Revenge Served Cold in Wisconsin: All The Good From Week 1

By now, you've probably heard that the Longhorns had a stellar debut to the season at the First Serve in Wisconsin. Two sweeps against top-12 opponents is good enough on its own, but to do it with such a young group playing together for the first time is impressive. It wasn't always the prettiest, cleanest volleyball you've seen played, but in time those things will clean up and the ceiling of this team became very clear this weekend.

Task #1 of the season was to get revenge on Creighton for ending their run short in last year's tournament. It's safe to say that any bad taste that was lingering in the mouth of Texas players has now been resolved. This team can move on and look forward to a more successful season after proving to themselves and everyone else that they are a different team than they were last year. 

One big reason the team is different is the freshmen that have come into this program. Abby Vander Wal and Cari Spears did enough in practice and the preseason scrimmage to convince Coach Elliott and earn the starting spots at OH and OPP. These two got thrown into the fire starting in two big time volleyball matches as their first career college games and they looked the part. Spears especially turned some heads against Wisconsin with her flashy D ball leading the team with 11 kills at a .476 clip in the dominant sweep. These two freshman phenoms are very good news for what the Texas program might look like over the next four years (with Henley Anderson joining next year as well by the way).

Another bright spot on the weekend comes from sophomore middle Ayden Ames, who is stepping up as the M1. After spending her freshman year behind Marianna Singletary, Ames produced against top opponents hitting .458 on the weekend adding 1.33 blocks/set including two massive solo blocks. And it's not just the volleyball performance, Ames is stepping into more of a leadership role with the energy and passion she brings to the court in just her second year. Sophomore slump? Never heard of it.

When you ask the players about what went well this weekend though, it's not about the on-the-court stuff. In fact, this is exactly what the Texas coaching staff did in practice this morning: gave an open-ended question about what went well. Their responses? It was all about how they got so much time to connect off the court, and how they could have fun with each other but also knew when to lock in on the task at hand. A team that plays with chemistry and connectedness is a dangerous one, and the early signs are good for Texas on that front as well.

The Longhorns earned their bump up to the #2 spot in the AVCA poll, but this doesn't mean the team can slack off and get comfortable. This is week 1 of 18 on the road to Kansas City. With all the exciting upsets we've seen in college volleyball this first week, the wrong mindset is all it takes to drop the focus and lose a game you shouldn't. One game at a time, the season continues.