#7 Texas Volleyball hits the road for Big 12 Conference matches with a win over #21 Houston
#7 Texas Volleyball was victorious in their first of three matches versus Big 12 opponents on the road defeating #21 Houston at the Fertitta Center before a rematch tomorrow. The Longhorns remain undefeated (7-0) in conference with recent victories over #17 Kansas and 11-3 overall.
Following their decisive wins over the Jayhawks, outside hitter Madisen Skinner was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the week and her prowess continues. Today the junior contributed 21 kills with 0.362 offensive efficiency, but she didn’t stop there, adding 10 digs, four blocks and two aces. The Longhorns offense continues to improve their efficiency at 0.322 today coupled with Asjia O’Neal (MB) leading her team’s defense at the net with nine blocks and libero Emma Halter earning 14 digs.
The Cougars (9-6 overall, 2-4 Big 12) have struggled to win Big 12 Conference matches this season with losses to then #10 BYU and twice to then #19 Kansas – teams the Longhorns have defeated. However, at the beginning of the season Houston defeated ranked teams then #23 Rice and then #22 USC – teams which have since dropped out of the Top 25.
The all-time series between Texas and Houston is 46-16 with the Longhorns holding a 20-8 advantage in Houston. Texas hasn’t played at Houston since 2007 and their last loss to the Cougars came in 2000. The AVCA national landscape continues to remain tight between undefeated #1 Wisconsin and #2 Nebraska, followed by #3 Stanford (13-2) and #4 Washington State (15-2) – the latter teams which led to two of Texas’ three losses this season.
Tomorrow, the Texas will play Houston at noon on ESPN then return home before a trip north to face TCU in Fort Worth on Wednesday.
