TAMPA, Fla. — The Texas Longhorns, a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, completed an unbelievable run with a sweep in scores of 25-22, 25-14 and 25-11. Texas surprised No. 1 seed Nebraska by dominating the game and securing their second straight national title.
The Longhorns had their season-high of 12 service aces by the end of the game, with the final point that secured the victory being from senior middle blocker Asjia O'Neal.
With her victory at the National Championship, Madisen Skinner, the Texas outside hitter, now has three national titles under her belt. She was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Tournament, leading the team with a total of 16 kills.
Skinner had a career-high six aces in a 3-1 semifinal win over Wisconsin. Keonilei Akana, who played her first two seasons at Nebraska, ended the 2022 tournament with an ace for a 3-0 sweep of Louisville and had two more against her former team on Sunday.
The Longhorns have won their fourth national title in the history of the Texas volleyball program and third title under head coach Jerritt Elliott.
Texas lost championship games to Nebraska in 1995 and 2015. The Longhorns, a No. 2 regional seed, knocked off the top three overall seeds in their last three matches, starting with Stanford in the regional final.
The Longhorns won a first-set that was marked by a red card on Elliott. With the penalty point for Nebraska and Murray following with an ace, the game was tied at 22. But after a Texas timeout, the Longhorns responded with an O'Neal block, a Skinner kill and Akana ace.
It was only the second time Nebraska lost an opening set.
Nebraska was up 10-7 in the second set when Texas called a timeout. The Longhorns came back and scored 11 straight, with O'Neal, following a sideout kill by Wenaas, serving four-straight aces. The Cornhuskers had to use both timeouts in the run. Swindel had back-to-back aces, giving Texas seven in the set.
Nebraska hit minus-0.036 with six kills and seven errors in the second set.
Texas never trailed in the final set and closed with an 11-1 run for the national championship.