Texas Volleyball vs. San Diego
Texas: 0-0 | USD: 0-0
Friday, Aug. 27 – 6 p.m. CT
Gregory Gymnasium | Austin, Texas
Texas Volleyball vs. UTSA
Texas: 0-0 | UTSA: 0-0
Sunday, Aug. 29 – 1 p.m. CT
Gregory Gymnasium | Austin, Texas
PROMOTIONS
Admission to Friday's match is free for all students. Pizza available to students on a first come, first served basis for Friday and Sunday.
THE MATCHUPS
Texas and San Diego meet for the first time since 2017, when the Longhorns defeated the Toreros, 3-1, in San Diego. Texas holds a 4-1 advantage in the series all-time, while the series is tied 1-1 in Austin. Against UTSA, Texas is 10-0 all-time and 7-0 at home. The teams also last met in 2017, with the Longhorns sweeping the Roadrunners.
PRESEASON RANKINGS
Texas begins the 2021 season as the No. 1 team in the 2021 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Preseason Poll, returning nearly the entire roster from the team that finished as the NCAA runner-up last season. Texas, who was picked first in the Big 12 Coaches' Poll, is one of two Big 12 teams in the top-25 as Baylor came in at No. 10. Both Kansas State and Kansas are also receiving votes. Texas has five other opponents ranked in the preseason poll, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 20 San Diego, No. 21 Stanford, No. 23 Rice and No. 25 Notre Dame. Texas State and Arizona are also receiving votes.
PRESEASON AWARDS
Logan Eggleston was named the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year and teammates Brionne Butler, Jhenna Gabriel, Skylar Fields and Asjia O'Neal joined her on the preseason team. The Longhorns were picked first in the Big 12 Preseason Poll for the 11th consecutive season and the 14th time in program history.
FIVE ALL-AMERICANS
Texas returns five players who landed on the AVCA All-American teams in 2020, led by first teamers Logan Eggleston and Brionne Butler. Additionally, Jhenna Gabriel was named to the third team and Skylar Fields and Asjia O'Neal received Honorable Mention All-America accolades. Eggleston and Butler received their third All-American recognition, after being named second team All-Americans in 2019 and receiving honorable mention as freshmen in 2018.
CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE
After clinching the 2020 Big 12 title, the Longhorns have now won 26 conference championships, including 13 Big 12 titles and 13 Southwest Conference Championships. The 2020 title was the fourth-straight Big 12 Championship for the Longhorns, who have won or shared nine of the last 10 league championships and 12 of the previous 14.
RANK AND FILE
UT owns a 124-55 (.693) record against ranked opponents over the last 17 seasons (2004-20) and boasts a 57-12 (.826) home mark against ranked opponents at Gregory Gymnasium (54-12) and the Frank Erwin Center (3-0) during that span. During the 2020 season, Texas went 11-1 against ranked opponents and 3-0 against them at home.
SHARING THE WEALTH
With five attackers hitting at a very high level throughout the 2020 season, the Longhorns created a balanced offensive attack. Setter Jhenna Gabriel was a big part of that, leading the Big 12 and ranking 10th nationally with 11.26 assists per set. Twice this season she has set a career high with 58 assists in a match. Gabriel's 58 assists at Oklahoma on Sept. 25 are third-most in a four-set match this season.
BLOCK PARTY
The Longhorns finished second in the nation in total blocks and led the Big 12 Conference with a combined 282. Brionne Butler led the nation with 147 total blocks, while Asjia O'Neal (113 blocks) ranked 10th nationally and third in the Big 12 Conference and Molly Phillips (88 blocks) ranked sixth in the conference. Butler led the Big 12 conference and was 11th nationally averaging 1.48 blocks per set. O'Neal was sixth in the conference with a 1.13 blocks per set average and Phillips was 10th with an average of 1.01 blocks per set. As a team, the Longhorns ranked 11th in the nation with 2.76 blocks per set.
EFFICIENCY
As a team in 2020, Texas hit .334 on the season, to finish third nation. That mark was also the fourth-best in Longhorn history. The Longhorns have hit over a .300 clip for the past six seasons, all ranking in the top-10 single season marks in program history. The 2019 team led the nation with a .325 hitting percentage, which is the fifth-best in Texas history. The duo of Brionne Butler and Asjia O'Neal were the top two hitters in the Big 12. Butler hit .430, while O'Neal hit at a .411 clip. Additionally, Molly Phillips hit .347 and Skylar Fields was at .313, while Logan Eggleston hit .321. All five of those players ranked in the top eight in hitting in the Big 12.
