Golden: Marquette gave top-ranked Texas volleyball the exact push it needed

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Midway through the second set of Texas’ win over Marquette on Thursday, the video folks at Gregory Gym played the popular “We Ready for Y'all” commercial that’s become a favorite of sports fans everywhere.

As the song faded to silence before play resumed, Texas fans continued to sing.

“We ready. We ready. We ready. For y'all.”

Marquette is a respected top-16 seed of very young players who recently sent the No. 13 seed packing from the NCAA tourney, but the Golden Eagles weren’t ready for Texas.

Asjia O'Neal cheers during Texas' 3-1 win over Marquette in their Sweet 16 matchup Thursday at Gregory Gym. Texas will play Ohio State on Saturday with a Final Four berth on the line.
Asjia O'Neal cheers during Texas' 3-1 win over Marquette in their Sweet 16 matchup Thursday at Gregory Gym. Texas will play Ohio State on Saturday with a Final Four berth on the line.

At least not at first.

By the time the Golden Eagles settled into the proceedings, it was too late.

The Longhorns aren’t a perfect team, but when they are hitting on all cylinders, it’s going to take some kind of effort to send them to the showers.

The 3-1 win, Texas’ 25th against only one loss, pulled the Horns to within one win of a 10th final four in coach Jerritt Elliott’s 22 seasons. Better yet, the opponent gave the Horns something to think about after its 25-19 win in the third set caused a few murmurs to go through the team.

When asked if dropping a set and getting though safely to the Elite Eight was more beneficial than boat-racing their visitors from the Midwest, Elliott didn’t hesitate.

“Yeah, absolutely,” he said, "Were're going to get pushed. Some teams are going to play great. As you move on and advance, you're playing more physical teams that can match what you're doing.”

Texas players Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres, left, and Keonilei Akana cheer during Thursday's Sweet 16 victory. After notching sweeps in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns dropped Thursday's third set but then won the fourth.
Texas players Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres, left, and Keonilei Akana cheer during Thursday's Sweet 16 victory. After notching sweeps in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns dropped Thursday's third set but then won the fourth.

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Frankly, playing this version of Texas volleyball is like fighting Mike Tyson in the mid-1980s. Thirty-five years ago, Iron Mike was a 21-year-old killing machine, dispatching heavyweight contenders with startling ease. His early title reign was something to behold, that is, before his out-of-the-ring habits caught up to him.

Worse yet for the Eagles, burnt orange Tyson was throwing haymakers and Gregory was rocking as usual. Most of the fans showed up early and were salivating by the opening serve. That included a nice Texas football contingent of Bijan Robinson, Roschon Johnson, Hayden Conner, Jahdae Barron, Christian Jones,  Jordan Whittingon and Maalik Murphy, to name a few.

Texas' Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres sets up a teammate during Thursday's win. The Longhorns had won 11 straight sets over the end of the regular season and the first two matches of the NCAA Tournament but dropped Thursday's third set.
Texas' Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres sets up a teammate during Thursday's win. The Longhorns had won 11 straight sets over the end of the regular season and the first two matches of the NCAA Tournament but dropped Thursday's third set.

And just like that, the Eagles found themselves in a 10-1 hole and eventually down two sets. They were seriously on the verge of returning to the Brew City on the business end of a sweep.

The Horns might have eased off the gas a bit as five service errors combined with Marquette raising its level prevented any sweep from happening. Kudos to the Golden Eagles for not just giving up the ghost after getting boat-raced in the first two sets. They regained their sea legs behind outside hitter Hattie Bray and turned back a suddenly error-prone Longhorns team with some precise serving and some downright scrappy defense.

“Getting back into it was a big struggle because anything we gave them, they came back swinging hard,” Bray said.

Marquette avoided being the latest Texas opponent to taste the undercarriage of a steamroller, and who would have blamed them had it happened? The Horns are so burly up front, and the three-headed mountain of Logan Eggleston, Molly Phillips and Asjia O'Neal can appear unassailable at times. It made Marquette’s climb back into the match all the more impressive, though few of us thought the Horns could be had.

After seeing its streak of 11 consecutive winning sets come to an end, Texas admittedly had to take a little bit of inventory during the break to make sure things didn’t take a turn. This is where the leadership comes in. Setter Zoe Fleck is described by Eggleston as someone who keeps everyone calm in the huddle, so there was little chance of panic setting in.

Texas libero Zoe Fleck bumps the ball during the Longhorns' Sweet 16 win over Marquette. The UCLA transfer has been solid defensively all season for the Longhorns.
Texas libero Zoe Fleck bumps the ball during the Longhorns' Sweet 16 win over Marquette. The UCLA transfer has been solid defensively all season for the Longhorns.

“I think a lot of the things that we talked about as a team is how can we just clean up 1%, right?” Fleck said.  “It's not about being perfect. We don't have to be perfect to win this. It's about how can each of us be present in each moment and do one little thing better than we did last set. And then continue moving forward one point at a time.”

Getting popped in a set by a Marquette team that will be even better next season given its young nucleus might be just the tonic the Horns need when they match up again with the Buckeyes, whom they beat twice on opening weekend. Ohio State dominated Minnesota in Thursday’s opener after dropping the first set and will present a physical, formidable challenge Saturday.

Eggleston believes going through Thursday's third-set storm could prove beneficial in what could be Texas’ toughest match to date coming up. Saturday's match also will be her final one at the Greg in one of the most decorated careers in program history.

“It's always great to see some adversity in the tournament,” she said. “It's good to be reminded that we can't just expect a team, once they lose two sets, to go away. So it's really good that they kind of came back and showed us some fire because we're going to continue to see that in the rest of the tournament.”

Omaha, Neb., is the goal, but there will be no Omaha unless the Horns dot the “i” in Ohio first.

Texas is still the team to beat and Marquette provided a subtle reminder that the road to a second national title in 10 seasons will be wrought with a bump or two.

The Horns are battle-tested and ready for the next step.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas tops Marquette in four sets, but it wasn't an easy victory