No. 5 Texas Volleyball vs. No. 2 Stanford
Texas: 25-4 | Stanford: 29-3
Saturday, Dec. 9 – 9 p.m. CT
Maples Pavilion | Stanford, Calif.
THE MATCHUPS
Texas faces Stanford for the second time this season after dropping the home opener to the Cardinal on Sept. 3. The Longhorns hold a 10-24 record all-time against the Cardinal and a 2-7 record in postseason matches. Texas defeated Stanford at Maples Pavilion for the first time in 2022 and hold a 1-7 record in Palo Alto.
NCAA TOURNAMENT TALK
Texas is making its 17th NCAA Regional Final ("Elite 8") appearance in the last 18 seasons. This is the program's 40th NCAA Tournament appearance and the Longhorns have a 113-36 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. In 27 previous NCAA Regional Finals, Texas has advanced to 14 NCAA Semifinals and nine National Championship matches. The Longhorns have won a total of four National Championships in program history. UT captured the AIAW National Championship in 1981 and also won NCAA Championships in 1988, 2012 and 2022.
CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE
After clinching the 2023 Big 12 title with two regular season matches left, Texas has won 29 conference championships, including 16 Big 12 titles and 13 Southwest Conference Championships. The 2023 title is a record seventh-straight Big 12 Championship for the Longhorns, who have won or shared 12 of the last 13 league championships and 15 of the previous 17. Texas departs the Big 12 Conference following the season, having won more league championships than any other program.
CONSISTENT SUCCESS
Texas has been the model of consistency for well over a decade now, being the only Division I volleyball program to have ended each of the last 17 seasons ranked in the top 10. The Longhorns have spent each of the last 219 AVCA polls ranked in the top 10, while the last time Texas was not ranked in the top 10 was Oct. 11, 2010. The Longhorns have also finished in the top 5 in 14 of the last 17 seasons, including 11-straight years from 2008-18. Texas also has the nation's longest active streak of NCAA Regional Semifinal ("Sweet 16") appearances with 18-straight. Of the last 18 regional semifinal appearances, the Longhorns have advanced to 17 NCAA Regional Finals, 11 National Semifinals and six National Championship matches.
ANOTHER BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Madisen Skinner was named the Big 12 Player of the Year, marking the fourth consecutive season a Longhorn has been bestowed with the honor, the sixth time in the last seven years, the 13th in the last 15th years, and the 15th time overall. Asjia O'Neal joined Skinner on the All-Big 12 first team, while freshman setter Ella Swindle landed on the All-Rookie team.
THE BIG 12'S BEST
Madisen Skinner became the Longhorns' fourth consecutive Big 12 Player of the Year and was unanimously chosen for the award after leading the league in kills per set (4.64) and points per set during the season (5.31). During Big 12 Conference play, Skinner averaged 4.84 kills per set with a .317 hitting percentage in the 18 league matches. For the full season, Skinner ranks 6th nationally in kills per set (4.75) and 6th in points per set (5.46). Skinner is also tied for the team lead with 36 service aces and is fourth with 204 digs. Skinner is in search of her third National Championship, after winning the title in 2020 at Kentucky and in 2022 with Texas.
TEXAS BLOCK QUEEN
Asjia O'Neal now holds the all-time Texas program record with 589 career blocks, surpassing Chiaka Ogbogu (2013-17) who compiled 537 total blocks in her career. O'Neal has averaged 1.24 blocks per set for her career but is having the best blocking season of her career in 2023 with 152 total blocks and 1.63 blocks per set. O'Neal has also been a part of six-consecutive Big 12 Championship teams, having red-shirted in 2018 and also utilizing the extra season due to the COVID year.
AVCA ALL-REGION HONORS
Madisen Skinner was named the AVCA Southwest Region Player of the Year, while Ella Swindle was named the Region Freshman of the Year. Skinner is the sixth Longhorn in the last seven seasons to pick up the honor. Swindle is the first Texas player to be named the region's top freshman since 2019. Asjia O'Neal joined Skinner on the AVCA Southwest All-Region team and Molly Phillips joined Swindle in being named Honorable Mention.
