November 2024
By Gabriela Semenov, Staff Reporter
Four-time NCAA Volleyball National Champions, the Texas Longhorns, are raising supporters’ doubts in a rocky season starting 15-6 nearing a battle for their third consecutive national title in the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Tournament in December.
It’s been an amazing season so far with fan fighter teams like Penn State or classically stellar teams like Nebraska hammering down the Big 10. The rollercoaster of rankings have left fans jeering and cheering, hoping and praying that their top team stays in the Top 25. There’s been a lot of talk about who will rein their season victorious, but the biggest question surrounding Division One Volleyball by far is: Will the Longhorns be able to do it again?
The beginning of November marks the last quarter of SEC play for the volleyball players at the University of Texas. In early December, 64-team fields will compete in a single-bracket competition to battle it out for the 2024 National Championship, expected to come down to one final fight three days before Christmas. The Texas Longhorns have successfully swept the last two National Championships in three sets against two other top seeded teams of that year; Louisville in 2022, and Nebraska in 2023.
Texas has forever been a team of excellence. Even in the troughs of Covid, they bounced back strong, going runner-up to Kentucky for the National Title. In 2021, their season was cut short just two games to the Championship Final. In their 2022 season, they went nearly untouched with one single loss against Iowa State and a third national title. And despite having the worst season opener imaginable with a loss against unranked Long Beach State in 2023, they went 28-4, losing just one conference game with another “Natty” under their belt.
But this year, only three weeks to the tournament opener, Texas is in a pickle.
Some will say the Longhorn’s questionable season thus far is on Coach Eliott. Some will say it’s the transfer portal. Some will say it’s Jenna Wenaas’s fault (Just Kidding! We love you Jenna!)
I say it’s everything.
The most defining aspect of the last two victorious rosters was the deadly combination of fluid defense and a lethal 5-1* Offense. This season, instead of having powerhouse hitters like Asjia O’Neil, Logan Eggleston or Molly Phillips who were seasoned Longhorns already in their arsenal, Ellliot has had the difficult task of rebuilding the offensive lineup. Even with Olympic prospects like Madisen Skinner firing up for her senior season at Texas, the Longhorns have yet to effectively fill the gaps.
Some believe that Texas has the perfect offensive ingredients: Junior Devin Kahahawai, transfer Reagan Rutherford, and former redshirt Mariana Singletary have held up well for Texas on the net. Each one of the three have had consistent highlight-material play all throughout the season.
Unfortunately in the game of volleyball, the attack isn’t always what’s most effective; another defining issue with this 2024 Texas team is the lack of utilizing “littles” or adaptable defensive specialists (DSs). Last year, Eliott made the easy quick fix integrating experienced senior transfer Carissa Barnes into the main lineup, efficiently making up for the lack of powerful defense. This year, he seems to lack a fresh DS who can help Libero Emma Halter work the back row.
The new freshmen are more than capable of acquiring the skill level necessary to handle their own behind the play and, yet, Coach Elliot has not successfully annexed a DS into a game. It may be because they are not yet ready for the college game. But then another question arises: Why use a 6-2* and constantly leave the only starting setter of 2023, Ella Swindle, out of the first six rotation, for Baylor transfer Averi Carlson?
Arguably the most controversial change this year has been the divisive 6-2. What worked last year with Swindle was her ability to develop a fast setter-hitter connection and her pure physicality. Standing at 6’2”, Swindle has the great advantage of being a blocker for three rotations and a greater jump capacity, considering she’s not only a great standing-setter but a brilliant jump-setter. Averi Carlson is an accomplished, extraordinarily talented player. Her legacy at Lovejoy High School and Baylor University is undeniable. Unfortunately, Swindle’s absence from the starting lineup has made for more inconsistencies, and Carleson’s experience has yet to break through the barriers of being a transfer setter.
In the end, only time can truly tell whether the Texas Longhorns can pull it all together in the lingering weeks before the tournament to earn the title of the 2024 National Champions. Maybe knock-out stakes will make the team come together… or maybe, for the first time since 2006, the Longhorns won’t make it past the first round!
It’s hard to predict the outcome for this team, especially when they’re not on their A-game; the culture around Texas Volleyball is too hard working– too prestigious, to lose grip of what they do best!
So despite the last few months of losing to unranked teams, or the messy lineup changes, if there’s one thing for sure, it’s that anyone watching Texas for the next few weeks will also get to see the best offensive and defensive, synergetic players in the nation making masterful art out of volleyball.
Regardless of the hurdles that ebb and flow with every coming season and every shifting roster, we can only wish the greatest for our longstanding sole representative team for Texas in the showdown for who really plays the best college volleyball in America.
Tune in on December 22nd to watch the NCAA D1 Women’s Volleyball Final! Of course, we hope to see a certain burnt orange and ivory white wave in the crowd…
NOTES:
*5-1 is a type of game rotation in volleyball where there are five attackers and one setter. It is the most common rotational offense in indoor volleyball since there is a wide variety of flexible defensive replacements and attacking options available.
*6-2 is another type of game rotation in volleyball where there are two interchangeable setters and six potential attackers available at all times. If used correctly, it can produce a great range of tactical flexibility, strong offensive play from the right-side pin, and a more developed offense.
The Cardinal Post 