The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Ole Miss
No. 2 Volleyball preview: at Ole Miss
10.24.2025 | Volleyball
Longhorns face Ole Miss for ninth conference match of 2025 season.
No. 2 Texas Volleyball vs. Ole Miss
Texas: (16-0, 8-0 SEC) | Ole Miss (10-9, 2-6 SEC)
Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 - 7 pm CT | SEC Network
Gillom Athletics Performance Center | Oxford, Miss.
THE MATCHUP
The Longhorns and Rebels will meet for just the fourth-ever time with Texas owning a 3-0 record. The last time out, Devin Kahahawai led the Horns with a double-double with career highs in kills (17) and digs (10). Texas looks to remain perfect on the road in SEC road matches, boasting a perfect 11-0 record in two seasons. A win on Friday would also make it a perfect 4-0 in the state of Mississippi.
ONE OF TWO
Texas is one of two teams that remain undefeated this season. With an 16-0 record, Texas is joined by No. 1 Nebraska (18-0) as the lone undefeateds in the NCAA. As of Oct. 20, Texas still holds the highest-ranked RPI in the NCAA over Nebraska.
CURRENT RANKED WINS
The No. 2 ranked Longhorns owned the toughest non-con schedule in the country. Nine ranked wins (No. 12 Creighton, No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 6 Stanford, No. 4 Louisville, No. 9 Arizona State, No. 9 TCU, No. 21 Baylor, No. 21 Missouri, and No. 17 Tennessee) is the most through 14 games in program history and surpassed the number of ranked wins last season (5).
DOUBLE 'S' WATCH LIST
Torrey Stafford, a 2024 AVCA First Team All-American, was named to the 2025 AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List and remains on its updated season list. Stafford was an AVCA National Player of the Year Semifinalist in 2024. Freshman Cari Spears was added to the AVCA Player of the Year addition list after her breakout start to the season with the Horns.
LEADING LONGHORNS
Texas leads the nation in kills per set (14.82) and assists per set (13.77). Stafford ranks 25th in the country with 4.40 kills per set and sixth in the conference. UT also ranks fourth in the NCAA with a .306 hitting percentage - second in the league.
ALL-SEC LONGHORNS
Torrey Stafford and Emma Halter were both named to the Preseason All-SEC First Team, tied for the second-most selections with LSU and Texas A&M. Kentucky led the league with four selections. Texas is the lone team in the conference who has earned at least one weekly SEC award every week highlighted by five-straight weeks winning freshman of the week. The Longhorns have earned 14 weekly awards after seven weeks of competition:
Emma Halter - Player & Defensive Player
Torrey Stafford - Player of the Week x2 | Offensive Player x3
Cari Spears - Freshman of the Week x4 | Player of the Week x2
Ella Swindle - Setter of the Week x3
Abby Vander Wal - Freshman of the Week
RANKED SUCCESS
UT owns a 167-62 (.729) record against ranked opponents over the last 21 seasons (2004-24) and boasts a 76-15 (.835) home mark against ranked opponents at Gregory Gymnasium and the Frank Erwin Center (3-0) during that span. The Longhorns are now 1-0 against ranked opponents when playing at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns finished 5-3 last season against ranked opponents.
MILESTONE WATCH
Torrey Stafford recorded her 1000th career kill in the win against Arkansas. She's one dig away from 600 career digs. Cari Spears needs four kills for 200 in her freshman season and Ella Swindle surpassed 400 career digs against OU. Emma Halter needs two aces for 100 career aces after matching her career high (4) against the Sooners.
SPEARING THE COMPETITION
Freshman Cari Spears has recorded 196 kills, averages 3.45 per set and is hitting .308 in her first 16 collegiate starts. Spears has won the SEC Freshman of the Week four times, the SEC Player of the Week twice and was named the AVCA Player of the Week once.
ROAD HORNS
The Longhorns have won 56 of their last 58 road matches dating back to the 2019 season. Texas remains undefeated (11-0) after two seasons in road conference matches in the SEC. The last true road conference match came against Kansas State (Big 12) on Nov. 8, 2023, marking 12-straight road conference wins for UT. Since the 2011 season Texas has produced a 132-23 (.852) record in true road matches, with only seven of those losses coming to unranked teams.
