The No. 3 seed Texas Longhorns (23-2, 13-2) volleyball beat the No. 2 seed Texas A&M Aggies (23-4, 14-1) on Monday in the semifinal of the 2025 SEC Volleyball Tournament, 3-1, retribution for the the last
outing between the two rivals, when the five-set win by the Aggies in College Station ended the undefeated season for the Longhorns.
In the first set, both teams came out swinging, but the No. 3 Longhorns gained an early 7-2 lead with the aid outside hitter Cari Spears recording two early blocks. Texas held their lead thanks to the other freshman outside hitter — Abby Vander Wal notched a block assist and a kill to hold a firm 11-5 lead. The combination of junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford and junior setter Ella Swindle was too much for the Aggie defense, extending the lead to 16-10 for the Horns. Texas able to finish the set strong with the support of sophomore setter Rella Binney, who dished out three assists to close the set, 25-18.
In the second set, Texas A&M responded and jumped out quick with a 4-0 run, flexing their opponent hitting percentage of .171. The Aggie defense continued to exploit and counter the Horns attacks to go up 10-3, eventually keeping a steady pace while the Stafford and Swindle combination continued to land for the Longhorns to close the lead to 14-9. Texas redshirt sophomore middle blocker Nya Bunton made some waves aiding the Horns at the net tallying a kill, assist, and a block assist to close the gap, 20-14, but the A&M lead was to much for Texas, which dropped the second set, 25-16.
In the third set, both teams stayed neck to neck with six different lead lead exchanges and 18 ties in the closest set of the night. Bunton, Stafford, and Spears came out swinging, but the Aggie defense held strong by forcing attacking errors to provide give a 5-3 edge. The Longhorn defense stood tough at the net with sophomore middle blocker Ayden Ames forcing Aggie attacking errors and landing block to keep the match close at 10-10. The Longhorns looked for momentum with the help of Bunton’s two kills and Vander Wal’s block to bring the match to 16-15. As the match stayed close, senior outside hitter Devin Kahahawai’s alertness netted a kill while Swindle recorded a service ace to put the Horns up, 21-19. A kill by Vander Wal saved the first set point for Texas A&M and a kill by Ames saved the second before an attacking error by the Aggies and another kill by Vander Wal secured the 27-25 win in the third set.
In the fourth and final set, both teams kept their intensity, but Texas was able to jump out to a 6-4 lead with Ames impacting the net alongside Spears. After obtaining the lead, the Longhorns did not look back with strategic attacks from Ames and Vander Wal while Swindle lended a helping hand to extend to an 18-13 lead. Texas eventually shut the door on A&M to close the final set, 25-19, as the Horns hit a match-high .393 hitting percentage while holding the Aggies to a match-low .125 hitting percentage.
Stafford led the Longhorns with 16 kills and 14 digs — her 10th double-double of the season — as Halter recorded 11 digs and Swindle had 35 assists for Texas. After a poor defensive effort by Texas in College Station, eight blocks from Ames was truly an impact performance. Spears (11) and Vander Wal (10) both collected double-digit kills as the Longhorns hit a .273 on the evening. Spears now has 307 kills on the season, becoming the first Texas freshman to surpass the 300-kill plateau since Logan Eggleston in 2018. In a strong all-around performance, Spears added seven digs and five blocks.
The win earned Texas another rematch, this time against No. 1 Kentucky on Tuesday at the Enmarket Arena with first serve at 6 p.m. Central on SEC Network.
