No. 7 Volleyball rallies for reverse sweep at No. 13 Tennessee

Friday, September 25

Knoxville, Tenn.

6 p.m. CT (7 p.m. ET)

University of Texas

5-4,1-0SEC

Tennessee

9-2,0-1SEC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Texas	21	24	25	25	15	3
Tennessee	25	26	18	22	11	2

Box Score (PDF)

Nya Bunton had a career-high 14 kills in a reverse sweep of Tennessee.

No. 7 Volleyball rallies for reverse sweep at No. 13 Tennessee

09.25.2026 | Volleyball

Box Score

Longhorns overcomes 2-0 deficit in front of record crowd.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 7 Texas Volleyball rallied from a two-set deficit to defeat No. 13 Tennessee, 21-25, 24-26, 25-18, 25-22, 15-11, on Friday night inside Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center to open Southeastern Conference play. The Longhorns (5-4, 1-0 SEC) trailed 2-0 before winning three consecutive sets to complete their first reverse sweep since Oct. 26, 2023, when Texas rallied to defeat Baylor at Gregory Gym. Texas overcame a raucous crowd of 9,226, a Tennessee home attendance record, to hand the Lady Vols (9-2, 0-1) their first home loss of the season. Torrey Stafford led the Longhorns with a season- and match-high 28 kills, adding 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, along with four blocks and two aces. She recorded six kills in the decisive fifth set, helping Texas build an early 6-2 advantage before the Longhorns closed out the victory. Nya Bunton added a career-high 14 kills and four blocks, while Rella Binney posted a career-high 54 assists and 14 digs. Binney recorded her third consecutive 40-assist match, third straight double-double and fifth of the season. Cari Spears posted her first double-doble of the season with 12 kills and 12 digs. Ramsey Gary led the Longhorns with 21 digs, while Emma Cugino collected 10 digs in her collegiate debut. Tennessee jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the opening set and held off a late Texas push to take the frame, 25-21. The Longhorns responded in the second, building an early 11-5 advantage and maintaining the lead deep into the set. Tennessee eventually evened the score at 19-19, and the teams traded points until the Lady Vols closed out a 26-24 win to take a 2-0 lead. Texas came out with renewed energy in the third set, trading points with Tennessee through a 13-13 tie. The Longhorns then began to pull away behind kills from Bunton, Taylor Harvey and Stafford, taking a 16-13 lead before Stafford added two more kills to push the advantage to 18-15. Texas continued to build its lead with kills from Spears and Stafford, an ace from Stafford and another ace from Callie Krueger, taking a 23-18 advantage. Tennessee committed consecutive attack errors to close the set, as Texas claimed a 25-18 victory and snapped the Lady Vols' 18-set home winning streak. The Longhorns again faced a deficit in the fourth set, trailing 17-13 before rallying behind Stafford's attack to take a 21-19 lead. After Tennessee pulled within one, Texas scored four of the final seven points, including Stafford's 18th kill of the night, to force a fifth set with a 25-22 victory. Texas carried the momentum into the deciding set, scoring the first three points and building a 10-4 advantage. Tennessee fought back to within two at 12-10, but Texas answered with a kill from Spears and a Tennessee service error to reach match point. After a Tennessee kill made it 14-11, Stafford delivered her 28th kill of the night to secure the reverse sweep. The match was Texas' eighth against a top-20 opponent through the first nine contests of the season. The victory also extended Texas' winning streak against Tennessee to 12 matches and marked the Longhorns' second consecutive victory in Knoxville. Texas won its only previous match in Tennessee in 1984. The Longhorns continue their SEC road swing Sunday, Sept. 27, at No. 3 Kentucky. First serve is set for noon CT (1 p.m. ET) at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Kentucky, with the match airing live on ESPN. Texas Volleyball is Presented by Huntington Bank