No. 4 Texas volleyball to face No. 6 Stanford for NCAA Championship

The Texas Longhorns volleyball team is peaking at the perfect time and Jerritt Eliott’s club is now just three sets away from a National Championship victory over the No. 6-seeded Stanford Cardinal.

To reach this point, the ‘Horns had to surpass top-seeded Nebraska, which they did in dominating fashion in a 3-0 sweep to avenge last season’s championship loss.

Now having won 15-of-17 total sets in the NCAA Tournament, Texas will face Stanford for the 27th time in history, with the Cardinal holding a convincing 18-8 series edge over the Longhorns, including a 12-3 lead on neutral courts. Texas did win the most recent meeting, though, with a 3-1 victory in September, 2013.

En route to a second-straight NCAA Championship appearance and its sixth all-time, Texas has knocked off UTRGV, SMU, BYU, Creighton and Nebraska, with BYU being the only team with win a single set during a five-set classic.

Junior All-American Ebony Nwanbu has led the way for the ‘Horns with 69 kills (4.06/set) on 144 attempts with a .444 hitting percentage and just five errors. Junior Car McCoy leads the Longhorns with 74 digs (3.71/set), while senior All-American Chloe Collins leads the team in assists with 222 (13.06/set). Sophomores Morgan Johnson and Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani are leading in blocks with 21 (1.24/set) and 20 (1/18/set), respectively.

Texas is 2-3 all-time in championship matches since 1982 and a victory tonight will give the ‘Horns their third NCAA title in school history. The Longhorns and the Cardinal last met in the championship match in 1987, where Stanford won 3-2.

The match can be seen at 8:00 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and WatchESPN.