Forty Acres Insider: April 21

Chris Del Conte head shot 2025

Longhorn Nation,

THE TOWER STAYS LIT, FOLKS! Men's Tennis is your SEC Tournament Champions, completing the sweep of both the regular season and tourney titles — and doing it back-to-back for Coach Berque. That's championship standard tennis right there. And it didn't stop. Women's Golf put together three great rounds in finishing in a tie for second in stroke play at the SEC Championship before falling in the quarterfinals of match play on Monday. Across the board, it was a statement weekend once again. Baseball and Softball both locked down top-15 SEC series wins. Beach Volleyball handled business on Senior Day and now turns toward postseason play. And Saturday at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium was electric. A whole lot of Burnt Orange and White in the house for Football Fan Day and Coach Sark's open practice — a reminder of what makes this place and all of you so incredible. And we're not slowing down. There's another full slate ahead with Baseball, Beach Volleyball, Men's Golf, Softball, and Track and Field all competing this week — plus NFL Draft dreams becoming a reality. It's a special time on the Forty Acres. The momentum is real, Horns Up — we're just getting started!

HORNS GO BACK-TO-BACK 🏆 @TexasMTN SWEEPS REGULAR SEASON & TOURNEY TITLES! 🤘#SECTennis x #SECChampionship pic.twitter.com/1pliAsZSqf
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) April 19, 2026

The Pride and Winning Tradition of The University of Texas continues, folks. Men's Tennis capturing the SEC Tournament Title gives us an SEC-LEADING FIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS this year and 13 SEC Titles in just two years in the league, more than any program. Add in Beach Volleyball's 2025 CCSA crown, and that's 14 conference crowns in that stretch. It never gets old. And they look pretty special lined up in the Frank Denius Family University of Texas Athletics Hall of Fame. That pushes our all-time conference championship total to an eye-popping 668 — including 87 since 2018. There's a whole lot of winning going on around here!

With @TexasMTN winning the SEC Tournament Championship on Sunday, our Longhorns now boast 5 conference crowns this year — the most of any SEC program🤘🏻

That brings our total to 13 SEC Championships in just 2 years … most in the SEC over that span‼️
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/riHTnARBPo
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) April 19, 2026

Now, before we dive deeper into an awesome week of championship performances and wins … Coach Sark and all of us want to give a HUGE THANK YOU TO LONGHORN NATION. Y'all showed up and showed out at Football Fan Day on Saturday — braving the rain and cold to bring the energy and support to our team. We had great action on the field, and even better moments off it — photos, autographs, and time together to say thank you to the best fans in the country. You passion never wavers, and it means everything to our program. Horns up as well to all our Letterwinners who came back for reunion weekend — always special to have you home. September 5 will be here before we know it. We can't wait to see you for the season opener against Texas State.

Inked 🆙 pic.twitter.com/1bEgdjraLj
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 18, 2026

Back to that all we do is win theme — another triumphant week on the Forty. MAKE IT FOUR-FOR-FOUR FOR COACH BERQUE AND NO. 1 MEN'S TENNIS — back-to-back SEC Regular Season AND Tournament Champions. Battling through another week of weather delays and schedule shifts — our Horns never blinked — rolling past three-straight top-20 teams to bring home the crown. It started with a 4-2 win over No. 19 Florida, followed by a 4-2 takedown of rival and host No. 10 Texas A&M in a match that just meant more. And then closing it out the right way — a gritty 4-2 victory over No. 6 Mississippi State in Sunday's championship match. That's championship toughness. That's Texas Fight. But the job's not done. Next up: the NCAA Tournament. First and Second Rounds will be coming to Austin, so stay tuned for details — and get ready to pack the Texas Tennis Center. On the women's side, Coach Joffe and our eighth-ranked squad fought hard but came up short against No. 1 Georgia in the quarterfinals. Now it's onward to the NCAA Tournament as well. You can see the brackets unveiled on the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis selection shows streamed live on NCAA.com this Monday — the men's announcement starts at 3 p.m. CT followed by the women's show at 3:30 p.m. CT. Horns Up for Tennis — we'll see you back at the TTC soon.

