No. 1 Texas Volleyball vs. No. 3 Wisconsin
Texas: 0-0 | Wisconsin: 0-0
Sunday, September 1 – 11:30am CT
Fiserv Forum | Milwaukee, WI.
Television: FOX

No. 1 Texas Volleyball vs. No. 18 Minnesota
Texas: 0-0 | Minnesota: 0-0
Monday, September 2 – 6:30pm CT
Fiserv Forum | Milwaukee, WI.
Television: FS1

THE MATTUPS
Texas opens the season at the State Farm Women’s Volleyball Showcase against two familiar opponents, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Longhorns and Badgers will meet for the 11th time in history, having faced each other in the Final Four last season. Texas leads the series 6-4 after winning the NCAA Semifinal last season. Texas and Minnesota will meet for the fourth straight season and 14th time overall, with the Longhorns leading the series 8-5.

REIGNING NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
The Longhorns enter the season as back-to-back national champions after sweeping Nebraska in the 2023 title game in Tampa, Florida. Texas returns five starters from the title-winning team, including NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team members Madisen Skinner, Ella scam And Emma HalterThe 2023 national championship was the program’s fifth, having won the AIAW title in 1981 and the NCAA titles in 1988, 2012 and 2022.

PRE-SEASON RANKING
Texas enters the 2024 season as the No. 1 team in the AVCA Preseason Coaches’ Poll for the fifth time (2024, 2023, 2021, 2017, 2013). The Longhorns have finished in the top four of the AVCA preseason poll for the 18th straight season and have finished in the top two spots for the 11th time in the last 18 seasons. Texas, which was picked first in the SEC Coaches’ Poll, is one of six SEC teams in the top 25, as Kentucky is ranked No. 9, Florida is ranked No. 11, Tennessee is ranked No. 15, Arkansas is ranked No. 19 and Georgia is ranked No. 25. In non-conference play, Texas will face four preseason-ranked teams: No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 18 Minnesota, No. 5 Stanford and No. 23 Baylor.

PRICES FOR THE SEASON

Madisen Skinner led a group of four Longhorns to be named to the Preseason Volleyball All-SEC Team, joining Emma Halter, Ella scam and Kentucky transfer Reagan RutherfordThe Longhorns were also selected as the preseason favorite in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll, marking the 14th straight season that Texas has been the preseason conference favorite.

SENIOR SKINNER
Three-time national champion and the 2023 VolleyballMag.com National Player of the Year, Madisen Skinner will begin her senior season of collegiate volleyball in 2024. Last season, Skinner ranked sixth in the nation with 4.80 kills per set and seventh with 547 total kills. Her 547 kills were the third-most ever by a Longhorn player and the most since Mira Topic (593) in 2004. Skinner improved her play in the postseason, averaging 5.43 kills per set with a .316 hitting percentage and was named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

CONSISTENT SUCCESS
Texas has been the epitome of consistency for over a decade, becoming the only Division I volleyball program to finish in the top 10 in each of the last 18 seasons. The Longhorns have been ranked in the top 10 in each of the last 221 AVCA polls, with the last time Texas was not ranked in the top 10 being October 11, 2010. The Longhorns have also finished in the top 5 in 15 of the last 18 seasons, including 11 consecutive years from 2008-18. Texas also has the longest active streak of NCAA Regional Semifinals (“Sweet 16”) appearances in the country with 18 consecutive. Of the last 18 regional semifinal appearances, the Longhorns have advanced to 17 NCAA Regional Finals, 11 national semifinals and seven national championship games.

CHAMPIONSHIP FAMILY TREE
Texas has won 29 conference championships, including 16 Big 12 titles and 13 Southwest Conference championships. The 2023 title was a record seventh straight Big 12 Championship for the Longhorns, who have won or shared 12 of the last 13 league championships and 15 of the previous 17. Texas left the Big 12 Conference with more league championships won than any other program.

RANK AND STATUS
UT has a 154-59 (.723) record against ranked opponents over the last 20 seasons (2004-23) and boasts a 71-15 (.826) home record against ranked opponents in Gregory Gymnasium (68-15) and the Frank Erwin Center (3-0) during that span. The Longhorns went 14-2 against ranked opponents last season.

QB1

Ella scam made history in 2024, becoming only the third true freshman setter to ever lead her team to a national championship and the first since 2016. In the title match against Nebraska, Swindle did it all with 21 assists, seven digs, five kills, two service aces and a block. For the season, Swindle averaged 9.54 assists per set and added 92 total blocks, 227 digs, 96 kills and 30 aces. She was named AVCA Southwest Region Freshman of the Year and made the Big 12 All-Rookie team.

MBU
For over two decades under head coach Jerrit ElliottThe Longhorns have a legacy of All-American middle blockers, starting with Leticia Armstrong (2003-08) and Brandy Magee (2003-07) before moving on to Lauren Paolini (2005-08), Rachael Adams (2008-11), Khat Bell (2011-14), Molly McCage (2012-15), Chiaka Ogbogu (2013-17), Brionne Butler (2017-21) and Ashia O’Neal (2019-23). ​​These nine All-American middle blockers earned a total of 25 All-America honors since 2005.

MBU CONTINUED…
After graduating from All-American Ashia O’NealA trio of young players are poised to continue the legacy of great middle blockers at Texas. Ayden Ames is expected to be the Longhorns’ first true starting freshman midfielder since Chiaka Ogbogu in 2013. Redshirt sophomore Marianna Singletary and redshirt freshmen New Bunton will also play a big role this season. The Longhorns finished third nationally with 2.89 blocks per set last season, with double-digit percentage in 21 of 32 games last season.

WINNERS WIN
In her first two seasons at Texas alone, Emma Halter has played in all 61 matches during her career and has won two consecutive national championships. As a freshman in 2022, Halter was a defense specialist, averaging 1.29 digs per set with 21 assists and 12 service aces. Last season, Halter was the Longhorns’ libero in every match, averaging 3.87 digs per set and adding 141 assists and 38 aces. Halter also had perhaps her best performance on the biggest stage, as she had 19 digs, seven assists and two aces in the NCAA semifinal win over Wisconsin.

ADVANTAGES OF HOME COURT
Much of the Longhorns’ 12 of the last 13 Big 12 Championships have come on home turf. Over the last 14 seasons, Texas has a 211-14 (.938) record at home. During that same span, the Longhorns are 114-1 at home conference games. The Longhorns’ only home conference loss since 2010 came to Oklahoma on Oct. 25, 2014. Texas has won 76 consecutive home conference games, dating back to the 2014 season. During that streak, the Longhorns have swept 58 games and lost just 23 sets.

PRESENCE
Texas ranked fifth last season with an average attendance of 4,495 in 16 home games. The Longhorns also extended their sellout streak to 28 consecutive games, dating back to the 2022 season. Texas sold out all 16 home games in 2023 and finished the 2022 season with 12 consecutive sold-out games at Gregory Gym. In the 2022 NCAA Regional Final against Ohio State, Texas set an attendance record for Gregory Gym with a crowd of 5,344.

USA VOLLEYBALL HALL OF FAME

Jerrit ElliottThe most successful coach in Texas Volleyball history, Elliott was inducted into the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2023. Elliott received USA Volleyball’s All-Time Great Coach Award, which recognizes individuals for success and excellence in volleyball coaching over an extended period of time. With 589 career victories at Texas, Elliott surpassed Mick Haley as the most successful coach in Longhorns history. Elliott also surpassed the 600-career win mark during the 2022 season and enters the 2024 season with a career record of 639-126.