Former Nebraska volleyball star Whitney Lauenstein will join Texas Longhorns volleyball

Just two days after winning a second consecutive national championship, the Texas volleyball team is already reloading.

Whitney Lauenstein, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter who last played at Nebraska in 2022, announced on her Instagram account late Tuesday that she will join the Longhorns, who swept Nebraska in Sunday’s NCAA Division I title match. She will have two years of eligibility remaining.

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Lauenstein sat out the 2023 season after the death of her father, Ryan Lauenstein, in 2021. In an Instagram post last January, Lauenstein said: “I have thought long and hard about my decision and took the holidays with my family to clear my mind but I have decided to step away from the volleyball team to focus on myself and be with my family and continue to heal due to the passing of my dad.”

Dubbed “Big Hit Whit” by Nebraska fans during her two years as a Cornhusker, Lauenstein averaged 2.8 kills and 1.1 blocks a set as a sophomore in 2022 and led her team with 28 aces while earning all-region honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She’ll serve as a complementary attacker to Madisen Skinner, Texas’ junior outside hitter who won the Big 12 player of the year award as well as the Final Four’s most outstanding player honor.

Lauenstein’s arrival via the transfer portal so soon after the end of the season comes with some irony, considering Nebraska coach John Cook’s comments about Texas and transfers in his postmatch comments Sunday.

“That's how they're going to build their team,” Cook said, glossing over that his leading attacker, Merritt Beason, arrived before this season from Florida. “That's how they built last year's team. I like what we're doing. I like recruiting kids and trying to make them be great.”