How we feelin' Horns?! 🤘@TexasMTN x #SECChampionship pic.twitter.com/523Q3Vmbjb
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) April 20, 2026

Meanwhile on the links, NO. 6 WOMEN'S GOLF JUST WRAPPED UP AT THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS. Coach Ianello's squad charged through the three rounds of stroke play with the second-best score (3-under par) — led by Farah O'Keefe who was the SEC Championship individual runner-up with her score of 6-under. Cindy Hsu (-2) finished 11th and Lauren Kim (-1) was tied for 12th as to give us three players among the top-12 of the final individual standings. Then it was on to match play on Monday, where our Horns dropped a closely contested 3-2 quarterfinal round match to Texas A&M. It was another solid showing leading into the NCAA Regional Championships (May 11-13) where we'll eye a return trip to the NCAA Championships. And while we're talking Women's Golf, Horns Up to Farah O'Keefe, who as one of the world's top four amateurs, earned an invite to the LPGA's first major championship of the season this week — The Chevron Championship at Memorial Park in Houston.

COACH SCHLOSS AND NO. 4 BASEBALL KEPT THE STAMPEDE GOING. Our Horns secured a big-time series win over No. 11 Alabama at UFCU Disch-Falk Field — making it five SEC series wins in six tries and keeping us right in the thick of the conference race. Friday night set the tone in a big way — Dylan Volantis was dealing with 12 strikeouts, Sam Cozart (this week's SEC Freshman of the Week) added five more, and the staff piled up 17 Ks while our bats were en fuego with 16 hits (six for extra bases) in a 10-2 win. Saturday brought the weather adjustments and zero drop-off. Six Longhorn pitchers combined to tie a program-record 19 strikeouts (in a nine-inning game), with Ruger Riojas leading the charge with 11. A clutch three-run seventh inning sealed a 3-1 win — and the series — marking win No. 30 on the season. Sunday was another gritty pitcher's duel. Luke Harrison punched out 10 (13 total Ks on the day), bringing the weekend total to a mind-blowing 49 strikeouts. Our Horns battled late but came up short in a 2-1 final. Four SEC series remain before Hoover — at Vanderbilt, vs. Mississippi State, at Tennessee, and vs. Missouri — with plenty still to be decided in the race. Next Up: back at the Disch tonight vs. Air Force (6:30 p.m. CT/SEC Network+) before heading to Nashville for a critical road test against Vanderbilt. Let's keep it rolling!

record-setting weekend 🎯#HookEm pic.twitter.com/bhNaZuBMbd
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) April 21, 2026

Coach White and NO. 5 SOFTBALL GOT OUR WEEK STARTED WITH A BANG — traveling to No. 13 Georgia and securing a top-15 SEC series win, capped by a nationally-televised, extra-innings thriller on Monday night. It was Texas Fight at its finest in the series opener on Saturday with our Horns overcoming a four-run deficit and scoring six unanswered runs — including a three-run homer from fantastic freshman Hannah Wells in the fifth that supercharged the comeback — in a 7-5 road win. We dropped game two Sunday, 4-2, before earning a gritty, hard-fought 6-3 victory in extra innings on Monday on the strength of back-to-back home runs from Leighann Goode and Wells (AGAIN) in the top of the eighth. That marks our seventh-straight extra-inning win, tying the longest active streak in NCAA Division I Softball. We're rounding second and charging for home with a 35-7 record and an impressive NCAA resume that includes 15 top-25 wins. Just two SEC series remain — at Kentucky and at home vs. Arkansas — before the SEC Tournament commences in Lexington on May 5-9. It's another big week ahead as we step out of conference to host former Big 12 foe and top-25-ranked Oklahoma State at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Wednesday (7 p.m. CT/ESPN2), before heading to Lexington for a pivotal series against Kentucky.

smiling back to Austin 😁#HookEm pic.twitter.com/RnlcTnKuqy
— Texas Softball (@TexasSoftball) April 21, 2026

MORE SEC AND CONFERENCE TITLES ARE ON THE LINE this week with No. 3 Men's Golf traveling to Georgia (Sea Island Golf Club) for the SEC Championship. Fresh off two more wins and celebrating our seniors on Saturday, Coach Metzger and No. 4 Beach Volleyball is in Huntington Beach for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championship — a 10-team league that includes the nation's top-four ranked teams. Our Horns enter as the No. 3 seed and will face sixth-seeded Grand Canyon on Wednesday (Noon CT). All totaled eight teams in the MPSF Championship are currently in the top-13. On the national scene, Rowing takes to the water for a big-time clash of the titans with a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup on Saturday at Stanford. Track and Field is in Waco for the Michael Johnson Invitational. Lots to keep your Horns Up for, so let's Hook 'Em!

got the lineup ready for this week🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/49Fih71YPj
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) April 20, 2026

