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2023 NCAAVB Championship: #2 Texas vs #1 Nebraska; 2pm ABC (Dec 17)

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7KHorn
7KHorn

Pic of campus, moments ago, from a friend.

Assman
Assman

What an absolute ass kicking. Their serve receive was somehow worse than Wisky's. I mean, the bestest team in the world couldn't do the most basic of volleyball skills. You could hear a God damn pi

Huckleberry
Huckleberry

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49471

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NCAA TOURNAMENT TALK
Texas is making its 10th National Championship match appearance and its seventh NCAA National Championship match in the last 15 seasons. This is the program's 40th NCAA Tournament appearance and the Longhorns have a 116-36 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament. The Longhorns have won a total of four National Championships in program history. UT captured the AIAW National Championship in 1981 and also won NCAA Championships in 1988, 2012 and 2022.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCES
No team has made more National Championship match appearances than Texas over the last 15 seasons. The Longhorns under head coach Jerritt Elliott have played in seven championship matches since 2009, while the teams with the next most appearances in that stretch are Nebraska with five and Penn State with four. Texas also made its 11th appearance in the Final Four since 2008, the most over that stretch.

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE
After clinching the 2023 Big 12 title with two regular season matches left, Texas has won 29 conference championships, including 16 Big 12 titles and 13 Southwest Conference Championships. The 2023 title is a record seventh-straight Big 12 Championship for the Longhorns, who have won or shared 12 of the last 13 league championships and 15 of the previous 17. Texas departs the Big 12 Conference following the season, having won more league championships than any other program.

ANOTHER BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Madisen Skinner was named the Big 12 Player of the Year, marking the fourth consecutive season a Longhorn has been bestowed with the honor, the sixth time in the last seven years, the 13th in the last 15th years, and the 15th time overall. Asjia O'Neal joined Skinner on the All-Big 12 first team, while freshman setter Ella Swindle landed on the All-Rookie team.

THE BIG 12'S BEST
Madisen Skinner became the Longhorns' fourth consecutive Big 12 Player of the Year and was unanimously chosen for the award after leading the league in kills per set (4.78) and points per set during the season (5.52). During Big 12 Conference play, Skinner averaged 4.84 kills per set with a .317 hitting percentage in the 18 league matches. For the full season, Skinner ranks sixth nationally in kills per set (4.78) and fifth in points per set (5.52). Skinner leads the team with 44 service aces and is fourth with 218 digs. Skinner is in search of her third National Championship, after winning the title in 2020 at Kentucky and in 2022 with Texas.

TEXAS BLOCK QUEEN
Asjia O'Neal now holds the all-time Texas program record with 598 career blocks, surpassing Chiaka Ogbogu (2013-17) who compiled 537 total blocks in her career. O'Neal has averaged 1.24 blocks per set for her career but is having the best blocking season of her career in 2023 with 161 total blocks and 1.59 blocks per set. O'Neal has also been a part of six-consecutive Big 12 Championship teams, having red-shirted in 2018 and also utilizing the extra season due to the COVID year.

CONSISTENT SUCCESS
Texas has been the model of consistency for well over a decade now, being the only Division I volleyball program to have ended each of the last 17 seasons ranked in the top 10. The Longhorns have spent each of the last 219 AVCA polls ranked in the top 10, while the last time Texas was not ranked in the top 10 was Oct. 11, 2010. The Longhorns have also finished in the top 5 in 14 of the last 17 seasons, including 11-straight years from 2008-18. Texas also has the nation's longest active streak of NCAA Regional Semifinal ("Sweet 16") appearances with 18-straight. Of the last 18 regional semifinal appearances, the Longhorns have advanced to 17 NCAA Regional Finals, 11 National Semifinals and seven National Championship matches. 

AVCA ALL-AMERICAN HONORS
Madisen Skinner and Asjia O'Neal were both recognized as AVCA First Team All-Americans. Skinner was also named the AVCA Southwest Region Player of the Year, while Ella Swindle was named the Region Freshman of the Year. Skinner is the sixth Longhorn in the last seven seasons to pick up the honor. Swindle is the first Texas player to be named the region's top freshman since 2019. Molly Phillips joined Swindle in being named Honorable Mention All-Region.

