AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns volleyball team will play for another national championship on Sunday.
Texas had 11 service aces and four players who notched double-digit kills to top Wisconsin 3-1 in the NCAA semifinals Thursday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, earning the Longhorns a spot in their second consecutive national title match Saturday. Texas will play Nebraska at 2 p.m. CT on ABC to decide who wins it all.
Texas's Carissa Barnes (10) celebrates with teammates after a point against Wisconsin during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Wisconsin's Temi Thomas-Ailara (12) spikes the ball against Texas's Ella Swindle (1), Asjia O'Neal (7) and Keonilei Akana (12) during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Texas's Jenna Wenaas (13, left) spikes the ball against Wisconsin's Sarah Franklin during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Texas's Molly Phillips (15) shoots over Wisconsin's Caroline Crawford (9) and Anna Smrek (14) during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Texas's Bella Bergmark (5) goes up for a spike against Wisconsin's Caroline Crawford (9) and Anna Smrek (14) during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Texas's Bella Bergmark (5) scores over Wisconsin's Caroline Crawford (9) and Anna Smrek (14) during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Wisconsin's Anna Smrek (14) and Caroline Crawford (9) block a shot by Texas's Madisen Skinner (6) during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Wisconsin's Devyn Robinson (10) blocks a shot by Texas's Madisen Skinner (6) during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Texas players celebrate a point against Wisconsin during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Wisconsin's Devyn Robinson (10) scores over Texas's Jenna Wenaas (13) during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Wisconsin's Sarah Franklin (13) plays a serve against Texas during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Wisconsin's Anna Smrek (14) scores against Texas's Ella Swindle (1) during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Wisconsin's Anna Smrek (14) scores past Texas's Madisen Skinner (6) during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott calls a play against Wisconsin during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Texas players react after the team defeated Wisconsin during a semifinal match in the NCAA Division I women's college volleyball tournament Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Set scores were 25-22, 20-25, 25-13 and 25-16.
"First of all, congratulations to Wisconsin," Longhorns head coach Jerritt Elliott said. "They are a tremendous team and have so much size and present so many problems to what you do offensively. It was a battle out there. I'm just so proud of the way that our team has been sticking together and finding ways to pull this out and executing at a really high level right now."
Six of Texas' 11 service aces came in the fourth set to close out the match. Madisen Skinner had three of her six aces in the deciding set to help turn a 6-4 lead into 11-4 by the time she was done serving. Asjia O'Neal provided a pair of aces to push the Texas advantage to 15-5 and the Longhorns cruised to the victory.
Skinner said the success at the service line was all about doing their homework before the match.
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"We had scouted pretty well, and we knew their weaknesses and individual players and who we wanted to serve," she said. "Just working at depths and putting up the pace on the ball and trusting myself and trusting my serve."
Skinner finished with a match-high 18 kills, followed by O'Neal with 11 kills and four blocks. Jenna Wenaas and Molly Phillips each came through in huge ways with 10 kills each. Phillips had three blocks while Wenaas chipped in five digs.
Texas libero Emma Halter had a tremendous match with 19 digs and freshman setter Ella Swindle piled up 46 assists. The Longhorns outhit the Badgers .274 to .223 despite having five more attacking errors, but the 11-4 advantage in service aces helped make up for that. Texas had 56 digs to Wisconsin's 44.
Texas and Nebraska have met twice in the national championship match and the Cornhuskers won both times in 1995 and 2015. Nebraska has been one of the country's most dominant teams all season, but after a sluggish start to the season, the Longhorns are coming on strong.
"You can see the confidence that they have with one another and the way they're playing for each other," Elliott said. "It's been such a fun transformation to see from where we started to where we are right now."
