Moody Madness: Late Game Heroics vs Stanford Keep The Horns Undefeated

The Longhorns hosted a state-of-Texas record 10,899 fans at its first match ever in the Moody Center, and the match lived up to the hype and then some. The Horns looked just the same as they had against Creighton and Wisconsin through the first two sets. Stanford looked rattled, playing some high-error volleyball, but then a flip switched. An injury to Stanford setter Taylor Yu meant freshman Logan Parks came in to lead the offense, and the momentum fell completely on the Cardinal side of the net for the next two sets to set up a decisive fifth.

After falling down 6-10, desperation mode set in as Ramsey Gary came to the service line for Texas with the mindset that "I've got to go on this run for my team. We are not losing this game." She was slapping everyone's hands before going back to the line, trying to get everyone fired up. And soon enough, the entire arena was fired up as Ramsey led a 5-point service run to take the lead back at 11-10. Something clicked for Torrey Stafford and you could see a different look in her eyes as she was responsible for every point in that service run with 4 kills and a block. Ramsey locked down the back row with a couple of spectacular saves to keep the rally going.

With the building being just as loud as it had ever been before for a men's basketball game, I asked Ramsey how in the world she was able to settle her emotions and continue putting in tough serves on that run. She responded, "I literally just blanked out. I did not hear any of the crowd, it was completely silent in my head," adding "I don't know" how she tuned out almost 11,000 people... "I took my deep breath and I just went to work." She's been in tough moments before, pointing to her experience in B10 arenas and in club national championships.

The freshmen of Texas are a big story for this team, but it was the veteran transfers that Texas leaned on in the big moments to turn the tide. This was the first time the Longhorns have really been pushed in a match this season, and we learned a lot about how they can respond in those moments with that veteran leadership. According to Ramsey, "The fact that it almost got ripped out of our hands, I think kind of woke us up a little bit," an important experience to have when thinking about what this team can do in December.

The morning after the match, the team was still riding the high from yesterday. Players even had trouble sleeping due to daydreaming about the match, which had been an early afternoon marquee. The Longhorns should enjoy this win for a moment, but there is no break in the schedule to truly celebrate it. The non-conference schedule feels like a December schedule with the team playing tough opponents in big arenas, as Texas takes on #4 Louisville in Fort Worth on Wednesday. Ramsey says the team will be ready to go, saying "I think it's just how this team is built." They know when to have fun and when it's time to focus up, so the Cards will need to watch out as Texas looks to continue its blazing hot streak.