No. 14 Texas volleyball’s 2026 Lone Star Showdown took place in Gregory Gymnasium in front of a packed house of burnt orange. The stage was set for a pivotal matchup in both teams’ seasons.
No. 17 Texas A&M is the defending national champion coming off back-to-back victories against top-10 ranked teams, while Texas struggled through a brutal early-season schedule, looking to make a statement with another ranked victory. In the end, Texas took down its rival to win the Lone Star Showdown in a clean 3-0 sweep.
Texas got its top performance from sophomore middle blocker Taylor Harvey. Harvey contributed five kills on nine attacks as a part of Texas’ efficient game on offense, adding on some loud blocks to keep the Longhorns rolling.
Harvey’s biggest impact did not come in rallies, however. Harvey accrued four service aces, including a stretch of three in a row in the middle of the second set. Normally being subbed out for a service specialist, Harvey does not see much action from behind the line, and made the most of the time she got today.
“With our formations right now we can’t sub (Harvey) out every time,” head coach Jerritt Elliott said. “It’s a little more of a risk-reward, but the reward’s been paying off.”
Freshman outside hitter Henley Anderson also seemed to be everywhere for Texas. Anderson tallied another double-digit kill game, now her 10th this season and ninth consecutively, with a .444 hit percentage, her second best all season.
“I feel like as a team we did so well with executing the scout that it made it really easy for me,” Anderson said. “The assistant sets were really good, it’s easy to see the court when it’s like that.”
Anderson made an impact defensively as well. Her ability to block and dig has appeared in stints this season. She came away with four digs and two blocks, helping Texas hold A&M’s offense to a .138 hit percentage. Texas’ defense has been good all season with exceptional play from senior libero Ramsey Gary, but Texas could become a real two-way threat approaching the playoffs with steady contributions from others.
Despite four aces from Harvey, Texas fell back into its old ways from behind the service line. Following three consecutive games with single-digit service errors, Texas jumped back up with 13 against A&M.
“We missed some serves and then we got tentative,” Elliott said. “We didn’t hit with depth, so that’s an area that we’ve still got to be focused on.”
The errors came from everywhere, including Harvey, who tied Anderson with the most service errors with three. Texas’ setter rotation of junior setter Rella Binney and freshman setter Genevieve Harris had two each. The mistakes did not lead to Texas losing, but as the regular season comes to a close, every point matters more and more.
Texas’ win against Texas A&M is huge for standings in a bunched Southeastern Conference. Texas moves to 8-3, tying No. 7 Kentucky for second-best in the conference. Texas continues their conference play against Missouri in the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Missouri on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.
“(The win) just looks gigantic,” Elliott said. “We’re fighting to be a top four seed because to go through that tournament … with how good this conference is right now, playing like this, then playing another match, then playing another match and another match, there’s a lot going into the NCAA tournament.”
