The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Alabama
No. 8 Volleyball Preview: Alabama
10.03.2026 | Volleyball
Longhorns welcome Crimson Tide to Gregory Gym on Sunday to close out two-match home swing.
Match 12: No. 8 Texas Volleyball vs. Alabama
Texas: 6-5 (2-1) | Alabama: 8-4 (0-3)
Sunday, Oct. 4 – Noon CT
Gregory Gymnasium | Austin, Texas
Television: SEC Network+
AUSTIN, Texas – The Longhorns (6-5, 2-1 SEC) return to Gregory Gymnasium on Sunday to host Alabama (8-4, 0-3 SEC) at noon CT. Texas is coming off a sweep of Mississippi State on Friday, hitting a season-high .438 in the victory.
Sunday marks Texas' second consecutive home match after returning to Gregory Gymnasium for the first time since Sept. 2 on Friday. The 30-day stretch between regular-season matches at Gregory Gymnasium was the longest of the Jerritt Elliott era.
Alabama enters Sunday's match having dropped three consecutive SEC matches after winning six straight. The Crimson Tide's three SEC losses have come against Florida, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
THE MATCHUP
- Sunday will be the third all-time meeting between Texas and Alabama and the first in Austin. The Longhorns lead the series 2-0.
- Texas swept Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 2024 before earning a 3-1 victory over the Crimson Tide on the road in 2025.
- Alabama is 8-4 overall and 0-3 in SEC play. Laney Hennessee leads the Crimson Tide with 3.05 kills and 3.51 points per set.
COMING OFF A SWEEP
- Texas swept Mississippi State, 25-16, 25-21, 25-19, on Friday at Gregory Gymnasium, improving to 6-5 overall and 2-1 in SEC play.
- The Longhorns hit a season-high .438 against the Bulldogs, including .531 in the third set.
- Senior outside hitter Torrey Stafford led Texas with 20 kills while hitting a season-best .419 and added 13 digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
- Freshman Henley Anderson added 12 kills while hitting a career-best .400, while Taylor Harvey matched her season best with six kills and hit .667 on nine attacks.
SPEARS NEARS 500
- Sophomore Cari Spears enters Sunday's match with 498 career kills and needs two kills to reach 500 for her career.
- Spears has recorded 140 kills through Texas' first 11 matches this season after posting 358 kills as a freshman in 2025.
- She has recorded at least nine kills in 10 of Texas' last 11 matches, including 18 kills in back-to-back matches against No. 8 SMU (9/9) and No. 6 Wisconsin (9/13).
- Spears had nine kills, seven digs and an ace in Friday's sweep of Mississippi State.
STAFFORD'S SENIOR STEP
- Senior outside hitter Torrey Stafford leads the Longhorns with 170 kills, 4.15 kills per set, 184.5 points and 4.50 points per set through 11 matches.
- She has recorded double-digit kills in nine matches this season, including each of the last seven, and has five double-doubles.
- Stafford posted a career-high 28 kills and career-high 66 attacks at No. 11 Tennessee (9/25), adding 12 digs, four blocks and two aces in Texas' reverse sweep.
BINNEY SETS THE TABLE
- Junior setter Rella Binney leads Texas with 372 assists through 11 matches and is averaging 9.07 assists per set.
- She has recorded at least 30 assists in seven matches this season, including each of her last five.
- Binney recorded 39 assists in Friday's sweep of Mississippi State, extending her streak of consecutive 30-assist performances to five.
COLLINS MAKES FIRST CAREER START
- Mackenzie Collins made the first start of her career Friday against Mississippi State and recorded five kills on five attacks for a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage while adding a block.
- Collins opened the match with a kill on Texas' first swing.
- Collins is a two-sport Longhorn who also competes in track and field. A standout hurdler, she advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships as a freshman in 2025.
BACK AT GREGORY
- Texas is 3-0 at home this season and has extended its home sellout streak to 58 matches.
- The Longhorns' Sept. 13 match against No. 6 Wisconsin at Moody Center drew 10,294 fans, the second-largest crowd in program history. The program record is 10,899 fans for the 2025 match against Stanford.
ELLIOTT APPROACHES MILESTONES
- Head coach Jerritt Elliott is in his 26th season at Texas and enters Sunday's match with 691 career Division I victories and 641 wins at Texas.
- Elliott is nine wins away from 700 career Division I victories and nine wins away from 650 at Texas.
- His 641 victories at Texas rank 21st all time among coaches at a single Division I institution, while his 691 career Division I victories rank fourth among active Division I coaches.
Texas Volleyball is Presented by Huntington Bank
