While many are traveling to see loved ones or preparing for tomorrow’s feast, the Texas Longhorns (19-4) made a quick trip to Lubbock for their second to last regular season match this evening defeating Texas Tech (17-12) in three (25-21, 25-21 and 25-18). The win places Texas one game and only a handful of days away from learning where they land in the NCAA Tournament.
Leading the Longhorns again, junior outside hitter and 2018 Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year Micaya White (Frisco) with a total 15 kills followed closely behind were her teammates freshman outside hitter and 2018 Big 12 Preseason Freshman of the Year Logan Eggleston (Brentwood, Tennessee) with 12 and senior outside hitter and 2018 Preseason All-Big 12 selection Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani (Los Angeles, California) with 11.
Eggleston wasn’t the only freshman earning team highs – another trio had a good night with freshman middle blocker Brionne Butler (Kendleton) earning five blocks, freshman setter and recently named starter for Texas Jhenna Garbiel (Honolulu, Hawaii) grabbed 43 assists and freshman libero Sydney Petersen (Dike, Iowa) a critical 12 digs for her team to convert into points. The team’s overall hitting was at .333 for the match while holding the Red Raiders to .237. However, the Longhorns must continue to work on service errors (5) despite their neutralizing them with an equal number of aces this round.
The top five teams in the NCAA AVCA Coaches Poll remain: BYU, Stanford, Minnesota, Illinois and Texas. Texas faces West Virginia on Saturday on the Forty Acres at 1PM and then will patiently wait for Selection Sunday in hopes that their high RPI ranking (#4) can push them into a fourth seed that allows them to host a regional at home. Until then a pause to give thanks and reflect on blessings both big and small.
