Texas sweeps past Nebraska to win second straight NCAA volleyball national championship

TAMPA, Fla.  — The Texas volleyball team served up a second straight national championship to its fans.

Literally.

Powered by a pinpoint service game, Texas stunned top-ranked Nebraska in Amalie Arena while rolling to a second consecutive national title. The 25-22, 25-14, 25-11 sweep capped an improbable repeat run for the Longhorns, who entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed.

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But Texas (28-4) played its best volleyball in December while knocking off top seeds Stanford, Wisconsin and, finally, Nebraska. That’s become a habit for the Longhorns, who haven’t dropped a set in either of their wins in the past two national title matches.

Texas was at its best at the service line. The Longhorns fired a season-high 12 aces, including five from middle blocker Asjia O’Neal, who capped arguably the best career of any Longhorn volleyball player with four kills and three blocks.

Junior outside hitter Madisen Skinner, a leading candidate for the national player of the year award, again aced the offense with 16 kills, and setter Ella Swindle had 21 assists while becoming just the third true freshman to lead her team to a Division I championship. Libero Emma Halter joined Skinner, O’Neal and Swindle on the all-tournament team after collecting nine digs.

More:How Texas volleyball beat Wisconsin and why the Longhorns aren't intimidated by Nebraska

Emotions ran hot all match in the meeting between two teams that have now each won five national titles, especially in a taut first set. After a questionable four-touch call on Texas negated a kill from Jenna Wenaas at the end of a marathon rally, Longhorns coach Jerritt Elliott didn’t hide his frustration with the officials and drew a yellow card for a caution. Moments later, he got even more steamed over an apparent substitution violation by Nebraska that didn’t get called, and that led to a red card and a point for Nebraska.

But with the set tied at 22-22 and the partisan Cornhuskers crowd in full throat, Texas showed its championship poise by scoring three straight points, including an ace by Keonilei Akana that closed out the set.

The next two sets lacked such drama as the Longhorns cruised to the win over a shellshocked Nebraska (33-2).