Wisconsin upsets Texas at home, advances to NCAA volleyball semifinals

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas’ dominant run through the NCAA volleyball tournament came to a screeching halt Sunday, falling to Wisconsin 3-1 in the regional final at Gregory Gym.

Set scores were 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19.

Wisconsin’s Mimi Colyer smacked a match-high 23 kills, while Una Vajagic delivered 15 with a .458 hitting percentage. The Badgers hit .294, connecting on 67 kills with 25 errors in 143 attempts, and the Longhorns were held to a .250 hitting percentage with 48 kills and 16 errors in 128 attempts.

Longhorns head coach Jerritt Elliott said his team “ran into a buzzsaw.”

“There’s a lot of good teams with good coaches that can challenge you, and that’s where the sport is headed right now,” he said. “You want this really bad for your team, to advance to a Final Four and have a chance at a national championship.”

Cari Spears led the Longhorns with 12 kills, followed by Torrey Stafford and Abby Vander Wal each with nine. Stafford chipped in 10 digs and five blocks, and Emma Halter had 13 digs.

Texas led the first set early, 10-7, but the Badgers went on a 4-0 flurry to tie it. The teams worked the match to 14-14, and then the Badgers turned it up to take a 24-17 lead following a kill by Carter Booth. The Longhorns went on a 5-0 run to make things interesting, but Wisconsin ended up taking the set on a Colyer kill.

Wisconsin controlled the second set, putting together 3-0 runs three different times. Texas didn’t score more than two consecutive points in the entire set.

The Longhorns showed some fight in the third set, using a 5-0 run to turn a 12-11 deficit into a 16-12 lead. Rella Binney had two service aces to fuel the rally, and Texas did enough to hold off the Badgers with a 4-0 run to get it to set point, 24-19. Wisconsin’s Kristen Simon served the ball into the net to close out the set.

A Taylor Harvey kill in the fourth set tied it at 7-7, but the Badgers seized control after taking a 14-9 lead. Texas worked it back to 18-15 following a service ace by Ramsey Gary, but the Badgers were too much. Fittingly, the match ended on a Colyer kill.

Halter, who has been part of two national championship teams at Texas, said the hardest part about the season ending is not competing with your best friends anymore.

“We are all each other’s best friends and have an incredible culture here,” she said. “We knew we could do special things, and not to reach our final goal is really tough.”

Texas ends its season with a 26-4 record. The Longhorns hadn’t dropped a set in the tournament until they played the Badgers. Wisconsin (28-4) faces Kentucky in the national semifinals on Thursday in Kansas City, Missouri.

Texas A&M and Pitt advanced to the national semifinals. The Aggies topped previously undefeated Nebraska in five sets.

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