Volleyball game between the Texas Longhorns and Rice Owls at Gregory Gym in Austin, Texas on August 14, 2026. (Photo: Ralph Arvesen)
Texas Volleyball entered Moody Center looking for a response after consecutive losses to Louisville and SMU, and the No. 9 Longhorns found it against one of the strongest opponents on their early schedule. Texas defeated the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers in four sets, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-16, earning its first top-10 victory of the season in front of 10,294 fans, the second-largest crowd in program history.
Wisconsin controlled the opening set after creating separation midway through the frame. The Badgers built a 13-8 advantage and maintained enough distance to keep Texas playing from behind. The Longhorns did make a late push, trimming the deficit to 20-18, but Wisconsin answered with three of the next four points and eventually closed the set 25-21. Wisconsin hit .268 with 17 kills in the opener, while Texas finished at .214 with 12 kills.
The second set began to change the direction of the match. Wisconsin remained efficient offensively, hitting .313 in the frame, but Texas stayed close enough to prevent the Badgers from creating another comfortable lead. With the score tied 15-15, the Longhorns put together a 5-1 run that pushed them in front 20-16. That stretch gave Texas the cushion it had been missing in the first set, and the Longhorns finished the frame 25-21 to even the match.
The third set became the turning point. Texas and Wisconsin were tied 10-10 before the Longhorns produced their most important run of the afternoon, scoring nine of the next 11 points to take a 19-12 advantage. Wisconsin managed to cut the deficit to four at 20-16, but Texas did not allow the Badgers to erase the lead. The Longhorns closed out a 25-20 set and moved ahead 2-1.
Wisconsin's offense, which had hit above .260 in each of the first two sets, struggled badly in the third. The Badgers managed 10 kills but committed seven attack errors on 47 attempts, finishing the frame at just .064. Texas was not especially efficient either, hitting .173, but the Longhorns created enough pressure with their serving, defense and transition play to take control of the set.
By the fourth, Texas was playing its cleanest volleyball of the afternoon. The Longhorns jumped ahead 7-3 and stretched the advantage to 12-5 before Wisconsin could establish any sustained rhythm. The Badgers never came closer than six points the rest of the way, while Texas continued to side out efficiently and avoided the extended scoring droughts that had hurt the team earlier in the season.
The offensive numbers in the fourth reflected how completely the match had shifted. Texas recorded 15 kills with only two attack errors on 31 attempts, hitting .419. Wisconsin finished at .188, and the Longhorns closed the match with a 25-16 victory. After dropping the opening set, Texas had steadily increased its control of the match, winning the final three sets by four, five and nine points.
Cari Spears matched her career and season high with 18 kills while hitting .326. Spears also tied for the match lead with three service aces, giving Texas production both from the attack and behind the service line. Her performance was especially important against a Wisconsin defense that forced the Longhorns to work through extended rallies throughout the afternoon.
Torrey Stafford added 16 kills and 11 digs for her third double-double of the season. Stafford provided another dependable scoring option on the outside, helping prevent Wisconsin from focusing its defense too heavily on Spears. With both outside hitters producing consistently, Texas was able to spread the offense more effectively as the match progressed.
The most efficient Texas attacker was Nya Bunton. Bunton finished with career highs of 13 kills and 25 attacks while hitting .480, committing only one error. She also added two blocks. Her production through the middle gave Wisconsin another problem to solve and helped create more favorable opportunities for the Longhorns on the pins.
Setter Rella Binney turned in one of her best all-around matches of the season. Binney recorded a career-high 44 assists and a career-best 21 digs for her fourth double-double. The defensive total was particularly notable for a setter and reflected how many long rallies developed between two teams capable of extending points.
Ramsey Gary led everyone with 25 digs, while Anja Kujundzic contributed a season-high three service aces. Serving became one of the clearest statistical advantages for Texas. The Longhorns finished with seven aces compared with only one for Wisconsin, creating points directly while also forcing the Badgers into less comfortable offensive situations.
Texas finished the match with 58 kills, 18 attack errors and a .250 hitting percentage. Wisconsin recorded 52 kills and 22 errors while hitting .197. The Longhorns also held an 8-6 advantage in blocks and a 73-59 edge in total points, a sizable difference considering how evenly the match began.
Wisconsin was led offensively by Eva Travis, who finished with 17 kills. Grace Lopez added nine, while Lynney Tarnow led the Badgers with five blocks. Setter Charlie Fuerbringer recorded 42 assists and 15 digs, while Anna Bardaro led Wisconsin with 17 digs.
The matchup continued what has become a regular series between two of the country's most established programs. This was the fifth meeting between Texas and Wisconsin over the last four seasons. The Badgers had won the previous matchup in the NCAA Regional Finals in Austin, while Texas had taken the four meetings before that, including a sweep in Madison during the previous season.
The result also carried extra weight because of what Texas had faced leading into it. Wisconsin was the seventh ranked opponent on the Longhorns' schedule through only eight matches. Texas had already played four top-10 opponents in a five-match stretch, including Nebraska, Louisville and SMU. The Longhorns entered the afternoon with a 3-4 record and two straight losses, so this was less about protecting a ranking and more about finding consistency against another elite opponent.
Texas had shown pieces of that level throughout the opening weeks. The Longhorns swept TCU and USC, but losses to Arizona State, Nebraska and Louisville exposed stretches when the offense became too predictable or errors accumulated too quickly. The five-set loss at SMU showed improvement, but Texas still left Dallas without the result. Against Wisconsin, the Longhorns finally paired a strong offensive performance with the ability to sustain pressure across multiple sets.
The progression of the match may have been the most encouraging part for Texas. The Longhorns did not begin by overwhelming Wisconsin. They lost the first set and allowed the Badgers to hit efficiently again in the second. Instead of letting the match drift away, Texas gradually changed it. The third set disrupted Wisconsin's offense, and the fourth became the Longhorns' cleanest attacking set of the afternoon.
Playing at Moody Center also gave the match a different scale. The crowd of 10,294 ranked second in Texas volleyball history, continuing the program's effort to bring selected matches into the larger arena rather than keeping the entire home schedule at Gregory Gym. The setting fit a matchup between programs that have combined to win three of the last five national championships.
The victory moved Texas to 4-4 and improved the Longhorns' all-time record against Wisconsin to 9-5. More importantly, it gave Texas its first top-10 win of the season after several opportunities had slipped away. There was still plenty to clean up, particularly after an opening set controlled by Wisconsin, but the response over the final three sets looked much closer to the level expected from a team carrying championship expectations.
Texas did not need a perfect afternoon to beat Wisconsin. It needed to stay composed after losing the first set, limit mistakes as the match progressed and find enough offensive balance to keep the Badgers from settling into their defense. By the fourth set, all three pieces were working. After several weeks spent measuring itself against ranked opponents, Texas finally had the kind of result that made the difficult schedule feel worthwhile.
University of Texas Volleyball
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