Texas Volleyball Facing Louisville For National Title

The Longhorns will look to avenge their 2020 loss to Kentucky against the state's other big program Saturday night.

Playing for a national title isn't new for the Texas Longhorns volleyball team. For their opponent, a trip to the championship is a first. 

Texas, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA volleyball tournament, beat the San Diego Toreros 3-1 on Thursday evening. The Longhorns will face the Louisville Cardinals in the championship on Saturday evening at CHI Health Center. 

The Cardinals defeated their ACC rival Pitt Panthers in 3-2 fashion following Texas' victory. 

After San Diego took home the first set in 28-26, Texas claimed the remaining three sets 25-16, 25-18, 25-20 to advance. Madisen Skinner had a match-high 17 kills and a .394 hitting percentage. Logan Eggleston notched 16 kills, nine digs and five blocks.

Molly Phillips tied her season high with 14 kills, six of which came in the Longhorns' second set. 

The Longhorns hit .248 and held the Toreros to a .112 hitting percentage. Texas outblocked San Diego and totaled 59 kills against USD’s 45. After posting a .56 hitting percentage in the first set, the Longhorns posted at least .300 in each of the next three to close out the night.

Saturday will mark the eighth appearance for the Longhorns in the NCAA's title match, tied for fourth-most with UCLA. Currently, Stanford (17) leads the charge while Penn State and Nebraska are tied for second place with 10 appearances apiece. 

The Longhorns are far from safe going up against the Cardinals. Louisville played back-to-back with the Panthers on Friday evening, but a fifth set eventually pushed the Cardinals past their conference foe well into the early hours of Friday morning. 

Setter Anna DeBeer scored the first eight points of the final set, helping start a 15-2 run for the Cardinals. Claire Chaussee made the kill to set up the match point, while Amaya Tillman ended the match with a kill for the game-winner. 

Chaussee finished with a team-high 25 kills to lead Louisville on the night. 

The Longhorns have come close to taking home the title on multiple instances in recent years. Two years ago, Texas faced off against Kentucky in the final but ultimately fell short in a 3-1 finish. 

Texas only lost one match in 2022, coming in 3-2 fashion to Iowa State in October. The Cardinals dropped a pair of matches, losing 3-1 to then-No. 8 Ohio State in early September and then-No. 8 Pitt 3-2 in mid-October. 

Saturday night's championship game will begin at 8 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN.

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