Horns move into NCAA title match
Volleyball
State semifinal matchup for the national championship. The Longhorns last were in the national title game in 2009. Their only NCAA championship came in 1988, with an AIAW title in 1981.
Texas was able to put away Michigan, which was making its first trip to the Final Four, thanks to the balance the Longhorns displayed on offense. Webster’s 18 kills, four of which came in the fifth set, led the Texas scoring. But it took her an uncharacteristic 47 swings for a .298 hitting percentage. Before Thursday, Webster’s playoff percentage had been a blistering .519.
Haley Eckerman, who like Webster, plays the left side, had 16 kills, but needed 54 attempts. Right-side hitter Sha’Dare McNeal, whose shot down the middle ended the match, had 13 kills. Middle blocker Khat Bell had 11.
“I think it makes it difficult for teams to scout certain players and to try and stop one person because you have a lot of weapons to use,” said Longhorn setter Hannah Allison. “So it helps them balance each other. So not one person on a team has all the weight, not one person has to get all the kills.”
The Longhorns also outblocked Michigan 14.5 to 8.5. Bell led the team with a solo block and six assists. Freshman middle blocker Molly McCage had a solo block and five assists, while Allison notched six assists.
Conversely, Michigan relied almost solely on Lexi Erwin, an undersized outside hitter from Spring, who scored 28.5 points on a combination of 26 kills, two service aces and a block assist.
“They were just barely being late,” Erwin said of the Longhorn blockers. “And I was able to sneak the ball in.”
Michigan kept Texas on its toes in sets two and three thanks to the Wolverines’ quicker pace on offense. But Elliott finally had his servers hit to the opposite side of the court, effectively pulling setter Lexi Dannemiller away from the net.
Then Webster, with help from McNeal, took over in the fifth set. She seemed to jump higher than in the first set, boosted by a national championship berth.
“Sometimes momentum just takes you when you want something real bad,” said Webster, a fourth-year junior. “And it’s getting pretty big at this point.”