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No. 12 Volleyball preview: No. 7 Florida
10.17.2026 | Volleyball
The Longhorns close out homestand Sunday against Florida at Gregory Gym.
Match 16: No. 12 Texas Volleyball vs. No. 7 Florida
Texas: 9-6 (5-2) | Florida: 14-2 (5-1)
Sunday, Oct. 18 – 7:30 p.m. CT
Gregory Gymnasium | Austin, Texas
Television: ESPN | Play-by-Play: Courtney Lyle; Analyst: Holly McPeak; Reporter: Michella Chester
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 12 Texas Volleyball closes its homestand Sunday night against No. 7 Florida at 7:30 p.m. CT at Gregory Gymnasium. The Longhorns enter the matchup unbeaten at home after sweeping Auburn on Friday.
Texas defeated Auburn, 25-22, 25-22, 25-18, to improve to 5-0 at home and 4-0 at Gregory Gym. Senior outside hitter Torrey Stafford led the Longhorns with 21 kills on .349 hitting, while freshman outside hitter Henley Anderson recorded 10 kills, 12 digs, four assists and two blocks. Junior setter Rella Binney added 29 assists and 11 digs for her sixth double-double of the season. Middle blocker Nya Bunton returned to the lineup and recorded seven kills on her first seven swings, hitting .778 with three blocks.
Florida enters Sunday's match at 14-2 overall and 5-1 in SEC play after defeating Texas A&M on Friday. The Gators' win followed a four-set loss at Vanderbilt on Oct. 11 that snapped an 11-match winning streak. Florida is 4-2 in road matches this season.
THE MATCHUP
- Texas and Florida will meet for the 28th time in program history.
- Florida leads the all-time series with Texas, 15-12, including a 6-4 advantage in Austin.
- Texas has won the last three matchups, including both meetings in Florida as SEC opponents in 2024 and 2025.
- The Gators are visiting Austin for the first time since Dec. 15, 2015, when Texas topped Florida in four sets in the Austin Regional Final.
- Texas hosts Florida on Sunday, Oct. 18, at Gregory Gym on Volley for a Cure Night. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m. CT, with the match airing live on ESPN.
FLORIDA AT A GLANCE
- Florida enters Sunday's match with a 14-2 overall record and a 5-1 mark in SEC play. The Gators are ranked No. 7 nationally and are 4-2 in road matches this season.
- Outside hitter Kamryn Chaney leads Florida with 202 kills and averages approximately 3.74 kills per set. She recorded 12 kills against Texas A&M on Friday after posting a match-high 22 kills against Kentucky earlier in October.
- Middle blocker Alec Rothe has 136 kills and is hitting .445 through the Oct. 11 cumulative statistics. Opposite Logan King has 135 kills and recorded 10 kills and 11 digs against Texas A&M for her second double-double of the season.
- Setter Taylor Parks directs the Florida offense and had 574 assists through the Oct. 11 statistics. She recorded 36 assists against Texas A&M on Friday.
STAFFORD'S SENIOR STEP
- Senior outside hitter Torrey Stafford led Texas with 21 kills on .349 hitting in Friday's sweep of Auburn. She added two service aces, two blocks and four digs.
- Stafford has recorded four 20-kill performances in her last seven matches. She reached 1,500 career kills in Texas' four-set win at Arkansas on Oct. 9 and earned SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 5, the eighth SEC weekly honor of her career.
ANDERSON MAKES HER MARK
- Freshman outside hitter Henley Anderson contributed on both sides of the ball in Friday's win over Auburn, recording 10 kills on .364 hitting, 12 digs, four assists and two blocks. She recorded her second double-double of the season.
- Anderson earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors on Oct. 5, the first weekly honor of her career, after recording double-digit kills against Mississippi State and Alabama.
BUNTON RETURNS
- Middle blocker Nya Bunton returned to the lineup against Auburn after missing four matches. She recorded seven kills on her first seven swings, finishing with a .778 hitting percentage and three blocks.
BINNEY SETS THE TABLE
- Junior setter Rella Binney recorded 29 assists and 11 digs in Friday's sweep of Auburn, earning her sixth double-double of the season.
- Binney posted a career-high 63 assists and added 10 digs in Texas' win at Arkansas on Oct. 9. She was named SEC Player of the Week and Setter of the Week on Oct. 5, earning the first weekly honors of her career.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
- Texas improved to 5-0 at home this season with Friday's sweep of Auburn and have sold out 60 consecutive home matches.
- The Longhorns drew 10,294 fans for the Wisconsin match at Moody Center on Sept. 13, the second-largest crowd in program history. The program record is 10,899 fans for the 2025 match against Stanford at Moody Center.
- Texas ranked fifth nationally and led the SEC in total home attendance in 2025, drawing 67,149 fans across 15 matches and averaging 4,477 fans per match.
- Sunday's match is Volley for a Cure Night at Gregory Gym.
ELLIOTT APPROACHES MILESTONES
- Head coach Jerritt Elliott is in his 26th season at Texas and enters Sunday's match with 694 career Division I victories and 644 wins at Texas.
- Elliott is six wins away from 700 career Division I victories and six wins away from 650 at Texas. His 693 career wins rank fourth among active Division I coaches, while his 644 victories at Texas rank 21st all time among coaches at a single Division I institution.
Texas Volleyball is Presented by Huntington Bank
