Horns bounce back with sweep
Aggies go down in three sets as Texas preps for Big 12 play.
Texas volleyball opened its tour of Texas with a win Wednesday night.
Micaya White’s 10 kills led the way in sixth-ranked Texas’ 25-20, 25-18, 25-15 sweep of Texas A&M, helping the Longhorns (7-2) bounce back from last week’s loss to No. 1 Minnesota.
Wednesday’s match was Texas’ lone one of the week. Texas’ next match is Sunday at UT-San Antonio, the Longhorns’ final tuneup for Big 12 play. Texas also has road trips to Fort Worth, Lubbock and Waco on its schedule.
“We kind of needed some redemption, so it’s nice to just sweep 3-0 and not have to have all the stress we usually put on ourselves,” senior Ebony Nwanebu said. “Jerritt (Elliott) said before this game this was the battle for Texas. Just to win and come out and not let up, it was just a great feeling.”
Texas A&M scored the first two points of the match, but the Aggies could not make anything of that early momentum. Texas recorded 11 kills and five blocks in the opening set. The Aggies, meanwhile, hit a measly .061 with 11 attacking errors and two service miscues.
Texas led by as many as eight points in the second set, but A&M scored seven of the final set’s first 11 points. Texas, though, eventually grabbed a 12-11 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The Longhorns closed out the match on a 12-3 run and Nwanebu wrapped up the sweep with her fifth kill.
“We kind of just regrouped and were like ‘We know we can beat this team right now, so let’s just go out and do it and not play games,’” Nwanebu said.
White, who led the team in kills last year, posted a teamhigh in that statistical category for the second time this season. Senior Chiaka Ogbogu and freshman Lexi Sun each added seven kills. Setter Ashley Shook had 29 assists.
Senior libero Cat McCoy anchored the defense with 18 digs, and Ogbogu had six blocks. As a team, UT recorded 13 blocks. Texas A&M was held to a .089 hitting percentage.
“I thought our blocking was spectacular tonight at the end,” said Elliott, UT’s longtime head coach. “We just got in a rhythm there. We kind of got the groove going.”