In the 2025 NCAA Volleyball Tournament
, the No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns (26-3) face the No. 3 seed Wisconsin Badgers (27-4) in an Elite Eight matchup at Gregory Gymnasium on Sunday, a rematch of the sweep by the Longhorns in the 2025 Opening Spike Classic This is the second time that the two top ten powerhouses have faced each other this season with the No. 1 seed Longhorns sweeping the No. 3 seed Badgers 2025 Opening Spike Classic in Madison.The early-season win by Texas capped a successful weekend
in Wisconsin following a sweep of then-No. 12 Creighton and marked the fourth straight win by the Horns over the Badgers, including a 3-1 victory in the 2023 Final Four that launched head coach Jerritt Elliott’s team into the title game where they won a second straight national championship.
That matchup features a balanced attack for Texas as freshman outside hitter Cari Spears notched a team-high 11 kills, fellow freshman outside hitter Abby Vander Wal added 10 kills, and junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford had nine.
Wisconsin enters Sunday’s match fresh off a victory over No. 2 seed Stanford in the Sweet Sixteen, swinging .420 against the Cardinal for their first top-10 win on the year. Wisconsin leads the nation in kills per set at 15.10, edging Texas at 14.85. Leading the Badgers is outside hitter Mimi Coyer, who enters the match with 543 kills on the year alongside setter Charlie Fuerbringer, who averaged 15.25 assists per set against Stanford. Outside hitter Una Vajagic collected her 10th double-double of the season with 13 kills, 11 digs, and a hitting percentage of .444, while middle blockers Carter Booth and Alicia Andrew also excelled. Booth racked up 14 kills while hitting .700. The Badgers are trying to punch their ticket to the Final Four for the sixth time in program history.
The No. 3 Longhorns hold the edge in their series against the Badgers, 8-4, with a 3-1 record in the postseason The two teams rank in the top-three in hitting percentage, with Wisconsin owning a slight advantage at .326 to Texas .317.
Leading the Longhorns is junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford who is ninth in the country with a 4.78 kills per set average and 10th in the NCAA with 5.35 points per set. Stafford has recorded 11 double-doubles on the season while middle blocker Ayden Ames is just four blocks shy of 200, one kill from 300, and sits fifth in the SEC with a .380 hitting percentage.
Setter Ella Swindle holds the ninth slot in assists per set at 9.01 surpassing 2200 career assists while libero Emma Halter holds the back line down ranking 10th in digs per set with 3.61 and No. 8 on the Texas all-time career digs list with 1,294.
True freshman Cari Spears has recorded 346 kills, averages 3.26 per set and is hitting .294 for the Longhorns with the help of middle blocker Nya Bunton who stands tall at the net with .339 hittiing percentage.
The deep bench for the Horns has been a force for Texas, led senior Whitney Lauenstein, who has stepped up the tournament by hitting .250 against Indiana and .571 against Florida A&M.
First serve is at 6:30 p.m. Central on ESPN.
