Who saw it coming?
Following Friday's four-set win over No. 3 Wisconsin in the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament at Amalie Arena, the seventh-seeded Longhorns (27-4) will vie for back-to-back national championships when they face the top-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers (33-1) on Sunday at 3 p.m. ABC's Big East Finale.
Texas coach Jarrett Elliott has an extra day off - the first time the national championship isn't decided on Saturday - and will have plenty of time to think about the showdown with Nebraska.
Thursday night - actually Friday morning in a post-midnight interview - Elliott was already preparing for the Texas-Nebraska showdown.
"It's an iconic matchup," Elliott said. It's great for the sport. I think social media and both fan bases are going to be all over this.
"There's such a rich tradition of alumni, All-Americans, both sides winning national championships. You know, it's the Lakers
Teams and the Celtics. No matter how long these two programs have been playing each other, they really get fired up.
"It should be a lot of fun for all the fans involved across the country. People can be assured that people will tune in. We've only touched the tip of the iceberg as our sport grows in popularity. There's a lot more to come.
We're not going to paint Texas as a "Cinderella" team. Perhaps the Longhorns are a talented, experienced team that has weathered a series of potholes and near-elimination moments in the playoffs.
The Longhorns started the season with a 5-3 record, hardly the expected position for a preseason No. 1 ranked team. They made a concerted effort to earn a No. 2 regional seed, but were not widely selected to advance to the national semifinals. In the regional semifinals, they faced Tennessee on fourth set point.
Having survived, they are now thriving. Texas has won nine times in a row.
Against Wisconsin, the Texas front line of 6-foot-9 Anna Smrek and 6-7 Carter Booth was a formidable wall that Texas used its speed, cunning and athleticism to overcome. After splitting the first set, Texas escaped in the third to build a 15-3 advantage with an 11-0 win.
"Wisconsin is big, and they're going to put up a good wall," Texas middle blocker Asja O'Neill said. But we just have to believe in ourselves. We don't want their size on the other side of the ball to affect what we're doing.
O'Neill said sophomore passer Ella Swindell (46 assists) has been excellent in designing the Texas offense, constantly providing favorable one-on-one opportunities for the Longhorns.
Outside hitter Madison Skinner was outstanding, finishing with 18 kills, nine digs, four cover assists and a career-high six service aces in 11 service aces for Texas. O'Neill added 11 kills, while Jenna Weiners and Molly Phillips each had 10.
"We scouted them well and we kind of knew their weaknesses," Skinner said. We wanted to change our depth, adjust my tempo, throw the ball well and trust myself on the serve. I just kept believing in myself and going with the flow. It was awesome.
In the third set, O'Neill said toughness was the difference.
"They're a good team and they're not going to roll over and let us beat them," O'Neill said. We had a really good mindset for the next game. In the third game, we just put the ball on them and we were determined to be the most cohesive team the whole game.
Meanwhile, libero Emma Halter admitted she was in "the zone" when she came up with 19 digs.
"This is one of those moments for myself and the whole team," Halter said. We train so hard for these moments and now it's time to trust the training. I do think I was in the zone today.
Now, Texas seeks to continue its pressure-free streak at Nebraska against a familiar foe from the last four - once a Big 12 Conference foe. Nebraska beat Texas for the 2015 national title. Their last NCAA Tournament appearance was in April 2021, when Texas defeated the Huskers in the third round.
"We had a tough start to the season," Elliott said. We've been injured. We got sick. We played better in the middle of the season, played one or two really good games, and then we would hiccup. We just kept hanging in there.
"I think one of our superpowers is our resilience, the way they play for each other, the way they want to extend the season. It's such a joy to play right now.
