The No. 2 Texas Longhorns rolled over the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sunday in Tuscaloosa, 3-1, moving to 14-0 on the season with six wins in conference play and remaining undefeated in SEC road matches.
In the first set, the Tide were able to capitalize on six Longhorn service errors while holding the Texas offense to seven kills and seven attacking errors, winning it 25-20. It was only the third time this season that the Horns has dropped the opening set.
The second set was tight at 7-7 until Texas rallied with an impressive .385 hitting percentage led by junior outside hitter Torrey Stafford’s six kills along with the help of true freshman outside hitter Cari Spears, who added four kills. The Longhorns finished with 17 kills and four blocks, holding the Tide to 10 kills and a .095 hitting percentage. The Longhorns took eight of the final 10 points to win the set, 25-16.
In the third set, Alabama got off to a 4-0 run, but Texas rallied with two blocks by sophomore middle blocker Ayden Ames two kills to help level the Tide, 8-8. The third-set hitting percentage for the Longhorns was .366 thanks 19 kills conducted as Stafford and Spears combined for 10 while Texas added four blocks to close the set, 25-23 behind critical kills by Ames and Stafford.
As the fourth set commenced, true freshman outside hitter Abby Vander Wal smashed five kills for the Horns to record a hitting percentage of .444 in the decisive set. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Nya Bunton made her first appearance of the match, notching two kills with a block as Texas held Alabama to eight kills on a .097 hitting percentage to finish the final set in dominant fashion, 25-16. The Tide never led or tied the Longhorns in the set.
This was the first time since Sept. 7 against No. 6 Stanford that four Texas players recorded over 10 kills on the day — Stafford recorded a match-high 17 kills, Vander Wal finished with 13, Ames added 11, and Spears notched 10. Junior setter Ella Swindle distributed 32 assists with two kills of her own.
No. 2 Texas returns to the Forty Acres to host Arkansas on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Central on SEC Network +.