Finally Back Home: News and Notes From Orange and White Scrimmage

Texas played its only spring game at home as all the new players got their first taste of playing in Gregory gym in an Orange vs. White scrimmage. Some Longhorn Legends were in the building, including some recently crowned LOVB champions. In attendance were former Longhorns Asjia O'Neal, Logan Eggleston, and Zoe Jarvis as well as future Longhorns Taylor Harvey and Henley Anderson.

With 12 Longhorns on the court at all times, everybody got plenty of opportunities to prove themselves in front of their home fans. This was many fans' first look at the new roster, including the dedicated student section, and I talked to some students about their takeaways after seeing the transfers and freshmen for their first time in burnt orange.

Their first takeaway? The #1 2025 class in the nation stood out, with one student saying "I was really surprised by the freshmen." They gave a special nod to Abby Vander Wal as someone who caught their eye and could immediately compete for playing time. She put up 12 kills in the scrimmage and continued working on her topspin serve, which is coming along nicely. Vander Wal has been able to gain some consistency with the serve while continuing to earn aces and knocking the opponent out-of-system.

Another player that stood out to the students was Ayden Ames. Although she was a regular starter last season and students are very familiar with her, they saw improvements from last year. She looked especially sharp on the offensive end, putting up a team-high 13 kills at a team-high efficiency of 0.357.

They were also sure to comment on the competition between Emma Halter and Ramsey Gary. The two players wore the jersey for their respective sides for the entire 4 sets, and they're both candidates to retain the jersey in the 2025 season. Students commented that a strength for both players is their out-of-system setting, especially hand setting. According to one student, "it was closer than I expected, but Emma looked a little bit better." There is certainly some loyalty to Emma Halter as a 4-year starter, fan favorite, emotional leader, and certified clutch player. Either way, it's clear that Texas has two amazing littles, and Texas fans should be excited for them to play side-by-side.

Overall, the students' consensus starting roster after this game would look like the following:

• S: Ella Swindle (5-1 system)
• L: Emma Halter
• OH: Torrey Stafford (6 rotations)
• OH: Abby Vander Wal (DS Ramsey Gary)
• MB: Ayden Ames and Marianna Singletary
• OPP: Devin Kahahawai (DS Anja Kujundzic)

​

One big strength of the team as a whole was their blocking ability. This was not a strength last year, but the team looks to be making huge strides in this area. They put up a collective 26 blocks throughout the scrimmage, good for a whopping 6.5 blocks/set. For reference, Louisville led D1 volleyball last season with 3.09 blocks/set.

Another piece of interest is that Devin Kahahawai has been playing as both an OH and an OPP throughout the spring schedule, and she is the only pin hitter that has been training at both positions. She's even been getting reps in six rotations, and has been able to hold her own so far in the passing game. If she can continue working on passing and defense, she can earn herself a starting role by outperforming any other OHs or a third DS. She also has a wicked serve that's a huge asset when it's working. It's not just the attacking ability that goes into these decisions.

A move for Kahahawai to the outside would most likely mean that both of the star freshmen (Spears and Vander Wal) get pushed out of a starting role and Whitney Lauenstein would get the nod at opposite. No matter what happens, there will be some extremely talented players on the bench. For the students, this depth was fully on display. They mentioned both Kenna Miller and Addy Gaido, presumably the deepest parts of the depth chart at the pins, were impressive. Overall, there were 9 (nine!) players who posted at least 7 kills. We're looking at a very deep roster here, even relative to the Texas standard.

Just one more match remains on the spring schedule when the Horns travel to UTSA next Friday, April 25th.