DOUBLE DOUBLE MACHINE
In 16 matches, Torrey Stafford recorded six double doubles in the Burnt Orange uniform. She totaled six during the entire 2024 season and only four her freshman season at Pitt. Ella Swindle is second on the team with four, while Emma Halter and Cari Spears each have one. To compare, Madisen Skinner led the Longhorns last season with eight total.
TEXAS DRAW
In the second match of the season, Wisconsin hosted the Longhorns in front of 11,678 fans for a then-fifth highest attended match in Badger history. The fans followed UT when they traveled to Houston and broke Rice's attendance record with 3,017 people. Later in the season, Georgia set its then-season high in attendance at 4,518. Last on the list, Mississippi State set their then-12th highest attended match with 962 fans.
ABBY VANDER WAL(L)
Freshman Abby Vander Wal has dominated both sides of the net in her last three matches. She's second in kills with 41 and averaged 3.73 per set while hitting .297. These last three matches marks the first time in her career Vander Wal's recorded double-digit kills in three-straight matches. In her first 13 matches, she ranked third with 115 kills and average 2.50 kills per set, hitting .212.
HAWAII TO THE FORTY
Since 2007, the Longhorns roster has seen eight student-athletes see the court by way of Hawaii to the Forty Acres: Sydney Yogi - 2008-2011, Sarah Palmer 2010-2013, Kat Brooks - 2012-2015, Jhenna Gabriel - 2018-2021, Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres - 2021-22, Keonilei Akana - 2022-24, Devin Kahahawai - 2022-present and Rella Binney- 2024-present).
AVCA LOVE
Texas has now earned two AVCA Player of the Week awards this season - Torrey Stafford (9/9) and Cari Spears (9/23) - totaling to 14 all-time.
The duo join the list of nine other Longhorns to ever be awarded the AVCA honor: Demetria Sance (1998), Jill Gremmel (1999), Michelle Moriaty (2006), Destine Hooker (2007), Ashley Engle (2009), Jullian Faucette (2010), Haley Eckerman - 2x (2012, 2013) Logan Eggleston - 3x (2021, 2022) and Skylar Fields (2021).
RANKINGS
Texas remains ranked No. 2 in the AVCA / Taraflex National Rankings after nine weeks. The Longhorns began the 2025 season as the No. 5 ranked team in the AVCA Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Longhorns have been ranked in both the top five in 19 of the past 21 seasons and the top 10 in 20 of the last 21 preseason rankings. Texas, who was picked second in the SEC Coaches' Poll, is one of six SEC teams in the top-25 as Kentucky is ranked No. 3, Texas A&M moved up to No. 9 and Tennessee stays at No. 16.
GRAB THOSE TICKETS NOW!
The Longhorns extended their sell-out streak to 49-straight matches dating back to the 2022 season and rank fourth-nationally this season with an average attendance of 4,867 in nine matches. Texas ranked seventh last season with an average attendance of 4,393 in 14 home matches and sold out all 14 home matches. In the 2022 NCAA Regional Final against Ohio State, Texas set a Gregory Gym attendance record with a crowd of 5,344. Texas set a new attendance record when they hosted Stanford at Moody Center at 10,899.
SO FROSH
The Longhorns have seen three freshmen (Harvey, Spears, Vander Wal) break into the rotation in their debut season. Cari Spears has started all 16 matches for Texas on the rightside, while Taylor Harvey (MB) has started 11. Abby Vander Wal has entered competition as dynamic hitter on offense. Combined, they've totaled 48.8% of the Texas offense and 77 of the 119.5 blocks.
SUCCESS AT THE TOP
Texas has been the model of consistency for well over a decade now, being the only Division I volleyball program to have ended each of the last 19 seasons ranked in the top 10. The Longhorns have also finished in the top 5 in 15 of the last 18 seasons, including 11-straight years from 2008-18. Texas also has the nation's longest active streak of NCAA Regional Semifinal ("Sweet 16") appearances with 19-straight. Of the last 19 regional semifinal appearances, the Longhorns have advanced to 18 NCAA Regional Finals, 12 National Semifinals and eight National Championship matches.
