In a year in which orange lights bathed the University of Texas (UT) Tower at least twice, the women’s volleyball team gave the school another reason to perform the rare but time-honored tradition honoring the Longhorns’ athletic triumphs.
Top-seeded UT swept the Louisville Cardinals in the national championship game in Omaha, Nebraska on Saturday to claim a third overall National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) crown in program history.
Austin NBC affiliate KXAN reported that the Longhorns took three straight sets from the Cardinals 25-22, 25-14, 26-24. UT secured one of the four No. 1 spots in the tournament by virtue of its 22-1 regular season mark, with much of its title quest having taken place on its own campus at Gregory Gymnasium.
The Longhorns defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, Georgia, Ohio State and San Diego before ultimately dispatching Louisville.
For longtime head coach Jerritt Elliott, Saturday’s victory marked the second time in his 20-year tenure in Austin he led UT to college volleyball’s top prize.
“They’ve just been so great all year long,” Elliott, who took the Longhorns job in 2001, said, according to KXAN. “We haven’t had any problems. Everyone just wanted to win.”
The station reported that the Longhorns, which made six trips to the national championship match since before the start of last decade, was two years removed from falling to the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
ESPN reported that outside hitter (OH) Logan Eggleston propelled UT with 19 kills and seven digs, earning most outstanding player (MOP) honors to go along with her American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national player of the year accolade.
"I'm just so grateful to have gotten the opportunity to have a fifth year and come back," the senior from Brentwood, Tennessee, told the national media outlet postgame. "We can actually say we won our last game, and it feels amazing."
Per ESPN, it’s the third time the Longhorns swept the final match.