TAMPA, Fla. — In 2009, here in this same arena, Texas women’s volleyball lost one of its most heartbreaking matches, one that longtime coach Jerritt Elliott still calls his most painful defeat. On Sunday, in the first NCAA volleyball championship match to be televised on ABC, the Longhorns and Elliott replaced that bad memory with a much happier one.
The Longhorns repeated as national champions and did something no team had done in NCAA women’s volleyball history: win back-to-back titles via sweeps. The No. 2 seed Longhorns did it by knocking off three No. 1 seeds in a row: Stanford in the regional final, Wisconsin in the national semifinals and Nebraska in the final. The Longhorns won 25-22, 25-14, 25-11 on Sunday; last year they swept Louisville in the title match.
Last season, Texas carried the mantle as country’s best team all the way through the championship match. This year, with freshman setter Ella Swindle learning the ropes, Texas had a few more bumps in the road early on, including a loss at Long Beach State in the season opener Aug. 25.
But by Sunday, there was no doubt who the best team was: the Longhorns again. Other than at setter, Texas did have some key experienced players, including fifth-year senior Asjia O’Neal, who got her fifth service ace of the afternoon on match point to launch Texas’ celebration.
Madisen Skinner, who helped lead Kentucky to the SEC’s first volleyball title in the COVID-delayed 2020 championship, got her third overall NCAA title, as she won the past two after transferring to Texas. She was named most outstanding player of the championship after 18 kills in the semifinal win over Pittsburgh and 16 against Nebraska in the final. Skinner, O’Neal and Swindle were each on the all-tournament team.
The record crowd of 19,727 at Amalie Arena watched Texas take over in the second set with spectacular serving as the Longhorns never gave the Cornhuskers a chance to rally. O’Neal served 10 consecutive points in an 11-0 second-set run that was the turning point after a tight first set.
The Longhorns won their fourth NCAA title and fifth national championship overall, counting one in the AIAW era. It is their last year in the Big 12; next season they move to the SEC.
Amalie Arena went by a different name in 2009, but it is the same building that hosted the volleyball championship that year. Texas took a 2-0 lead over defending champion Penn State, which was in the midst of one of the best runs in volleyball history.
But Texas couldn’t close out the title and lost in a reverse sweep. It was the senior year of one of Texas’ all-time greatest stars, Destinee Hooker, who had 34 kills in the final and was the championship’s most outstanding player despite the loss. Penn State finished a second straight season at 38-0, and Elliott sat with that loss until he won his first title with the Longhorns in 2012.
On Sunday, though, Texas never got close to losing its lead and finished the season 28-4, making Tampa a place Elliott and Longhorns fans will always think of more fondly now.