Star Freshmen Shine as Texas Takes Down LSU

The Horns have reached the halfway point of their spring season after their match against LSU, where the two teams met halfway to play at Clear Springs High School in the Houston area. There was a good combination of both Texas and LSU fans in the building, which provided some energy for both teams throughout the match.

Each team had a star that was limited or sidelined for the match, as LSU's Jurnee Robinson did not play, and Texas' Torrey Stafford only played back row. Stafford has been dealing with some tightness in her ribs, so she did not take any swings as a precaution. Stafford was used as a DS to work on passing and defense, but did not attack or serve the entire match, which allowed some of the younger arms to be showcased. This is not expected to be a long-term issue.

The Longhorns started out HOT, and they looked completely unstoppable through the first few sets of the match. The serving was on point, the setter-hitter connections were firing, and no ball was hitting the floor with Emma Halter at Libero. The match went on a full 5 sets even after the Longhorns swept the first three, because spring matches aren't necessarily about wins anyway. In the last two sets, Texas lost a little bit of mental focus, but was able to take one of the two for a set score of 4-1.

Final score: 25-14, 25-18, 25-21, 26-24, 11-15

The two star freshmen Abby Vander Wal and Cari Spears led the way with 17 and 12 kills, respectively. The top two overall players in the 2025 class proved why they deserve such high ratings coming out of high school. Both players can dominate, and at least one of these two will likely be a regular starter as a true freshman. After the match, Vander Wal gave all the credit to her teammates, and noted the improvement they've seen since their first spring game together. "I feel like we all just played together more cohesively, we all had more fun. I think there were a lot of nerves the first week, and there still were today, but we just got settled quicker... we all just lean on each other, trusted the practice we've done together, and just balled out."

So far, Jerritt Elliott is not tipping his hand between Spears and Vander Wal, at least as far as playing time. He's giving both players plenty of opportunities to prove themselves in a game setting, including playing all six rotations. The same is true between Emma Halter and Ramsey Gary, both have been getting time wearing the jersey, and it doesn't seem like there has been any commitment to one Libero yet. There are still plenty of position battles to watch as the spring season moves along. Here's a complete list of how playing time was divvied up against LSU:

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• SET 1:
  • S: Ella Swindle (5-1 system)
  • L: Emma Halter
  • OH: Abby Vander Wal (6 rotations)
  • OH: Cari Spears (DS Ramsey Gary)
  • MB: Nya Bunton and Ayden Ames
  • OPP: Devin Kahahawai (DS Anja Kujundzic)
• SET 2:
  • S: Ella Swindle (5-1 system)
  • L: Emma Halter
  • OH: Abby Vander Wal (6 rotations)
  • OH: Cari Spears (DS Torrey Stafford)
  • MB: Nya Bunton and Ayden Ames
  • OPP: Devin Kahahawai (DS Anja Kujundzic)
• SET 3:
  • S: Ella Swindle (5-1 system)
  • L: Ramsey Gary
  • OH: Cari Spears (6 rotations)
  • OH: Abby Vander Wal (DS Emma Halter)
  • MB: Nya Bunton and Marianna Singletary
  • OPP: Whitney Lauenstein (DS Anja Kujundzic)
• SET 4:
  • S: Rella Binney and Ella Swindle (6-2 system)
  • L: Ramsey Gary
  • OH: Cari Spears (6 rotations)
  • OH: Abby Vander Wal (DS Torrey Stafford)
  • MB: Ayden Ames and Marianna Singletary
  • OPP: Addy Gaido and Whitney Lauenstein
• SET 5:
  • S: Rella Binney (5-1 system)
  • L: Ramsey Gary
  • OH: Devin Kahahawai (6 rotations)
  • OH: Cari Spears (DS Emma Halter)
  • MB: Marianna Singletary and Ayden Ames
  • OPP: Addy Gaido (DS Callie Krueger)

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As a team, one huge improvement from their first match was serving. Last time it was a real struggle, but it flashed as a real strength against LSU. For the first time, Spears and Vander Wal tried out the topspin serves they've been working on in practice, and the potential is obvious. In the first set, it was looking like Texas could be such a tough serving team that no opponent could stand a chance. Spears went on an 8-point service run where the Tigers simply could not handle her power from behind the service line. She finished the day with 3 aces and plenty of times knocking LSU out of system.

Spears will have to continue working on the consistency though, as she racked up the errors following her first set dominance. Vander Wal was able to control her serve much better, with only 1 error on 14 serves, but didn't create quite the same imposing force as Spears. When asked about the new topspin serve, Vander Wal said "It's different, it's more fun, I'm just working on getting more consistent with it."

Torrey Stafford has also been working on these more aggressive serves, but wasn't able to try them out in this match. Devin Kahahawai is the only one who has used a topspin serve before, and overall, hers performed the best. She was able to get those high-end flashes (3 aces) while limiting herself to two errors.

In the fifth set, Jerritt Elliott also gave Kahahawai the start at 6-rotation OH despite her practicing as an OPP all spring. Kahahawai was the team's third-leading scorer with 9 kills, and several of those came in this fifth set. After the position switch, she was all business. She took over, and had a completely different energy about her. Texas has an embarrassment of riches at the pins, and it will be really interesting to see how those position battles shake out as the season approaches.

After the match, Coach Ben Josephson talked about the improvements he's seen over the past two weeks. What stood out to him the most from this match was the team's "competitive maturity" compared to the last match, saying "Now they've showed more understanding of their opponents and what we're trying to do, how to play situations better. They have more volleyball savvy." Since arriving in Austin, Josephson has put a real emphasis on developing players that understand the game at a high level, not just improving mechanics and skills.

Texas just announced that the team will, in fact, get a spring match in Gregory gym with the Orange v. White scrimmage taking place this Wednesday. It will be exciting to see Texas fans in the historic arena before the team's last spring game at UTSA.