BLOCK PARTY
The Longhorns lead the Big 12 and rank third nationally with 2.94 blocks per set, led by Asjia O'Neal who ranks first nationally with 1.63 blocks per set. Texas has had double-digit blocks in 19 of the 29 matches this season. In addition to O'Neal, Bella Bergmark, Molly Phillips and Ella Swindle have been extremely effective blockers. The last time that Texas averaged over 3.00 blocks per set in a season was in 2017, led by Chiaka Ogbogu. The 1995 team holds the program record, averaging 3.66 blocks per set.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
A large part of the Longhorns winning 12 of the last 13 Big 12 Championships has come down to winning at home. Over the last 14 seasons, Texas has produced a 211-14 (.938) record in home matches. In that same span, the Longhorns have gone 114-1 in home league matches. The Longhorns' only home Big 12 loss since 2010 came against Oklahoma on Oct. 25, 2014. Texas has won 76-straight home matches in Big 12 play, dating back to the 2014 season. During that streak, the Longhorns have had 58 sweeps and only dropped a total of 23 sets.
ATTENDANCE
Texas will lead the Big 12 in attendance for the 13th-consecutive season with a current average attendance of 4,495 in 16 home matches this season. The Longhorns have also extended their sell-out streak to 28-straight matches dating back to last season. Texas finished last season with 12-straight sellouts at Gregory Gym and 14 overall. In the 2022 NCAA Regional Final against Ohio State, Texas set a Gregory Gym attendance record with a crowd of 5,344.
RANKINGS
Texas began the 2023 season as the No. 1 ranked team in the AVCA Preseason Coaches' Poll for the fourth time (2023, 2021, 2017, 2013). The Longhorns appeared in the top four of the AVCA preseason poll for the 17th-consecutive season and were ranked in the top two spots for the 10th time in the last 17 seasons. Texas has a 10-2 record against ranked opponents this season.
RANK AND FILE
UT owns a 150-59 (.718) record against ranked opponents over the last 20 seasons (2004-23) and boasts a 71-15 (.826) home mark against ranked opponents at Gregory Gymnasium (68-15) and the Frank Erwin Center (3-0) during that span. The Longhorns went 10-0 last season against ranked opponents.
FIFTY SEASONS OF TEXAS VOLLEYBALL
The 2023 season for Texas Volleyball marks the 50th varsity season after the program began competing in 1974. The Longhorns competed in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) from 1974-81 and won the AIAW National Championship in 1981. After transitioning to the NCAA, Texas became the first program east of California to win an NCAA title in 1988. In 49 seasons of volleyball, Texas ranks fifth nationally with 1,342 overall wins and is seventh nationally with a .772 winning percentage.
USA VOLLEYBALL HALL OF FAME
Jerritt Elliott, the winningest coach in Texas Volleyball history, joined USA Volleyball's Hall of Fame in 2023. Elliott received USA Volleyball's All-Time Great Coach Award, which recognizes individuals for success and excellence in volleyball coaching over an extended period. With 561 wins at Texas, Elliott surpassed Mick Haley as the winningest coach in Longhorns' history. Elliott also picked up his 600th career win last season and entered the 2023 season with a career record of 611-122.
SPEAKING OF USA VOLLEYBALL...
Asjia O'Neal donned the red, white and blue over the summer, making her senior national team debut in the 2023 Volleyball Nations League. O'Neal, along with Chiaka Ogbogu, helped lead USA to a fourth-place finish at the tournament. Former Longhorns Logan Eggleston and Zoe Fleck also played for the national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2023 NORCECA Women's Pan American Cup. Eggleston and Fleck were also joined by new Longhorn assistant coach Cursty Le Roux, who served as an assistant coach for Team USA.
HONDA INSPIRATION AWARD WINNER
Asjia O'Neal was named the winner of the 2021 Honda Inspiration Award, presented annually by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA). O'Neal recovered from open heart surgery in 2020 to help lead Texas to the runner-up finish at the NCAA Tournament. The heart surgery took place in January 2020 and was her second to repair a leak in her mitral valve, a condition she was born with. The surgery, which lasted more than eight hours, was extremely successful and there was no more leakage. O'Neal worked back to full strength and finished second in the Big 12 Conference with a .411 hitting percentage to go with 222 kills. She was named first team All-Big 12 and first team AVCA All-Region, as well as an Honorable Mention All-American. She also excelled in the classroom, being named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team as a Corporate Communication major.
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