BLOCK PARTY
The Longhorns lead the Big 12 and rank third nationally with 2.89 blocks per set, led by Asjia O'Neal who ranks second nationally with 1.59 blocks per set. Texas has had double-digit blocks in 21 of the 31 matches this season. In addition to O'Neal, Bella Bergmark, Molly Phillips and Ella Swindle have been extremely effective blockers. The last time that Texas averaged over 3.00 blocks per set in a season was in 2017, led by Chiaka Ogbogu. The 1995 team holds the program record, averaging 3.66 blocks per set. 

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
A large part of the Longhorns winning 12 of the last 13 Big 12 Championships has come down to winning at home. Over the last 14 seasons, Texas has produced a 211-14 (.938) record in home matches. In that same span, the Longhorns have gone 114-1 in home league matches. The Longhorns' only home Big 12 loss since 2010 came against Oklahoma on Oct. 25, 2014. Texas has won 76-straight home matches in Big 12 play, dating back to the 2014 season. During that streak, the Longhorns have had 58 sweeps and only dropped a total of 23 sets. 

ATTENDANCE
Texas will lead the Big 12 in attendance for the 13th-consecutive season with a current average attendance of 4,495 in 16 home matches this season. The Longhorns have also extended their sell-out streak to 28-straight matches dating back to last season. Texas finished last season with 12-straight sellouts at Gregory Gym and 14 overall. In the 2022 NCAA Regional Final against Ohio State, Texas set a Gregory Gym attendance record with a crowd of 5,344. 

RANKINGS
Texas began the 2023 season as the No. 1 ranked team in the AVCA Preseason Coaches' Poll for the fourth time (2023, 2021, 2017, 2013). The Longhorns appeared in the top four of the AVCA preseason poll for the 17th-consecutive season and were ranked in the top two spots for the 10th time in the last 17 seasons. Texas has a 13-2 record against ranked opponents this season.

RANK AND FILE
UT owns a 153-59 (.722) record against ranked opponents over the last 20 seasons (2004-23) and boasts a 71-15 (.826) home mark against ranked opponents at Gregory Gymnasium (68-15) and the Frank Erwin Center (3-0) during that span. The Longhorns went 10-0 last season against ranked opponents.

FIFTY SEASONS OF TEXAS VOLLEYBALL
The 2023 season for Texas Volleyball marks the 50th varsity season after the program began competing in 1974. The Longhorns competed in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) from 1974-81 and won the AIAW National Championship in 1981. After transitioning to the NCAA, Texas became the first program east of California to win an NCAA title in 1988. In 49 seasons of volleyball, Texas ranks fifth nationally with 1,342 overall wins and is seventh nationally with a .772 winning percentage.

USA VOLLEYBALL HALL OF FAME
Jerritt Elliott, the winningest coach in Texas Volleyball history, joined USA Volleyball's Hall of Fame in 2023. Elliott received USA Volleyball's All-Time Great Coach Award, which recognizes individuals for success and excellence in volleyball coaching over an extended period. With 561 wins at Texas, Elliott surpassed Mick Haley as the winningest coach in Longhorns' history. Elliott also picked up his 600th career win last season and entered the 2023 season with a career record of 611-122.

SPEAKING OF USA VOLLEYBALL...
Asjia O'Neal donned the red, white and blue over the summer, making her senior national team debut in the 2023 Volleyball Nations League. O'Neal, along with Chiaka Ogbogu, helped lead USA to a fourth-place finish at the tournament. Former Longhorns Logan Eggleston and Zoe Fleck also played for the national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2023 NORCECA Women's Pan American Cup. Eggleston and Fleck were also joined by new Longhorn assistant coach Cursty Le Roux, who served as an assistant coach for Team USA.

