AUSTIN, Texas. — The No. 3 Texas Volleyball team rolled past No. 15 Indiana (25-20, 25-22, 25-22) to advance to the Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament. In the last 20 regional semifinal appearances, the Longhorns have advanced to 18 NCAA Regional Finals, 12 National Semifinals and eight National Championship matches.
Junior Torrey Stafford became just the second Longhorn since 2013 to reach 500 kills in a season and first since Madisen Skinner in 2023 who finished with 547. Stafford also reached 700 career digs (705) with eight on the day along with four blocks, which tied her season high. The outside hitter recorded a .679 hitting percentage, marking her season high. In addition, Stafford became the sole Longhorn since 2013 to register 500 kills and 250 digs in the same season.
Texas put up .374 hitting percentage as a team, while limiting Indiana to .217. Freshman Cari Spears totaled eight kills and three digs while hitting .312. Middle blocker Nya Bunton recorded seven kills and five blocks, while outside hitter Whitney Lauenstein registered seven kills and season-high four blocks. Sophomore Ayden Ames contributed six of the 12 total blocks for the Longhorns, along with three kills. Libero Ramsey Gary reached 200 digs at Texas (201) with three while facing her former team.
Set One: Texas extended the lead with a 4-0 run to 14-8 in the first set against the Hoosiers, taking the set 25-20. Stafford totaled six kills while hitting .750, with Bunton putting up three blocks amongst Texas’ four in set one. The Longhorns hit .323 while limiting Indiana to only .162 and one block.
Set Two: The Longhorns won the second set 25-22. Texas put up five team blocks, with Ames leading the charge with four. Stafford recorded nine kills while hitting .818, with Ella Swindle contributing 11 of her 30 assists.
Set Three: Texas completed the sweep over the Hoosiers with a 25-22 set three win. Lauenstein (6) and Bunton (5) combined for 11 kills for the Longhorns. Bunton hit perfect during the final set of the match (5-for-5).
Texas will face No. 10 Wisconsin in the NCAA Regional final on Sunday, Dec. 14 in Gregory Gym. The game time is TBD for either 2:30 pm CT on ABC or 6:30 pm CT on ESPN.
