Nebraska and Texas Volleyball: A breakdown of a rivalry of high stakes

Nebraska and Texas volleyball’s rivalry is one with the highest of stakes.

The Huskers and Longhorns, while they were in the Big 12 together until 2011, typically now only play each other in the NCAA tournament.

Texas has won four of the last five matchups with Nebraska and seven of the matchups between the two teams since 1995 were in the regional final (4), NCAA semifinals or for a national championship.

Here is a review of Nebraska and Texas’s last six matchups in the NCAA tournament as the teams gear up to battle each other again on Saturday at 9 p.m. in Austin, Texas in the regional finals.

The Huskers took down Texas 3-1 in the NCAA championship game to win their first national championship in program history and Heach Coach Terry Pettit’s only national championship.

The Longhorns won the first set 15-11, back went each set was played to 15 points instead of 25 like it is today. Nebraska stormed back and dominated in the next two sets winning 15-2 and 15-7.

The Huskers held on tight, winning the final set in extra points 16-14 and claiming the title.

No. 2 seeded Texas defeated No. 10 Nebraska in Omaha, Neb. in the regional final 21-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-17.

With this win, the Longhorns became the first team in the NCAA era to defeat Nebraska volleyball three times in one season.

2009 was a tough year for Nebraska athletics in games against Texas. The Longhorns’ football team beat Nebraska 13-12 in the Big 12 championship as the UT hit a field goal with one second left.

As for volleyball, the Huskers hit .176 and were extra high-error. Texas had five players hit over .300. UT went on to beat Minnesota in the semifinals but loose 3-2 to Penn State in the national championship game.

The top-seeded Longhorns traveled to Lincoln for a battle with No. 8 Nebraska and walked out unscathed in a sweep in the regional final.

Nebraska was led by Olympic Gold medalists Kelsey Robinson, who had 21 kills, and Justine Wong-Orantes, who had 17 digs and four assists. Kadie Rolfzen added 12 kills and 12 digs. NU hit .176 and Texas hit .266 and had 14 blocks.

The Huskers finished the season 26-7. Texas advanced to the NCAA semifinals but fell to Wisconsin 3-1. The Badgers lost to Penn State in the championship as the Nittany Lions won its fifth title in seven seasons.

After losing to Texas in five sets in Austin earlier in the season, No. 4 Nebraska swept the No. 3 Longhorns in Omaha, Neb. at the CenturyLink Center to win the 2015 National Championship.

The Huskers won 25-23, 25-23, 25-21 and were led by setter Kelly Hunter, who is now a volunteer assistant at Nebraska. Freshman Mikaela Foecke had a match-high 19 kills and hit .385. Amber Rolfzen had 10 kills with no errors and hit .625.

Texas hit .215 and was led by Yasmeen Bedart-Ghani who had 11 kills and hit .500.

No. 4 Texas shocked the Huskers, sweeping them 25-18, 25-23, 25-21 in the NCAA Semifinals. However, the Longhorns fell to No. 6 Stanford 3-1 in the national championship match.

Against Nebraska, the Longhorns hit .321 including .424 in the final set and unblocked Nebraska 10 to four.

Mikaela Foecke had 13 kills and hit .333 for Nebraska. Briana Holman added nine kills. Kadie Rolfzen had six kills and a team-high 14 digs.

The Longhorns snapped Nebraska’s 10-match winning streak in the NCAA tournament. NU ended the season with a 31-3 record and a .912 winning percentage, the highest since 2008.

Last season, No. 5 Nebraska was dominated by No. 4 Texas, losing 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 25-21) in the regional finals.

Texas hit .336 and held the Huskers to .171. Nebraska’s Madi Kubik had 15 kills and Kayla Caffey added eight. Setter Nicklin Hames had 34 assists, 13 digs and three aces.

UT was led by Logan Eggleston and Skylar Fields who each had 18 kills. The Longhorns swept No. 1 Wisconsin in the Final Four but lost to No. 2 Kentucky in the national championship.

Husker players have said repeatedly that they didn’t play their best against Texas in the 2020 season and are itching for another shot at them. Well, that shot is here.

No. 2 Texas and No. 10 Nebraska play in Austin, Texas in the regional finals for a chance to go to the Final Four. The Rally has a full breakdown of this matchup.

The rivalry continues at 9 p.m. on Saturday on ESPNU at Gregory Gym in Austin, Texas as Nebraska aims for redemption.