The No. 3 seed Texas Longhorns (21-2, 13-2) are in Savannah, Ga. to face the No. 14 seed the Ole Miss Rebels (14-14, 4-11) in the quarterfinals of the 2025 SEC Volleyball Tournament. The Longhorns and
Rebels have faced each other four times in their history, beginning in 2005. with the Longhorns leading the series, 4-0.
Ole Miss swept No. 11 LSU in the first round and went a full five sets while saving two match points to defeat No. 6 seed Missouri to advance to the quarterfinals.
At the helm for the Rebels’ run are outside hitters Gabi Placide, who ranks fourth in the SEC in kills per set (4.54), alongside Shayla Meyer (2.85) and Melia Johnson (2.62). Middle blockers Jordyn Towns (.391) and Keirstyn Carlton (.387) stand in the top 10 of the SEC in hitting percentage while setter Mokihana Tufono ranks fourth in the SEC in assists per set at 10.42. Libero Cammy Niesen ranks second in the SEC with digs per set 4.23. The Rebels continue to look for upsets in their postseason run to end their losing streak to the Horns.
Prepping the Horns, head coach Jerritt Elliott boasts an overall record of 630-123 with an 84-percent win percentage among an 80-20 record in posteason matches.
During the 2025 season, Texas took nine ranked wins from No. 12 Creighton, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 6 Stanford, No. 4 Louisville, No. 9 Arizona State, No. 9 TCU, No. 21 Baylor, No. 21 Missouri, and No. 17 Tennessee before suffering its first loss to the No. 2 seed Texas A&M in a five-set thriller.
With byes in the first and second rounds, Texas leads the nation in kills per set (14.91) and assists per set (13.96). The Longhorns also rank fourth in the NCAA with a .307 hitting percentage, first in the SEC. Middle blocker Ayden Ames leads the conference with a .395 hitting percentage. With nine double-doubles, outside hitter Torrey Stafford has a hitting percentage of .344 and middle blocker Nya Bunton hits .317.
Stafford looks for her 400th kill in postseason play, ranking third in the SEC in kill per set with 4.64. setter Ella Swindle aids the Horns with five double-doubles and is ninth in the SEC in assists per set at 9.09 while senior libero Emma Halter holds the back line down with aces per set 0.27 and is 10th the SEC in digs per set shoveling 3.54. True freshmen outside hitter Cari Spears is 15 kills from her 300th recording 285, averaging 3.35 kills per set while hitting .296 in her first 23 collegiate starts. The last time a true freshman has recorded 300 kills was Logan Eggleston in 2018 with 312 kills in 28 matches in 100 sets.
In the last outing against Ole Miss, the true freshman outside hitter Abby Vander Wal recorded a career-high 21 kills and hit 422 while Stafford added a double-double (16 kills/11 digs) to her nine of the 2025 season. Spears was a dig shy from a double-double, collecting 16 kills alongside Swindle, who posted 41 assists and seven digs while Halter recorded 18 digs in the 3-1 win in Oxford. The Longhorns look advance into the Final 4 of 2025 SEC Volleyball Tournament and playing the winner of No. 15 seed Vanderbilt/No. 2 Seed Texas A&M.
First serve is at 6 p.m. central at the Enmarket Arena, broadcasting on SEC Network+.
