Texas Volleyball Suffers Crushing Loss to Wisconsin in Elite Eight

Despite an impressive 2025 season, the Texas Longhorns volleyball team officially met its match in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday.

The Wisconsin Badgers came to Austin with a mission to accomplish, and not even the home team could stand in their way of making it to Kansas City, Missouri for the Final Four.

Although the No. 1 seeded Longhorns put up as best a fight they could, it took the Badgers just four sets to terminate their season.

What happened to Texas?

Texas Longhorns volleybal — Dec 17, 2022; Omaha, Nebraska, US; Louisville Cardinals Aiko Jones (15) attacks against Texas Longhorns Kayla Caffey (28) and Logan Eggleston (33) at CHI Health Center. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what Wisconsin brought to the table that proved too powerful on Sunday, but it was clear that the Longhorns couldn’t come up with a successful response to their attack.

Senior outside hitter Mimi Colyer and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Una Vajagic had a combined total of 38 kills throughout the matchup’s duration, showcasing their ability to establish a rhythm and find holes in opposing defenses.

Unfortunately for Texas, its players couldn’t seem to keep up with the pace of the Badgers’ offense.

The Longhorns unblocked Wisconsin 9-8, but the effort didn’t slow down their offensive prowess to a great enough extent.

Texas was able to prevent getting swept through a momentous third set victory, but even their electrified home crowd couldn’t get them through the next set successfully. The Badgers claimed the fourth set with a final score of 25-19, punching their way to the next round and leaving Texas behind.

Texas head coach comments on the loss

Texas Longhorns head coach erritt Elliott — Dec 17, 2022; Omaha, Nebraska, US; Texas Longhorns head coach Jerritt Elliott walks the sidelines against the Louisville Cardinals at CHI Health Center. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images | Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

This defeat was a devastating one for the Longhorns for obvious reasons, and head coach Jerritt Elliott emphasized the pain his team was experiencing following the game.

“You work 365 days to get to this moment, and you want so badly for your team to advance to the Final Four and have a chance for a national championship,” he said. “It’s just been such a special year for me.”

Elliott, who has won three national titles with this program, believes that the future is bright for this team. However, that doesn’t seem to make falling short any easier or less heartbreaking.

“Fortunately, we’ve got a lot of good players coming back, and we’ll figure that out in time,” he said. “But right now is the time just to hug one another and take care of each other and really reflect on the personalities.”

The loss, accompanied with the fact that talented seniors like libero Emma Halter are parting ways with the program, have left the team emotional for good reason.

That being said, fans will likely be ready to bring just as much passion to the table in 2026 when their team gets back on the court.