HONDA INSPIRATION AWARD WINNER
Asjia O'Neal was named the winner of the 2021 Honda Inspiration Award, presented annually by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA). O'Neal recovered from open heart surgery in 2020 to help lead Texas to the runner-up finish at the NCAA Tournament. The heart surgery took place in January 2020 and was her second to repair a leak in her mitral valve, a condition she was born with. The surgery, which lasted more than eight hours, was extremely successful and there was no more leakage. O'Neal worked back to full strength and finished second in the Big 12 Conference with a .411 hitting percentage to go with 222 kills. She was named first team All-Big 12 and first team AVCA All-Region, as well as an Honorable Mention All-American. She also excelled in the classroom, being named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team as a Corporate Communication major.

 

https://texassports.com/news/2023/12/15/no-5-volleyball-preview-ncaa-national-championship.aspx

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49471

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ESPN... Not one Texas player pictured 🙄

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TAMPA, Fla. -- Taking a big swing is a volleyball term, and that's just what Texas coach Jerritt Elliott did in looking forward to Sunday's national championship match.

"This is probably the biggest moment we've ever had," Elliott said of the final airing on network television (3 p.m. ET on ABC) for the first time. "I think people are going to be surfing through the channels, and when they see Texas-Nebraska on with 21,000 people in the crowd, it's going to be super exciting. It's one of the building blocks to get this sport to the next level.

"It's exciting because women's sports in general are growing left and right. I'm a proponent not just for volleyball but for women's basketball and really getting people comfortable with seeing these incredible athletes."

Elliott's mention of basketball is noteworthy, because the LSU-Iowa women's hoops NCAA final in April drew the biggest television audience ever for that sport's national championship game: nearly 10 million.

The volleyball final will have to go up against NFL games, which wasn't the case in its longtime previous time slot on Saturday night. But growth sometimes means stepping outside a comfort zone.

What viewers will see Sunday are two of volleyball's longtime superpowers, both of whom are perennial contenders. The Cornhuskers, the overall No. 1 seed, are in their 11th NCAA final, going for their sixth title. It's the 10th NCAA final for Texas, which seeks its fourth title and second in a row. (Texas also won one championship in the AIAW era).

John Cook, the 2023 national coach of the year, has guided the Huskers' program since 2000. Elliott has been at the Longhorns' helm since 2001.

"The stress and the amount of work to sustain something at this level is tremendous," Elliott said. "What we've tried to do is have fun and create the right kind of players. Our administration has given us all the resources.

"I've become a lot more of a CEO of the business management of creating a brand ... looking at 'How do we sustain this, how do we grow it, how do we keep up and sustain with Nebraska?' They're a benchmark as well."

Here are five things to watch Sunday as the 33-1 Huskers face the 27-4 Longhorns for the championship.

Texas, Nebraska have history

Stanford (nine) and Penn State (seven) have more NCAA titles, but when it comes to marquee names in volleyball, Nebraska and Texas are right there on the top, too. The Huskers' volleyball team is one of the few women's collegiate sports programs that generates a profit, which is a goal of Texas.

The two schools were conference rivals during their time in the Big 12, from 1996 to 2010, before the Huskers moved to the Big Ten. Nebraska has a 33-24 edge in the series; the programs first played in 1981 and most recently met in the 2021 NCAA regional final, won by the Huskers.

They have met for the national championship twice, with the Huskers winning both times: In 2015 in Omaha, and in 1995 in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Texas' most recent win against Nebraska was in the regional final of the COVID-19 delayed NCAA tournament in April 2021.

"Texas is known for their athleticism," Cook said. "[Elliott] has done different systems, different tempos, all those things. You play Texas, you're going to play against a physical, athletic team."

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Merritt Beason, an Alabama native, came to Nebraska after transferring from Florida. 

Big hitters to keep an eye on

Texas has two first-team All-Americans in outside hitter Madisen Skinner and middle blocker Asjia O'Neal, plus outside hitter Jenna Wenaas, who together average about 11.5 points per set. On last season's national championship team, Skinner and O'Neal were second and third on the team to Logan Eggleston in points. Wenaas is in her first season at Texas after transferring from Minnesota.

NBA fans are likely familiar with Skinner's and O'Neal's fathers: Brian Skinner played 14 years in the league and Jermaine O'Neal played 18 years.

As for Nebraska, they are led by first-team All-American Merritt Beason, a transfer from Florida, and freshman Harper Murray, a third-team All-American, who are both outside hitters. Those two along with freshman middle blocker Andi Jackson average about 11.4 points per set.

