No. 1 Texas secures sweep over Baylor volleyball to remain undefeated (2024)

The Longhorns just pulled off a big-time sweep over No. 10 Baylor on the road to remain undefeated on the season. Texas has been missing big wins over ranked teams this season, and they just made a statement over a strong Baylor team. The Longhorns were impeccable in ALL aspects of the game tonight. They hit an impressive .405 on the match with 10 service aces, yes, 10. They out-blocked the Bears nine to two, and only had five attacking errors, compared to the Bear's 16 errors.

Logan Eggleston led with 13 kills on .393 hitting, followed by Asjia O'Neal, who had a great night with nine kills on .353 hitting out of the middle. Skylar Fields chipped in seven kills on .467 hitting and Brionne Butler was another big weapon out of the middle with seven kills, six blocks and all on .500 hitting. Jhenna Gabriel did a great job distributing the ball to all of their assets offensively and successfully got the middles involved, a big key to the win.

The Longhorns service game, again, made the difference. Eggleston noted that Baylor was a strong offensive team, so their game plan was to serve them aggressively and get them out-of-system ... a tactic that is all too familiar AND successful for the Longhorns. It is what got them to the title game last season and what helps keep them undefeated this year.

The Bears were in a must-win set and found themselves yet again trying to fight off set-point, and this time match-point. The Bears called a timeout at match-point, down by two, and then notched two in a row to fire up the crowd and tie it up at 24. But, the Longhorns kept a common theme, making things happen at crunch time. The Bears were RIGHT there with the Longhorns all match long, but were unable to get points when it mattered most.

They still played great, led by a dominating Avery Skinner with 14 kills on .423 hitting. Yossiana Pressley had nine kills herself but hit a low .143 on the match. Baylor struggled to get their middles involved and were unable to get their block going at the net. These are all things we can hope to see adjustments on tomorrow.

Baylor and Texas will face again Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

The Horns are on 🔥🔥🔥 from the service line!

See Also

Texas takes down Minnesota volleyball 3-1 in top-five battleBeryl kills at least 4 in Texas as more than 2M remain without power: Live updatesTexas wins the 2023 DI women's volleyball national championshipTexas A&M Volleyball News | TexAgs

🆙 1️⃣5️⃣-1️⃣4️⃣! #HookEm pic.twitter.com/7ePoZOxtno

— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) November 6, 2021

Texas took a 2-0 lead on the match with a 25-23 win in set two. The Longhorns are putting it all together and seem to have the advantage at crunch time.

They were the first to 20 off of an Eggleston kill, leading by two. But, Pressley got it within one for Baylor, and then Kara McGhee hammered an overpass to tie it up at 22. Following that, the set was tied again at 23 before an O'Neal kill gave the Longhorns set point and then a big block from Jhenna Gabriel and Brionne Butler sealed the deal.

Like I said, the Longhorns are firing on all cylinders in one of the most anticipated matchups. They do well in the most crucial moments, they don't give up points late in the sets and they are able to finish off sets, calm and composed. Eggleston has 10 kills on .400 hitting, leading the Longhorns' high-powered offense. The Bears are struggling to get their block going against the Longhorns, and despite a great performance for their team, they are now behind two sets at home.

The set by @ButlerBrionne
🤝
The kill by @loganeggleston_ pic.twitter.com/BLCtUQMInK

— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) November 6, 2021

We have got a tight set two in Waco, Texas. Avery Skinner is still red hot. She had 14 kills for Kentucky against Texas ... she knows this Texas block, she knows how to hit around it, and she wants the ball. Skinner is now up to 10 kills, ALREADY, on .444 hitting.

But, the Bears are not getting their middles involved at all. That is something they will need to do better with. The Longhorns, on the other hand, are, and they have four players with four or more kills. Logan Eggleston has come alive for the Longhorns, and that is going to cause problems for the Bears. When Texas has all of its components on, they are hard to beat.

The entire set was point-for-point until Texas went on a 3-0 run to take a 15-13 lead and notched its fifth service ace. Pressley and Baylor though notched two points in a row to get within one point. Stay tuned to this tight set.

The Longhorns took the first set 25-20 to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Texas got right back into the set, as expected. Some might say the momentum shifted with a big Asjia O'Neal block on Yossiana Pressley to amp up the Longhorns. They started hitting better as a team, got their middles back involved and notched two aces. O'Neal and Skylar Fields came alive, up to four kills each on .667 and .429 hitting efficiency, respectively.

It is no surprise that Avery Skinner is shining bright so far for the Bears, considering she most recently faced and beat the Longhorns for the national title. The Longhorns got set point, and it was Skinner who was right there to answer back. She finished the set with seven kills on .667 hitting. Really impressive outing so far, but it wasn't enough as the Longhorns powered through to take the set.

Overall, the Longhorns are looking a lot more balanced than the Bears and ended up drastically improving their hitting percentage to .414. Pressley and Skinner right now are Baylor's only options, whereas the Longhorns have at least four.

