Texas Volleyball Brings Home National Championship

By Jordan Schraeder in Special, Sports on December 17, 2012 at 3:48 pm | No Comments

This weekend, the Tower glowed orange to commemorate yet another of UT’s remarkable feats: the 2012 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball National Championship title.

Following an improbable win against Michigan in the semifinals, the Lady Longhorns swept the Oregon Ducks 3-0 in Saturday’s championship match at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.—bringing home UT’s first national title since 1988.

With 14 match kills, junior outside hitter Bailey Webster led the third-ranked Longhorns to victory over sixth-ranked Oregon, and for her efforts was named the most outstanding player of the game. Other Texas standouts include outside hitter Haley Eckerman, who had 12 kills, five digs, and one block, and setter Hannah Allison, who put up 35 assists and five blocks.

The win brought Jerritt Elliott his first-ever national championship, topping off what may have be his most successful season yet as Longhorn head coach: The ’Horns finished out the season with an impressive 29-4 overall record and 15-1 in the Big 12 Conference, and Elliott was recently named the 2012 AVCA Division I National Coach of the Year. Known for his ability to recruit top talent, Elliott has just closed out his 12th year as Texas head coach.

The team just narrowly missed the chance to go head-to-head with Penn State—the team that led a heartbreaking two-point victory over the ’Horns in 2009’s championship match—when the Nittany Lions fell to Oregon in this year’s semifinals. Saturday’s game was no vengeful championship rematch—but the Longhorns bringing home that trophy still feels pretty dang good.

The official Tower lighting won’t take place until the spring semester when the players will be back on campus, according to the Texas Volleyball Twitter account. A TV special focusing on the team’s postseason play is in the works and is set to be aired sometime in January on the Longhorn Network.

Photo courtesy UT Athletics.

Tags: Bailey Webster, big 12 conference, Haley Eckerman, jerritt elliott, Longhorns, NCAA National Championship, Oregon Ducks