After a rude awakening in the first game of the season, the Texas volleyball team had the perfect opportunity to find its footing, as the Longhorns took on the Marquette Golden Eagles.
And that's exactly what the Horns did.
Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves quite yet. The unranked Golden Eagles still took the Texas Longhorns the distance, forcing five sets after all. However, the Horns secured their first win of the year, and that's exactly what they needed to do.
Senior outside hitter Torrey Stafford led the charge.
With 19 kills and 12 digs, Stafford played out of her mind, and undeniably helped to remind the Longhorns exactly why they entered the season as the No. 2 team in the nation.
Similarly, sophomore outside hitter Cari Spears (yes, the older sister of freshman men's basketball star Marcus Spears Jr.) had an incredible performance as well, solidifying Texas's strong offensive performance. She ended the game with 17 kills and seven digs to her name.
Simply put, Texas looked like an entirely different team in Monday night's victory than it did in Saturday night's defeat, and the players deserve a lot of credit for that turnaround.
Jerritt Elliott needs to put the finishing touches on before Players Era Showcase
While the Longhorns looked undeniably better, there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially before Texas plays in the Players Era Showcase, where it will face the No. 18 TCU Horned Frogs and No. 1 Nebraska Cornhuskers.
As a team, the Horns still committed 24 errors and only hit at 25.8 percent, still well short of a perfect performance by a team that is supposed to be the No. 2 squad in the nation. For reference, throughout the entirety of the 2025 season, Texas committed just 15.5 errors per game and hit an average of 31.5 percent.
With two highly talented opponents just over the horizon, head coach Jerritt Elliott has to continue polishing off the details, or the Longhorns could very easily be staring down a 1-3 start to their season.
In the win over Marquette, Texas eked out each set, with the box score coming out as 22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 23-25, and 15-8.
In the loss to No. 12 Arizona State, the Horns were blown out of the water, with a 17-25, 17-25, 25-19, and 18-25 scoreline.
However, with all of that being said, there is still one massive question mark looming overhead... Where is Ella Swindle?
Swindle, a senior setter for Texas, has not stepped onto the court yet for the Horns, riding the bench in the first two games of the season. Now, you could argue that Elliott is trying to push the team to get by without her, or that there is an unspecified injury that she's working through.
Yet, Elliott hasn't shared any news of an injury, and why would you accept a loss in the first game of the season just because you were trying to push the team to succeed without its veteran, National Championship-winning setter on the court?
The Longhorns' run through the Players Era Showcase is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. CT on Saturday, Aug. 29, when Texas takes on the Horned Frogs. Then, at 2:30 p.m. CT on Sunday, Aug. 30, the Longhorns will take on the Cornhuskers.
The errors have to come down, the hitting percentage has to go up.
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