The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Rice
No. 2 Volleyball preview: at Rice
09.02.2025 | Volleyball
The Longhorns enter Wednesday's match with a 49-2 series record against the Owls.
No. 2 Texas Volleyball vs. RV Rice
Texas: 2-0 | Rice 1-1
Wednesday, Sept. 3 – 6 pm CT
Tudor Fieldhouse | Houston, Texas
TV: ESPN+
THE MATCH:
Texas and Rice meet for the 42nd time on Wednesday with Texas leading the series 39-2. The Longhorns own a three-match win streak against the Owls entering its third match of the season. The last three matches have all been 3-0 sweeps for Texas, including the last match at Tudor Fieldhouse in 2022.
PRESEASON RANKINGS
Texas enters the second week of competition ranked No. 2 in the AVCA / Taraflex National Rankings. The Longhorns moved up three spots after knocking off two top 12 ranked opponents in No. 12 Creighton and No. 8 Wisconsin at the Opening Spike Classic.
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 five SEC teams in the top-25 as Kentucky is ranked No. 4, Texas A&M at No. 10, Florida moved to No. 12, and Missouri is now ranked 16th.
ALL-SEC LONGHORNS
Torrey Stafford and Emma Halter were both named to the All-SEC First Team, tied for the second-most selections with LSU and Texas A&M. Kentucky led the league with four selections.
ON STAFFORD WATCH
Torrey Stafford, a 2024 AVCA First Team All-American at Pitt, was named to the 2025 AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List in early July. Stafford is one of 30 athletes on the preseason watch list. Stafford was an AVCA National Player of the Year Semifinalist in 2024 and was also an All-ACC First Team member. She made her Texas debut against No. 12 Creighton and recorded her 11th career double-double and first at Texas. She also matched her career high in digs against the Blue Jay with 15.
FRESH FACES
The roster features five freshmen and three standout transfers. The freshmen class features Callie Krueger - Texas 6A Defensive Player of the Year, Addy Gaido - AVCA Secon Team HS All-American, Taylor Harvey - the No. 1 MB in the 2025 class via VBAdrenaline, Cari Spears - 2024 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year and Abby Vander Wal - AVCA First Team HS All-American.
The transfers are led by Torrey Stafford (Pitt) - the lone AVCA First Team All-American on the roster, Ramsey Gary (Indiana) - Second Team All-Big 10 with 968 digs in two seasons, and Aja Kujundzic (VCU) - Second Team All-Atlantic 10 Conference.
ROAD HORNS
The Longhorns have won 51 of their last 57 road matches dating back to the 2019 season. Since the 2011 season Texas has produced a 129-23 (.849) record in true road matches, with only seven of those losses coming to unranked teams.
SO FROSH
The Longhorns lineup started two freshmen during the opening weekend of competition in Cari Spears as the right side and Abby Vander Wal as the opposite hitter. You wouldn't know from their play that the two offensive powers were freshmen by their stats. Spears led Texas in the 3-0 sweep against Wisconsin in kills with 11 and hit a staggering .476. Vander Wal sneakily recorded double-digit kills in both matches with 10 in both matches.
Taylor Harvey also made her way to the court and added two kills in the match against Creighton and the game-winning ace to seal the deal.
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.
RANKED SUCCESS
UT owns a 161-62 (.722) record against ranked opponents over the last 21 seasons (2004-24) and boasts a 72-15 (.828) home mark against ranked opponents at Gregory Gymnasium (69-15) and the Frank Erwin Center (3-0) during that span. The Longhorns finished 5-3 last season against ranked opponents.
NEW ERA ON THE FORTY
Texas Volleyball embarked on a new era in the SEC and came just short of winning the conference title in the program's first season. The Longhorns have a long history of conference dominance with 29 all-time league championships, including 16 Big 12 titles and 13 Southwest Conference Championships. The Longhorns' 2023 league title was a record seventh-straight Big 12 Championship, who won or shared 12 of the last 13 championships and 15 of the last 17. Texas departed the Big 12 Conference having won more league championships than any other program.