Beason, a native of Alabama, shared this nugget with media Friday: She doesn't find her home state very different from Nebraska, save for one major thing.

"No one says 'y'all,' so I don't say 'y'all' anymore," Beason said. "I say 'you all,' and my parents give me a really hard time. And everyone in Alabama gives my parents a really hard time when I say 'you all.' "

Freshmen setters under pressure

So far, both have proven ready for the big-time, and have the confidence of their teammates and coaches behind them.

Nebraska's Bergen Reilly, who is from South Dakota, and Texas' Ella Swindle, a native of Missouri, know each other through USA Volleyball and club play. Both graduated high school early and enrolled in college in January, so they had experience before they started their freshmen seasons. Even so, they have had to adjust to the increased speed of the game and new personnel they were playing with.

The last freshman setter to start in a national championship match was Nebraska's Nicklin Hames in 2018. The last freshman starting setter to win in the NCAA final was Stanford's Jenna Gray in 2016; she also won the championship with the Cardinal in 2018 and 2019.

Serving up success

It sounds simple, but getting the point started right makes an enormous difference. Texas' serving, especially Skinner with six aces, flat-out took over their semifinal victory against Wisconsin. The Longhorns served at 92.6% and had 11 aces. Nebraska was at 91.9% in its semifinal sweep of Pittsburgh and had five aces.

Of course, serve receive is also important, and both teams also did that well in their semifinal wins. Nebraska had just three reception errors, while Texas had four.

Winning the scramble points

Volleyball teams strive to pass the ball well and stay in system as much as possible. But at times, players must do whatever is necessary to keep the rally going. Those are the points where there are typically a couple of spectacular saves, gasping from the crowd, and elite-level scrambling.

On the scoreboard, the winner gets just one point, but emotionally it can feel like more. Against Pittsburgh, Nebraska seemed to win every scramble point, helping keep the momentum in their favor throughout the match. In the Huskers' lone loss of the season -- 3-0 at Wisconsin on Nov. 24 -- most of those points went against them.

"Oh, my goodness, yes, -- the long rallies, the ugly rallies, the stuff where's it's like 'you didn't really deserve it' kind of point," Nebraska middle blocker Bekka Allick said. "Those things are really frustrating as an opponent when you don't win them, and that was something that actually hurt us when we last played Wisconsin.

"So that was a point we've been hammering ever since that game ... because it becomes a point of desperation, wanting to get ball up and just over. And so when you actually win them, it's huge."

 

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/39112750/2023-ncaa-volleyball-championship-preview-5-things-know-texas-nebraska

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 55069

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1 minute ago, Harrison Stafford said:

My niece who’s a senior on the Bolingbrook, IL, VB team has assured me UT will win and I’m holding her to that.  She did point out that Nebraska’s sole loss was to Wisconsin 3-0. 

Weird that her pics aren't show up...

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Js1

Js1 85988

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Just now, Beau Vine said:

Whose idea was it to move this off Saturday night and go head-to-head with 2 NFL game slots?

ESPN’s. Trying to get more eyeballs and they had bowl games last night. It was successful moving the NCAAWBB champ to a Sunday afternoon but that’s in April 

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troph

troph 24929

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I’d love nothing more than to fuck Nebraska out of their hope. They’ve already made the switch to being a volleyball school first and nothing else really second with memories of football greatness only known by their olds. But to take their hope away as the dominant volleyball school today would be sweetness, like creamed corn with my chicken fried chicken and mashed potatoes with cream gravy sweetness.

fuck the corn. Let’s ride.

Edited by troph
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Shut up Lou Holtz

Shut up Lou Holtz 2090

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Just now, troph said:

I’d love nothing more than to fuck Nebraska out of their hope. They’ve already made the switch to being a volleyball school first and nothing else really second with memories of football greatness only known by their olds. But to take their hope away as the dominate volleyball school today would be sweetness, like creamed corn with my chicken fried chicken and mashed potatoes with cream gravy sweetness.

fuck the corn. Let’s ride.

I would like to subscribe to your newsletter!

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