Depth on Display as Longhorns Roll in Spring Debut

In their first appearance of the spring season, the Horns proved they've got plenty of depth, and can win with a variety of starting lineups. Texas took on Houston, TCU, Rice, and Baylor in 4 consecutive matches in what felt like a youth club tournament, hosted at the home of Houston Juniors VBC. The format of the tournament was best 2/3 sets, but everything was cut off at the hour mark to keep the schedule moving along, which led to some shortchanged final scores. In their 4 matches, Texas finished with the following scores:

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• HOUSTON: Win (sorta) 20-25, 25-18, 11-9
• TCU: Tie 25-22, 24-26
• RICE: Win 25-22, 25-22
• BAYLOR: Win 25-14, 25-20

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But in these games, the main takeaways don't come from the final score. What really matters is usage and how players react to the game environment. So, let's dive in.

As promised, the coaching staff mixed and matched their starting lineups for each match, ensuring every player on the roster got a fair shot to prove themselves on the court. Every player received approximately equal playing time with the exception of MB Nya Bunton, who was limited due to injury. This meant that the only other middles on the roster, Ayden Ames and Marianna Singletary, received plenty of opportunities on the court. The substitution rules were lenient to allow things such as one MB playing an entire game, or allowing one setter to act as both setters in a 6-2 system. Here are the rosters that the Horns rolled out for each match:

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HOUSTON:

• S: Rella Binney (acting as both setters in a 6-2 system)
• L: Anja Kujundzic
• OH: Macaria Spears (6 rotations)
• OH: Kenna Miller (DS Reese Emerick)
• MB: Ayden Ames (acting as both middles)
• OPP: Devin Kahahawai and Addy Gaido

TCU:

• S: Ella Swindle (5-1 system)
• L: Ramsey Gary
• OH: Torrey Stafford (6 rotations)
• OH: Macaria Spears (DS Emma Halter)
• MB: Ayden Ames and Nya Bunton
• OPP: Devin Kahahawai (DS Anja Kujundzic)

RICE:

• S: Rella Binney (acting as both setters in a 6-2 system)
• L: Callie Krueger
• OH: Abby Vander Wal (6 rotations)
• OH: Kenna Miller (DS Reese Emerick)
• MB: Marianna Singletary (acting as both middles)
• OPP: Whitney Lauenstein and Addy Gaido

BAYLOR:

• S: Ella Swindle (5-1 system)
• L: Emma Halter
• OH: Torrey Stafford (6 rotations)
• OH: Abby Vander Wal (DS Ramsey Gary)
• MB: Marianna Singletary and Nya Bunton
• OPP: Whitney Lauenstein (DS Callie Krueger)

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In the matches against Rice and Baylor, the OH1 and OH2 switched for the second set to get some different looks. It's worth noting that whenever the team was running a 5-1 system, they were using 3 defensive players and only one 6-rotation outside. This decision may have simply been about getting opportunities for DS players, or it could be indicative of the staff's investment in defense this offseason. There were also very few back row attack attempts the entire day, but that's just because the team hasn't devoted much time to these attacks in practice yet.

Some notes from the service line:

Serving was a bit hard to gauge because the tournament took place in a club facility. There was not much room around the edges of the court, which led to many foot faults and forced some players to shorten their usual serving approach. However, there were still some bright spots. Generally speaking, defensive players were serving instead of the front row players they replaced, and they were able to create some decent service pressure. All five L/DS players were able to go on a service run of at least a few points at some point in the day. When Rella Binney played both setters in a 6-2, this meant she was serving every 3 rotations. This system was mainly to allow more opportunities for the OPPs, but Binney was commonly used as a serving sub last season, and this could be a sign that might continue.

Coaches Jerritt Elliott and Ben Josephson wanted to highlight the performance of their transfers, but especially their freshmen in the matches. "Making your debut for this program cannot be an easy thing," said Josephson, but both coaches said they were very impressed with how all their freshmen handled the pressure of their first ever matches in a Texas jersey.

Josephson mentioned he was also impressed by how the team took on a "learning mindset" during the matches. "When they made mistakes, they identified what we've been trying to get them to do" to improve. Elliott added on, saying "I think the things we're working on [in practice] were pretty good." He also mentioned that team chemistry looked very solid, saying "we were playing for each other" out on the court. The energy from the bench was high the entire day, especially during service runs, and Texas was one of the loudest teams in the building.

The Longhorns get their next game action two weeks from now against LSU, led by former Texas coach Tonya Johnson. Then, the schedule rounds out with a trip to UTSA after that. Until then, the coaching staff will break down the film and learn everything they can from these matches.