The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
SMU
No. 9 Volleyball preview: at No. 8 SMU (Showdown at the Net)
09.08.2026 | Volleyball
Longhorns travel to Dallas for the first true road match of the season.
Match 7: No. 9 Texas vs. No. 8 SMU
Texas: 3-3 | SMU: 4-1
Wednesday, Sept. 9 – 8 p.m. CT
Moody Coliseum | Dallas, Texas
Television: ACC Network
THE MATCHUP
Texas and No. 8 SMU will meet for the seventh time Wednesday, with the Longhorns holding a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series. Texas has won the last four meetings, including each of the last two matchups by a 3-0 sweep in the second round of the NCAA Championship at Gregory Gym in Austin. SMU's lone win in the series came in Dallas, a 3-0 victory in 2000, with Texas holding a 1-1 record in matches played at SMU. Wednesday marks the first meeting between the programs in Dallas since 2004 and Texas' first true road match of the season.
LAST TIME OUT
No. 9 Texas fell to No. 6 Louisville in three sets, 25-12, 28-26, 25-16, on Sunday morning at the Broadway Block Party at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Torrey Stafford led the Longhorns with 14 kills and 10 digs for her second double-double of the season, while Cari Spears added 12 kills. Nya Bunton recorded five kills and three blocks, Rella Binney posted 27 assists and seven digs.
IN THE RANKINGS
The Longhorns remain No. 9 in the latest AVCA Coaches' Poll. Texas is one of five SEC teams ranked in the top 25, joining Florida at No. 10, Texas A&M at No. 19, Tennessee at No. 17 and Kentucky at No. 3. Texas has faced five ranked opponents through the first six matches of the season and will face two more ranked teams this week. The Longhorns travel to No. 8 SMU on Wednesday as part of the SEC/ACC Showdown at the Net before hosting No. 6 Wisconsin at Moody Center on Sunday.
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST
Texas has two players on the 2026 AVCA Division I Women's Volleyball Player of the Year Preseason Watch List in senior Torrey Stafford and sophomore Cari Spears. Stafford earned the recognition for the third consecutive season after earning AVCA First-Team All-America honors for the second straight year and finishing as an AVCA National Player of the Year semifinalist. Spears earned her first selection after being named an AVCA Third-Team All-American and Southwest Region Freshman of the Year in 2025.
STAFFORD'S SENIOR STEP
Stafford leads the Longhorns with 76 kills and 3.62 kills per set while ranking second with 83 points and 3.95 points per set. She has recorded four double-digit kill performances this season, including a season-high 19 kills in Texas' win over Marquette on Aug. 24. Stafford added 12 digs against the Golden Eagles for her first double-double of the season while hitting .341. She also recorded 12 kills in Texas' sweep of No. 18 TCU on Aug. 29 and 14 kills and 10 digs against No. 6 Louisville on Sept. 6 for her second double-double of the season. Stafford led Texas with 516 kills, 33 service aces and 580.5 points in 2025 while earning AVCA First-Team All-America and Southwest Region Player of the Year honors. She spent the summer training with the U.S. Women's National Team.
SPEARS' SECOND ACT
Spears recorded 12 kills Sunday against No. 6 Louisville, marking her fourth double-digit kill performance through six matches and the 27th of her career. Spears leads the Longhorns with 86.5 points and 4.12 points per set and ranks second with 72 kills and 3.43 kills per set. She entered her sophomore season after earning AVCA Third-Team All-America and Southwest Region Freshman of the Year honors as a freshman. Spears finished second on the team with 358 kills in 2025, averaging 3.25 kills per set while hitting .295, and became the first Texas freshman to earn AVCA National Player of the Week honors. She enters 2026 as a Preseason All-SEC selection and on the AVCA Player of the Year Preseason Watch List.
NYA AT THE NET
Senior middle blocker Nya Bunton has been one of Texas' most efficient players at the net early this season, recording 36 kills while hitting .392 through six matches. Her 30 total blocks rank 30th nationally and third in the SEC, while her 1.43 blocks per set rank fifth in the conference. Bunton has recorded seven or more blocks in three of six matches this season, including a match-high eight blocks in Wednesday's sweep of No. 15 USC. She also posted a career-high 10 kills in Texas' sweep of No. 18 TCU at the Players Era Volleyball Showcase.
BINNEY SETS THE TABLE
Junior setter Rella Binney has recorded the first two double-doubles of her career this season. She equaled her career high with 36 assists and added a career-best 11 digs in Texas' win over Marquette on Aug. 24 before recording 21 assists and 10 digs against No. 18 TCU on Aug. 29. Binney has recorded at least 30 assists in two matches this season and has totaled 163 assists while averaging 7.76 assists per set. She added 27 assists and seven digs against No. 6 Louisville on Sunday, Sept. 6.
GARY TAKES THE REINS
Senior Ramsey Gary has made an immediate impact at libero in her second season in Austin, leading Texas with 61 digs while averaging 2.90 digs per set. Gary posted 14 digs against Arizona State on Aug. 22 before recording a season-high 16 digs against Marquette on Aug. 24. She added seven digs and three assists against No. 6 Louisville on Sunday. Gary was a two-time All-Big Ten selection and two-time all-region honoree during her career at Indiana.
FRESHMAN IMPACT
Henley Anderson and Genevieve Harris enter Texas looking to make an impact in the lineup. Both were members of the 2026 U.S. Women's U21 National Team that won the Pan American Cup. Anderson started four of five matches and scored nine points in the gold-medal match, while Harris helped direct the U.S. offense. Anderson also represented the United States at the 2025 FIVB U21 World Championship and earned Best Opposite honors at the 2025 FIVB Girls U19 World Championship.
