Looking back, things couldn’t have gone any better for Texas volleyball during the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
The top-seeded Longhorns (24-3) flash a poised and precise offense befitting one of the top attacks in the country: They hit better than .400 in both matches while sweeping unseeded Florida A&M and No. 8 Penn State in the first- and second-round matches, respectively. They also flashed a relentless defense with an imposing block and impenetrable back row: On Friday, Florida A&M had more hitting errors than kills, and defending champion Penn State hit just .124 Saturday against Texas.
And in order to reach their ultimate goal of an NCAA championship, said All-American candidate Torrey Stafford, the Longhorns need to maintain that kind of balance entering the round of 16 this weekend at Gregory Gymnasium.
“I feel like it’s easy to put a big emphasis on either offense or defense, but we try to do both,” Stafford said after Saturday’s 25-16, 25-9, 25-19 sweep over Penn State. “And in order to be a great offensive team, we need to be great defensive team, too.”
Stafford and her teammates certainly looked great against the Nittany Lions while reaching the Sweet 16 for a 20th consecutive season. Stafford fired 21 kills with just one hitting error while fellow attackers Cari Spears and Abby Vander Wal combined for 19 more kills with just three hitting errors.
“I just felt like everyone was on the same page tonight,” said setter Ella Swindle, who dished out 21 assists. “I think we just had a really clear picture of what we were trying to do, and I think all of our hitters did a really good job of just being ready in any situation and also just going after the shots that they wanted.”
Now, Texas will take the best shot from surprising Indiana (25-7), which reached the round of 16 for just the second time in program history by sweeping Colorado. The Hoosiers boast a balanced squad steeled by playing in arguably the country’s deepest conference, the Big Ten. They ranked fifth in the Big Ten this season with a .283 hitting percentage, and they boast a veteran attacker in Candela Alonso-Corcelles, a 6-foot-2 senior from Spain who averages 3.54 kills a set.
But the key to the Hoosiers could be setter Teodora Kričković, said UT coach Jerritt Elliott. The 6-foot-2 freshman from Serbia emerged as one of the top young setters in the nation this season while averaging 10.67 assists per set. Her size also gives Indiana a presence at the net, much like Texas has with the 6-2 Swindle; Kričković has 52 kills as well as 50 blocks.
Elliott said he caught “about 15 minutes” of Indiana on TV earlier this season, but is looking forward to diving into the film study.
“I think they’re a fast team, I think they’ve got good setting, (and) I think they’re pretty efficient,” he said. “They’ll be a good challenge.”
Texas will face No. 4 Indiana Friday at noon at Gregory Gymnasium. With a win, the Longhorns will play a final home game this season Sunday against either No. 2 Stanford or No. 3 Wisconsin. The winner of that match qualifies for the Final Four Dec. 18-21 in Kansas City, Mo.
