In the second round of the 2025 NCAA Volleyball Tournament, the No. 1 seed Texas Longhorns (25-3) swept the No. 8 seed Penn State Nittany Lions (19-13) to eliminate the defending national champions in the eleventh ranked win of the season for the Horns and extending their streak of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances to 20, a resounding win at Gregory Gymnasium on Saturday.
As Texas junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford recorded a match-high 21 kills, the Longhorns hit .452 as a team, the sixth time
this season head coach Jerritt Elliott’s team has surpassed a .400 hitting percentage, led by Stafford’s .556 mark. Stafford added five digs and three of the nine blocks by the Longhorns, who have played well at the net defensively over the first two games in the NCAA Tournament.
Freshmen outside hitters Abby Vander Wal and Cari Spears combined for 19 kills and five blocks as the Horns held the Nittany Lions to a .124 hitting percentage.
In the first set, Texas jumped out to an early lead by capitalizing on Penn State attacking errors to put the opening set, 5-2. The powerhouse teams battled it out with Nittany Lions outside hitter Caroline Jurevicius collecting a handful of kills and helping to force Longhorns attacking errors to bring the inaugural set closer, 12-8. Penn State was held to a .167 hitting percentage with a total of four service errors and eight attacking errors. Texas’ outside hitter Torrey Stafford led the set with six kills while hitting .455 alongside libero Ramsey Gary recording five digs digs on defense. The Longhorns maintained to keep pressure on the Nittany Lions to close out the opening set, 25-16.
In the second set, the Longhorns came out hot, opening the set up, 5-2 with sophomore Nya Bunton along with Vander Wal and Spears collecting five kills. The Longhorns defense maintained strong forcing Penn State errors and used that momentum to attack and counter the Nittany Lions to go on an 11-0 run to extend the set, 19-7. The Longhorns hit .700 while limiting Penn State at -.065. Spears notched six kills while setter Ella Swindle put up 10 assists closing the second set, 25-9.
In the third and final set, Penn State came out swinging, taking a early 3-1 lead until the aid of Swindle and libero Emma Halter came with a grouping of assists to up, 8-5. Penn State was able to capitalize on some attacks with opposite hitter Kennedy Martin at the net, but Texas used the momentum swing and kept hammering at the net while the Nittany Lions attacking attempts fizzled away. Stafford registered 11 kills while hitting .611, and Gary shoveled six digs on defense. The Longhorns swept the Nittany Lions in the closest match of the evening, winning the final set 25-19.
Texas will face No. 4 seed Indiana at 11 a.m. Central with the game time and date to be determined.
