking at the right time, something that is talked about so often in college volleyball. The Horns will look to continue that trend and live out one of their mantras right now of "bringing the storm."

Sigh of Relief

Another reason of importance for this match was related to Selection Sunday. With a loss, it would've been more difficult to justify putting the Longhorns above A&M or some top ACC teams (depending on the big-time results of the next few days). 

But the victory essentially sets Texas up to lock in one of the four 1-seeds available to host regionals regardless of tonight's result. Now the pressure is off and the goal simply becomes to win the SEC tournament. That's the benefit of having a conference tournament in the first place, especially in a conference as challenging as the SEC. You get to have these tough matches where you learn a lot about your team and can prepare for the tough matches to come in December.

Championship on the Horizon

Though they couldn't claim the regular season title over Kentucky, tonight is an opportunity to claim the tournament title. And according to Stafford and Ames, this one is just as much of a revenge match as the semifinals (and boy you can tell Torrey Stafford does not like to lose). There is only one team in the nation that has beaten Texas and Texas hasn't beaten, and that's Kentucky. All that can change tonight.

Some things to watch for:

• The Longhorns' blocking has been getting better and better lately. In the regular season match, Kentucky's outside duo did what they've done all season long and posted a combined 38 kills in just three sets. Can the Texas block step up and slow down Hudson and DeLeye?
• Can Texas continue applying service pressure? That has been a point of emphasis for the team lately and an area where they have found success in this tournament so far
• Any trash talking through the net. Tonight can be a great indicator of whether this is a true rivalry or just two elite teams going at it based on how much 'competitive spirit', we'll call it, the teams are showing towards each other