I thought that Nebraska was beatable, but I thought it would be Wisconsin that beat them. Texas wasn’t even a Regional 1-seed, so they had to win at Stanford to make the Final Four, and I didn’t think they would.
- Texas is a “complete” team, strong in every aspect of the game, including a multi-variable attack. They were very effective hitting from the back-row, they were very effective with dinks/off-speed hits, and they absolutely terrorized Wisconsin and Nebraska with their serving. They made their share of service-errors, about the same or more than Wisconsin and Nebraska, but they had an amazing number of aces, which kept Wisconsin and Nebraska out-of-system throughout their matches. Carter Booth, the Badgers’ devastating Middle Hitter, had only 2 kills in 4 sets vs Texas; not because Texas had anyone capable of blocking Booth, but because the Badgers could not pass the ball to their setter.
- Texas was led by their talented Left-side Hitter Maddie Skinner. Skinner has a similar skill-set to former Gopher Taylor Landfair, and I think (don’t laugh) that if the two of them showed up for a tryout (for the 2028 Olympic Team, maybe), one would have trouble choosing one over the other in drills. Skinner, however, has that “extra gear,” allowing her to elevate her game in critical situations versus great teams. We never saw that from Landfair.
- One other, curious, note about Texas. The Longhorns came into the NCAA Tournament as the Big 12 Champions. What is “curious” about that, you might ask? Only that the University of Texas isn’t in the Big 12! In every other sport, football, basketball, softball, etc, Texas competes in the S.E.C. Only in volleyball do they play in the Big 12. Why that is, or how long this will continue, I do not know. Anyone?