Future Longhorns Shine at Big South Qualifier

This past weekend, much of the volleyball world, including Texas Associate Head Coach David Hunt, descended upon Atlanta for the Big South National Qualifier. Future Longhorns from the 2026 class DS Emma Cugino and S Genevieve Harris excelled, leading their respective teams to deep runs in the 17 Open division.

Cugino's elite passing and defending created opportunities for her Mintonette Sports squad from Columbus, Ohio to succeed. And succeed they did. Mintonette went all the way, winning the 17 Open Gold bracket to cap off an undefeated weekend where the team only dropped two sets overall.

One of those lost sets was at the hands of Harris' team NC Academy from Durham, North Carolina. The 5'11" setter has an elite ability to distribute the ball, put her teammates in a spot to score, and is not afraid to be aggressive when the time is right. Her team's run was only cut short when they ran into Cugino's team as the two future Longhorns faced off against each other. Talk about friendly fire.

We're in the thick of recruiting season as national qualifiers like Big South are taking place every weekend. June 15th is rapidly approaching, the day that college recruiters are first allowed to directly contact prospects from the 2027 class, and many players make commitments very shortly afterward. According to David Hunt, Texas is "pretty far along" in recruiting 2027s, at least as far as knowing the players they are most interested in. They're busy keeping their eye on elite club teams such as AZ Storm, who have multiple of the top 2027 prospects, and who earned a 2nd place finish in the 16 Open division at Big South this weekend.