USA VOLLEYBALL EXPERIENCE
Five Longhorns gained USA Volleyball experience during the summer. Torrey Stafford was invited to train with the U.S. Women's National Team, while Henley Anderson, Genevieve Harris, Taylor Harvey and Abby Vander Wal competed with the U.S. U21 National Team at the Pan American Cup. The four Longhorns helped Team USA win the gold medal with a perfect 5-0 record.
RANKED SUCCESS
Texas owns a 172-69 (.714) record against ranked opponents over the last 23 seasons (2004-26) and an 80-17 (.825) home record against ranked opponents at Gregory Gymnasium and the Frank Erwin Center during that span. The Longhorns went 12-4 against ranked opponents in 2025.
ROAD HORNS
The Longhorns have won 61 of their last 64 true road matches dating back to the 2019 season. Texas went 13-0 in true road SEC matches before suffering its first loss at Texas A&M on Oct. 31, 2025. Since 2011, Texas is 135-24 (.849) in true road matches, with only seven of those losses coming against unranked teams.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
Texas enters the 2026 season riding a 55-match home sellout streak dating back to the 2022 season. The Longhorns ranked fifth nationally and led the SEC in total home attendance in 2025, drawing 67,149 fans across 15 matches. Texas averaged 4,477 fans per match, the sixth-best mark in the nation.
Texas set a Gregory Gym attendance record with 5,344 fans for the 2022 NCAA Regional Final against Ohio State before setting a new program and state record in 2025 when 10,899 fans attended the Stanford match at Moody Center. The Stanford crowd was the 11th-largest for any match in 2025 and the eighth-largest for a regular-season match.
SEC PRESEASON RECOGNITION
The Longhorns picked to finish second in the 2026 SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving six first-place votes and 216 points, just two points behind preseason favorite Kentucky. Senior Torrey Stafford and sophomore Cari Spears were named to the Preseason All-SEC Team after both earned All-SEC First Team honors in 2025.
MODEL OF CONSISTENCY
Texas has established itself as one of the most consistently successful programs in college volleyball, finishing each of the last 20 seasons ranked in the AVCA top 10, the only Division I program to accomplish the feat. The Longhorns have finished in the top five in 16 of the last 19 seasons, including 11 consecutive seasons from 2008-18.
Texas also owns the nation's longest active streak of NCAA Regional Semifinal appearances, advancing to the Sweet 16 in 20 consecutive seasons. During that stretch, the Longhorns have advanced to 19 NCAA Regional Finals, 12 National Semifinals and eight National Championship matches.
PRO HORNS IN THE USA
Texas has a strong presence in the professional volleyball landscape, with 12 former Longhorns currently set to compete in the United States across LOVB and Major League Volleyball.
LOVB:
- Austin: Bella Bergmark, Juliann Faucette, Molly McCage, Asjia O'Neal, Madisen Skinner
- Atlanta: Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres
- Miami: Khat Bell
- Nebraska: Regan Rutherford
MLV:
- Atlanta Vibe: Zoe Jarvis
- Indy Ignite: Emma Halter
- Minnesota Forge: Jenna Wenaas
- Vegas Thrill: Kayla Caffey
HALL OF HONOR: KHAT BELL
Former Longhorn Khat Bell will be inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor as part of the Class of 2026. Bell was a three-time All-American and helped Texas win the 2012 NCAA Championship and four consecutive Big 12 titles from 2011-14. She finished her Texas career with 827 kills and 436 total blocks and has gone on to a successful professional career spanning more than a decade.
TWO-SPORT LONGHORN: MACKENZIE COLLINS
Mackenzie Collins is competing in her first season with Texas Volleyball while also continuing her career as a member of the Longhorn track and field program. A standout hurdler, Collins advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships as a freshman in 2025. She joins a long line of Texas athletes who have excelled in multiple sports, including former Longhorn Destinee Hooker. Hooker played volleyball at Texas from 2006-09 and was a four-time All-American while also competing in track & field from 2005-09. She won four NCAA high jump championships, including three outdoor titles in 2006, 2007 and 2009 and the 2009 indoor championship.
TEXAS VOLLEYBALL-BASKETBALL CONNECTION
The Texas volleyball and basketball programs share several family connections. Senior Torrey Stafford's older sister, Imani McGee-Stafford, played basketball at Texas from 2012-16 and was a three-time All-Big 12 selection. She also received the 2016 Honda Inspiration Award and was selected No. 10 overall by the Chicago Sky in the 2016 WNBA Draft. Cari Spears' brother, Marcus, is a freshman on the Texas men's basketball team, while Camille Presley's brother, Malik, played basketball at Texas in 2024-25.
HAWAI'I TO THE FORTY
Since 2007, eight student-athletes have made their way from Hawai'i to the Forty Acres: Sydney Yogi (2008-11), Sarah Palmer (2010-13), Kat Brooks (2012-15), Jhenna Gabriel (2018-21), Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres (2021-22), Keonilei Akana (2022-24), Devin Kahahawai (2022-25) and Rella Binney (2024-present).
OFFENSE ON POINT IN 2025
Texas ranked in the top four nationally in three major offensive categories in 2025, finishing third in assists per set (13.78), fourth in hitting percentage (.315) and third in kills per set (14.75). The Longhorns led the SEC in hitting percentage and ranked second in the conference in both assists and kills per set.
TOUGHEST SCHEDULE IN 2025
Texas played the nation's toughest schedule in 2025, with its opponents combining for a 590-269 record (.687). The Longhorns finished the season No. 2 in the RPI.
