The No. 2 Texas Longhorn (18-1) suffered their first loss of the 2025 season against the No. 9 Texas A&M Aggies (18-3) in five sets on Friday in College Station in the 102nd Lone Star Showdown between
the two longtime rivals, the highest-ranked home win in program history for the Aggies.
In the first set, the top-10 showdown opened with back-and-forth scoring, as the teams countered and knotted the set on every occasion to 8-8. The Aggies were the ones to break the deadlock, ripping off a 7-2 run. Texas chipped into the deficit to narrow the deficit to one point, but Texas A&M answered the call with three straight points, and kept rolling, as the Aggies took the lead in the match, and eventually closed out the opener, 25-19.
Eight attacking errors doomed the Horns in the first set, including three by freshman outside hitter Cari Spears, as Texas hit just .171. Defensively, the Longhorns weren’t able to impact the Aggies, who hit .344 — Texas didn’t record a single block in the first set.
In the second set, the Longhorns lost the set despite a 5-0 run led by Stafford, who recorded four kills and an ace in that span to take a 6-2 lead. The tension remained high, as the rivals were tied at 16-16 until Texas went on a run late to go up 22-18. The Aggies eventually claimed the set, 25-23, to take a two-set lead. The last time Texas dropped the first two sets of a match was against Creighton in the NCAA Regionals on December 13, 2024.
In the third set, the Longhorns dominated, finishing it with a 7-0 run. Junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford and freshman outside hitter Abby Vander Wal led the charge with a total of nine kills, while junior setter Ella Swindle registered nine assists. The Longhorns hit .387 while limiting the Aggies to .133 to win the third set, 25-17.
As the fourth set commenced, nothing separated the teams out of the gate, as they went level at double digits, 10-10. The Longhorns forged a lead late in the set and closed with a 6-0 run. The Longhorns hit .469 for the set and recorded 17 kills and forced eight total errors as Swindle recorded 10 assists. Texas extended the gap, and despite a late push from the Texas, took the set 25-19 and knotting the match, 2-2.
In the final set, the teams traded points to open the deciding frame with the Longhorns taking a one-point advantage, 8-7. Texas A&M flipped the momentum firmly, scoring three straight points to give them the edge, 10-8. The Longhorns battled back, tying the teams at 12 late, but the Aggies powered through taking the deciding set, 15-13 and the match, 3-2. Texas recorded a .350 hitting percentage with Stafford’s five kills, alongside Swindle’s six assists.
Texas registered a .329 hitting percentage and totaled 74 kills in the loss, with three players reaching double digits in kills. Stafford recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 24 kills and 11 digs, while Swindle notched her fifth double-double of the season with a career-high 49 assists and 10 digs. Halter moved into the No. 10 spot on the UT all time career digs list with 1,159 notching 16 digs along with nine assists on the night.
For Texas A&M, Ifenna Cos-Okpalla had a career-high 15 kills, impacting the match from her middle blocker position while outsider hitter Kyndall Stowers notched a season-high 22 kills.
Texas hosts No. 3 Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m. Central at Gregory Gym in another top-10 matchup on ESPN.
