Texas vs. Wisconsin: 2020* NCAA volleyball semifinals | FULL REPLAY

moments away from first serve in our second semi-final congratulations to the kentucky wildcats texas has been here before it's their 13th national semifinal they've won two national championships the wisconsin badgers here last year i should say in 2019 losing to stanford three sets to none four thousand fans allowed in the building really good atmosphere it's wonderful to be here live i i didn't mind talking to you when i was in los angeles and you were in austin you looked very very comfortable in that dark brown cubicle it was it was cozy it was cozy no question but it's a heck of a lot more fun being here lots of wisconsin red on hand wisconsin the only undefeated team remaining in the country this year and they've had a really difficult time has had a lot of the big ten with covid we'll cover that as the match goes on texas at 24 and one in their fall big 12 season a perfect 16-0 the big 12 champions once again there is logan eggleston one of many weapons for texas and wisconsin can match them the same [Applause] melania ocea 5 8 freshman out of torrance california an outstanding defensive specialist sets the off ball particularly well she is on to start things off molly phillips off the right side transition opportunity but immediately there's the defensive side of it a big block by dana recki that's it and that it's going to be the story of the night who can slow down whom you're exactly right i'd like this match up right now logan eagleson be blocking the slide of dana recce so that'll be a fun one to watch georgia tevita 5'6 senior out of milan italy a transfer from wichita state and as holly said had a spectacular match in the regional finals over the top touched nicely by hagerty and brian butler a dynamic middle blocker first team all-american leads the nation in total bot block six foot four junior out of pendleton texas well when she's in the game they're going to want to fling that ball up there for her and kind of lay it up nice and high wisconsin to do a nice job getting two on it but that's what she does well morgan o'brien has taken over the libero since oh nice block asia o'neal working on the slide o'brien a transfer from illinois has played in a national semi final but texas hasn't been in this position since 2016. going back to serve in the black jersey she's the only woman then playing for illinois that's been on this stage it's been a long time it's seemingly being a long time for texas but they're happy to be back and with a team that can do it a good pass by barnes javita with a good first contact hagerty having to take a pretty solid swing out of the back court look at the quality of these block touches [Applause] settle in this is how it's going to go for a couple hours barnes with another dig down the line she had 28 a couple of days ago the air getting a little thin that time that missed out of bounds spectacular long rally by both of these teams ninth meeting all time series tied at four apiece second ever in the ncaa tournament texas beat wisconsin three sets to none in austin a regional semi some years ago so not a lot of hold over that certainly for sure and coming on to serve as grace lowberg nice throw down out of the middle by asia o'neil is this the best ball control team texas has had in some time you know i really feel as though it is they have the defenders they have o'brien they have yoseah of course sydney peterson who was the libero last year and they are just solid in every position in the back row aj o'neal six foot three redshirt sophomore out of south lake texas hit 486 in the tournament which is ridiculous through the block chavitta can't track that one down that got through the hands of number two in white sydney hilly wisconsin is the number one overall seed and obviously higher seed wearing their home white uniforms a smart swing off the top of the block looking to go down the line with logan edelson over sydney hilly but she's doing a nice job slowing the ball down a little bit here loberg with the overpass good block touch that time by hilly through the block and down and the value of josiah in the backcourt time and again she has stepped in when the setter was unavailable and delivered a really really nice ball nalani you'll see her well that's what they wanted to do she takes that second ball she's got great hand she has fantastic location i talked to coach elliott earlier and he said look she's playing her best volleyball right now we're so fortunate to have her on the court asia o'neil again working pin to pin but can't get out and seal against dana retki recce last year the big ten player of the year six foot eight senior out of riverside illinois and now one of six players in the history of college volleyball to be a four-time first-team all-american and when we show you that list or give it to you it is an amazing list [Music] chance for wisconsin hagerty oh slicing and dicing very very clever indeed that was not an easy chance i love that play by hagerty she comes in you'll see her inside the court she has to play that ball stays there hangs out reads the block well and cuts it just inside the block on the sideline and what a good read by sydney hilly recognizing that the outside attacker and speaking out that ball served just long but that there's no way hagerty could get back out all the way to the pin you know and i just love the communication on that team they they do that they they scream for it hey i'm here for a two or i'm here for a rip i'm inside great communication by the setters and the outside hitters for wisconsin here is eggleston a very dangerous server in only 25 matches 48 aces so far on the year field smart shot that ball was left way too far inside hagerty again who was absolutely huge in their regional final match against the florida gators wisconsin holding on coming back from four down in the fifth salim as you well know to win it three sets to two and no question hagerty was the leader of that along with hillary first team all-american is sydney hilly once again orange