Here is that big block from O'Neal that swung the set into Texas' hands ⬇️

😱😱😱@asjiaoneal has taken over the first set! #HookEm pic.twitter.com/7v39azbg30

— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) November 6, 2021

The Baylor Bears might be facing the No. 1 team in the country, but they are off to a hot start. The Bears came out hot and heavy, (and efficient,) out-hitting the Longhorns .417 to .211. This is interesting because ahead of the match, the biggest difference was Texas' much better hitting efficiency.

Avery Skinner started out swinging well and notched five kills to lead Baylor to a 12-9 early lead in set one. She is hitting .571 so far on the set. This is a good sign for Baylor — jumping out to a lead without having to rely to heavily on Yossiana Pressley. So far, they are passing well and handling the Texas serve early. But, we have got a long set and match in front of us. The Longhorns should have no problem getting back into it.

There are two upcoming matches between No. 1 Texas and No. 10 Baylor, and it all starts tonight. First serve will be at 9 p.m. Eastern on ESPNU. Texas will face Baylor, its in-state rival, for the first time this season. Last year the Bears pushed Texas to five twice, but lost all three matchups. This time, the Longhorns will be on the road in Waco, Texas, for the top-10 battle.

The Longhorns have been No. 1 all season long in the AVCA rankings, led by Logan Eggleston and Skylar Fields offensively. and Brionne Butler and Molly Philips are extremely strong out of the middle. The Longhorn's service game, though, has been their most lethal weapon all season. They rank second in the nation with 2.22 aces per set (129 aces in 58 sets). Melanie Parra leads the Big 12 with 39 aces and Eggleston has 29. Asjia O'Neal has 21 aces and Nalani Iosia is fourth on the team with 16. They have six players with nine or more aces so far this season...

Baylor will have to figure out a way to deal with that and terminate balls out-of-system. The Bears will be led by Yossiana Pressley and Avery Skinner. They lost a match to Texas Tech, but the Longhorns will be their toughest test since their non-conference schedule. The Bears will be looking to get just their fourth ever win over Texas, considering the Longhorns lead the all-time series against Baylor, 88-3.

• Who: No. 1 Texas vs. No. 10 Baylor
• Time: 9 p.m. ET
• Date: Friday, Nov. 5
• Location: Waco, Texas
• TV channel: ESPNU

So here we go. The Longhorns have been ranked No. 1 in the AVCA top 25 since the preseason poll after they made it all the way to the national title match last season and returned five All Americans. Rightfully so, right? They earned their No. 1 spot and they have yet to drop a match, so what reason would there be to doubt them? Well the NCAA DI women's volleyball committee came out of their top-10 rankings, and the No. 1 Longhorns were sitting pretty at No. 2, behind Louisville. The Cards are the only other undefeated team in the nation, and the only difference is — the Cards have wins over current top-10 teams and the Longhorns do not. Texas has a few ranked wins, but none now in the top 10. Their two biggest wins are over Stanford and Minnesota.

Now let's see how the Longhorns do against a strong top-10 rival. The Baylor Bears are No. 10 in the AVCA poll this week, and they ranked No. 8 in the committee's top 10. They scheduled a tough non-conference schedule this year, they got a few losses, but also have a really high RPI and are on a six-match winning streak. Yossiana Pressley led the Bears to the national semifinals in 2019, and in 2021 she was joined by Kentucky transfer Avery Skinner to give this team a new look. The Baylors are also lacking a top-10 win, but faced Wisconsin and Pittsburgh this season, and even pushed Pitt to five.

I love this in-state battle between Texas and Baylor every year. Last season, Texas and Baylor played three times, and despite going to five twice, the Longhorns took home all three Ws. But I think this is a better Baylor team this year. The Bears will have to respond well to Texas' aggressive service game if they want to be competitive. If I had to guess, I think they will struggle with it early but hopefully adapt as the match goes along. Logan Eggleston and Skylar Fields against Pressley and Skinner will be a wonderful matchup and display of talent. Plus, we get TWO of these matches, not just one, as the teams play again on Saturday.

If you compare Texas and Baylor, statistically, the Longhorns are hitting for a better percentage this season, .321 to .287, but perhaps the biggest difference is at the service line. The Longhorns' go-to is to attack with service pressure, and you can clearly see that in their numbers with 129 aces. Aggressive serving comes with more errors though, and they have 179 on the year. Baylor has just 64 aces, and still a large portion of errors with 135.

The NCAA DI women's volleyball committee released their top-10 rankings on Oct. 31. The rankings reflected results through Oct. 27.The announcement provides the first look at teams that could potentially earn some of the top seeds for the 2021 Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship tournament. It gives us all a glimpse of how the Committee is viewing all of the teams and what they value the most.

For these rankings, Texas was ranked No. 2, and Baylor came in at No. 8.

Committee chair Sherene Brantley broke down their rankings, here:

Texas has held the No. 1 spot in the AVCA top 25 poll all season long. The Longhorns stayed on top in the latest edition, despite coming in at No. 2 in the NCAA committee's top 10 reveal, and Baylor came in at No. 10.