NFL DRAFT WEEK IS HERE! This year's NFL Draft heads to Pittsburgh on Thursday-Saturday, and once again we'll be hearing plenty of Longhorn names called — lifelong dreams realized for our guys and their families. We're coming of a historic 2025 Draft that saw a program-best 12 Longhorns selected (third-most of any school in the seven-round era), including three first-round picks — tied for the most in program history and second-most of any school. Pair that with 11 selections in 2024 (second-most nationally), and Coach Sark's squad leads the nation with 23 total picks over the last two years. Those 23 selections are the second-most by any program since the draft shifted to seven rounds in 1994. And our five first-rounders across the last two years are tied for the most in the country. That's not hype — that's development. We have produced 28 NFL Draft picks in the last three drafts under Coach Sark; that's more than the 10 Drafts before he arrived from 2012-21 when we had 27 players selected. So that further emphasizes the success our football staff has in helping players make it to the NFL. What Starts Here, my friends, truly changes the world. There's nothing like those draft-night moments — the calls, the hugs, the celebrations and high fives — the start of something special on the next level. Follow along all weekend on all of our social media platforms and TexasLonghorns.com as we track every Longhorn selection from start to finish.

Draft week is here 🤘 #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/fSJ5GBrS6z
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 21, 2026

LONGHORN NETWORK IS AT IT AGAIN, getting y'all a sneak peek at the significant progress on our new Football Indoor Training Facility. It was Coach Sark's first visit inside the building and as you can see, he's fired up and talked about some of the training benefits it will provide for our football program. Construction folks have been hard at work for about a year-and-a-half and the building will be ready to go in a few months — in time for the 2026 season. There also was a one-hour Texas Gameday covering Football Fan Day you can check out. So, if you haven't downloaded the FREE LHN App folks, what are you waiting for?! Here's another treat, last week's media availability with several of our football standouts (Rasheem Biles, Cam Coleman, Arch Manning, Jelani McDonald, Connor Robertson and Ty'Anthony Smith). And when our Longhorn Legend Colt McCoy delivers the keynote address at UT's Commencement Ceremony on May 9 in DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, you can watch that live on LHN as well. It's all Longhorns, all the time folks so be sure to keep your eyes on LHN!

And in closing, just a note of caution, folks. With the rise in AI-generated content and digital scams, here's a quick reminder to stay vigilant. If you receive an email claiming to be from Texas Athletics, please double-check its authenticity. Official communications will only come from a utexas.edu email address — not from AOL, Gmail, Yahoo, or any other personal accounts.

Volleyball will be back in The Mood for another special one this Fall
We've got some exciting scheduling news — VOLLEYBALL IS HEADING BACK TO MOODY CENTER for another marquee matchup against Wisconsin on Sunday, Sept. 13. Last year, y'all absolutely showed out — a record-setting crowd of 10,899 brought the energy and created an unreal atmosphere as Coach Elliott and our Longhorns took down Stanford in a thrilling five-setter. That was special. Now we're running it back against another premier powerhouse in Wisconsin. This one's shaping up to be an absolute must-see — so mark those calendars, bring your crew, and get ready to pack The Mood and raise the roof. Let's show the nation once again what Texas Volleyball fandom is all about!

back for round 2️⃣ in @MoodyCenterATX 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/Tl9ADZDQv1
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) April 20, 2026

Our Longhorns and LOVB Austin make it back-to-back Championships
You've got to LOVB it — POWERED BY TEXAS FIGHT FROM ALL OF OUR LONGHORNS, LOVB Austin made it back-to-back League One Volleyball Championships on Saturday night in Long Beach. Behind the winning point from our very own Logan Eggleston and fiery play of Longhorn greats Madisen Skinner, Asjia O'Neal, Molly McCage, and Zoe Jarvis — who sparked the squad off the bench — they did it in comeback fashion. First taking down LOVB Salt Lake in a thrilling five-set match, then digging deep in charging to a 15-8 victory in the golden — a one-set showdown for the championship that ended with Austin triumphantly raising that title trophy. That's something our Longhorns are very familiar with from their days on the Forty Acres! It was déjà vu for our Longhorn Legend Madi Skinner, claiming her second straight MVP Award and fifth volleyball championship in the last six years (three NCAA with two at Texas and two in LOVB). It's four championships in five years for Asjia O'Neal as well. How about that for the pride and winning tradition!

