Nya Bunton Returns From Injury in Texas Longhorns' Much-Needed Win Over Auburn

Bunton is back! Well, sort of.

Senior middle blocker Nya Bunton returned to the court in her starting slot for the No. 12 Texas Longhorns match against the Auburn Tigers after suffering a left knee injury around two weeks ago. The starting position is definitely on lock for the 6-foot-3 middle, but a knee brace stayed on throughout the match, and sophomore middle blocker Taylor Harvey jumped in during all three sets to give Bunton's knee a break.

Texas volleyball defeated Auburn in a sweep, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-18. This was a must-win for the Longhorns after their Red River Rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners, took care of business in three sets for the first time in Norman, Oklahoma, since 2011.

No. 12 Texas takes on Auburn at Gregory Gym tonight at 6:30 p.m. The Longhorns are coming off a rough Red River sweep in Norman, Oklahoma.

Story to come @VolleyballOnSI pic.twitter.com/ECThU538Oa
— Paige Durrenberger (@PaigeTexas06) October 16, 2026

"(This win) just gives me confidence that we're still in this," Bunton said. "We still have a long road ahead, so I'm just excited for what we have."

For Bunton's first match back since Kentucky, she certainly made use of her time on the court. She recorded seven kills, three block assists and three total blocks.

"She's playing like an All-American right now," head coach Jerritt Elliott said. "We just got to stay healthy right now."

Harvey still got her chance to shine with a home crowd watching.

She registered 12 total attacks and five kills, igniting ear-ringing cheers from the fans. It's not the face the crowd is used to seeing at the net, but her power was embraced as if she were a regular.

The first set didn't require a stunning comeback or a gritty fight. Texas just took care of business after allowing Auburn to take the first two points. The second set was another story.

The Longhorns found themselves in a six-point deficit at 11-5. The bench was deflated, and the normally rowdy crowd had quieted down. The silence didn't discourage Texas. It fought its way back to a 14-14 score and began to run away with it. The Longhorns went on a four-point run before Texas and Auburn exchanged points until the players in burnt orange hit the magic 25 points.

Fans are tired of reading it, and Elliott is tired of seeing it, but service errors are still present in the Longhorns' game. Freshman outside hitter Henley Anderson and sophomore outside hitter Cari Spears each racked up three, and senior outside hitter Torrey Stafford, two.

"We got to play a little more clean," Elliott said. "Still too many errors in certain situations. If we can do that, our kill production was phenomenal tonight."

Speaking of Stafford, she was Texas' top performer of the night with 17 kills. Her production was significant, registering a .349 hitting percentage with six errors.

Sophomore outside hitter Cari Spears still hasn't been playing her best volleyball, only managing to hit just seven kills with a .158 hitting efficiency. Against Oklahoma, Spears hit a measly one kill with a negative percentage.

that Texas fight, y'all 🤘#HookEm pic.twitter.com/yg966EEFjP
— Texas Volleyball (@TexasVolleyball) October 17, 2026

Gregory gym exploded in the third set when a service ace by freshman setter Genevieve Harris scored an ace to even the score 13-13. And just when fans thought it couldn't get any louder, it did when Harvey killed a ball from Harris to put Texas up. The newbies aren't so bad.

The Longhorns didn't dilly-dally in putting the match away. It took just one set point to get the job done, and Stafford's kill was the one that sent the Auburn Tigers to the bus.

"We're working on a lot of next-play mentality and staying focused for long periods of time," Elliott said. "We were way more dialed in."

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