those trophies are adding up y'all 🤘

congrats to our @lovbatx girls on back-to-back titles 🔥#HookEm pic.twitter.com/DpYjMSrpyI
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) April 19, 2026

Continuing to Emphasize and Salute the 'Student' in Student-Athlete
With all of the success and championship-level performances our Longhorns continue to achieve across the board, there's still nothing that makes me prouder than the achievements of our student-athletes in the classroom at this truly world-class university. Last week, the league office recognized 56 of our student-athletes on the 2025-26 Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll. This included the five individuals in Men's Basketball, six in Women's Basketball, 22 in Men's Swimming and Diving and 23 in Women's Swimming and Diving! To earn this recognition, an undergraduate student-athlete must have a GPA of 3.0 or above for either the preceding academic year or have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above at our institution. A graduate student-athlete must have a GPA of 3.0 or above from either the preceding academic year of graduate school enrollment or have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above at our institution. In addition, an undergraduate student-athlete must have successfully completed 24 semester hours of non-remedial academic credit toward a bachelor's degree, and a graduate student must have successfully completed 18 semester hours of academic credit toward a graduate degree. Congrats to our 56 deserving student-athletes AND all of our hard-working staff in our Student Services department on a job well done!

got it done in the classroom, too 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/wNrs26HlwM
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) April 15, 2026

Much-deserved Kudos to our own Chris Plonsky!
And now for a little WHAT STARTS HERE update, as I need to salute our own Chris Plonsky. Our Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director and Chief of Staff was named to Sports Business Journal's 2026 Class of Champions: Pioneers & Innovators in Sports Business, and CP was recognized last week in Los Angeles at the CAA World Congress of Sports. Talk about a star-studded six-person class which also includes James Brown (CBS Sports broadcaster), Steve Greenberg (Allen & Co.'s sports specialty practice), Andy Lansing (Levy), Billy Payne (former chairman of Augusta National) and Arn Tellem (Detroit Pistons vice chairman). This group was recognized not only for their success in their various sectors but also how they each influenced the sports industry overall through their work and forward thinking. Congrats and a big-time Hook 'em Horns to our own Chris Plonsky!

Hook 'Em Horns,

Chris Del Conte

P.S. — A must-watch recap of a historic Women's Basketball season right here!

a historic chapter in Texas Women's Basketball history. thanks for all of it, Longhorn Nation 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/HM1vjdsGrn
— Texas Women's Basketball (@TexasWBB) April 17, 2026

P.S. — Things you love to see — our Longhorns giving back in the community!

pure joy at the @Truist youth sports clinic 🤘

so proud to see our athletes inspiring the next generation of Longhorns#HookEm pic.twitter.com/MPHUOdoNpd
— Texas Longhorns (@TexasLonghorns) April 20, 2026

P.S. — Legendary!

WINNER WINNER MADISEN SKINNER 🏆 pic.twitter.com/TUVqZ0pFjf
— League One Volleyball (@leagueonevb) April 19, 2026

P.S. — Football Reunion Weekend is always a great time seeing everyone get together!

Longhorn family reunion 🤘@txtassociation x @TexasLonghorns pic.twitter.com/F8DqNgyKj4
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 18, 2026

P.S. — Always great having Coach Brown and all our Longhorn Legends stopping by!

Some Longhorn Legends stopped by today 🤘 pic.twitter.com/Yna5uUfi4I
— Texas Football (@TexasFootball) April 17, 2026

A whole lot of The Pride and Winning Tradition of The University of Texas right here🤘🏻

Thanks for coming out @VinceYoung10, @MikeGriff33, @FozzyWhitt, @CoachMackBrown, @selvinyoung and @Huffy247 pic.twitter.com/YLeoyD2yNC
— John Bianco (@UT_Bianco) April 16, 2026

P.S. — Celebrated our Seniors!

celebrating our seniors, today and always🤘🫶#HookEm pic.twitter.com/s74WDh7gjQ
— Texas Beach Volleyball (@TexasBeachVB) April 18, 2026

P.S. — USA! USA! USA! We see ya Farah, representing Texas on the World Stage!

Farah O'Keefe selected to U.S. Curtis Cup team 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/Sp9Qirw7Do
— Texas Women's Golf (@TexasWGolf) April 15, 2026

P.S. — We see ya Jahdae!

picked the right guy for a first pitch 🤘#HookEm | @Officia1dae | @TexasFootball pic.twitter.com/NKqLpZFrmY
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) April 19, 2026

P.S. — Love This! Best Fans in the Land!!