perfect delivery nice dig by o'brien oh barnes was there lauren barnes number one in the red libro jersey heard holly rowe talking about her had 16 digs in a short match against byu and then in a marathon five setter had 28 digs matching her career high just phenomenal so we'll see if o'neill goes towards maddie sorry molly haggerty and grace lowberg in that cross court area lowberg nice chase by hilly and on the slide excuse me that's beyond brian butler going behind usually goes in front that's a nice play by butler hitting 423 on the year number one in the big 12. number two in the big 12. also asia o'neil molly phillips is number three and logan eggleston is number six but other than that they didn't dominate the top ten o'neill's got a very good serve first time i ever saw her in person i thought that thing's got some movement nice response devin robinson the 6-2 freshman out of iowa ranked as the number 14 overall recruit what has she done in her rookie season in the country's best conference she's made first team all big ten third team all-american well i tell you what devin robinson you're going to watch her hit a bunch of different shots around the net she's playing in the opposite position but she's a middle she's a middle blocker so they use her as a middle at times as well a little bit like asani tealer from kentucky very very versatile in different spot oh nice play out of the back row logan eggleston unloading out of the pipe i tell you what it's that pace and that speed of that ball she's coming in full steam ahead watch this perfect set keeping it in rhythm almost right out of the setter's hand out of the back row best three out of five sets texas early lead 9-6 [Applause] that's a really important swing i think don't you for grace lover absolutely it is i mean grace willberg needs to get going early get her confident see if she can find the court early on in the match and that that helps fuel her i've seen her do that on multiple occasions where she starts off strong and she just continues to get better throughout the course of a match excellent and very valuable passer for wisconsin but in the match against florida she was 10 kills on 47 swings and 10 errors so she hits zero breon butler nice cross body so you put 10 balls away but you hit 10 balls out or get blocked so you've taken 47 swings and you haven't moved the scoreboard at all for your team this swing by brian butler nice job him is cutting this ball back past the block of dana recce you'll see it back on three-point lead for texas perfect pass by lowberg and once again robinson blowberg is so essential to wisconsin being in system more times than not just keep an eye on these these passing patterns they'll move it around as well to move devon robinson around but like you said grace loberg a crucial piece of the puzzle javita on to serve once again has come back from three acl injuries to be a very important part of this badger effort as evidence right there good dig just past the three meter line and then off the outside lowberg in transition big high nice swing through the hands nice play again just lob the ball up there for brianne butler who is tremendously talented but look at this passing right now of texas this is why this is happening a perfect ball perfect pass and there you go one-on-one block opportunity no one else can help because they have to take care of their other responsibilities and jenna gabriel the move she has made improving after taking over from ashley shook early in 2019 voted the center of the year in the big 12 conference quite a compliment grace loberg turning things around tell you what that was a nice swing kind of chopped that ball down the line wasn't sure if that was gonna scoot out of bounds but she caught the line like how gray sloeburg is starting out this match holly what have you got well i actually spoke with wisconsin coach kelly sheffield about grace loberg she really struggled in that match against florida i said what do you have to do to get her going and he said well i actually don't think she struggled she had a six seven major blocker in front of her holly carlton of florida he said that was more of the opposition doing a great job and having an outstanding blocker you already see without that size in front of her tonight she's really getting going and kelly's sheffield club is coming all along after the match against florida coach sheffield told us that his outstanding outside hitter were in number 21 send him a text i will be better in the next match i've got your back and so far she's certainly living up to those words eggleston trying to throw that ball off the block and miss the touch on the outside and a considerable i won't even call it mini run here for lowberg king it along with the rest of wisconsin to take the 12-11 advantage all right now texas is forced to set the high ball a little bit out of system some of the balls are inside dying a little bit tight got to find a rhythm here a break for texas getting out of that rotation that was proving a little bit problematic that ends a 5-1 run for wisconsin sydney peterson 5-4 junior out of dyke iowa was the starting libero first couple of years morgan o'brien again the transfer from illinois has taken over those responsibilities but she plays a vital vital role for what texas has done an area they've really improved hagerty hard off the top of the block and out of bounds [Applause] she has so much confidence in hagarty and in that rotation she likes to set that ball that long ball to her all the way from the right side of the court you're gonna see that in rotation five she kind of scoots all the way to the right side and flings that ball out out to the pin izzy ashburn 511 sophomore out of dayton minnesota on to serve now for wisconsin good touch by heart in the middle for a surprising choice that time by hillary and the timing just not quite there missed out of bounds by number 18 heart 6-4 redshirt junior out of virginia beach that's a nice run especially after dumping the first ball you kind of get the blockers moving a little bit sydney hilly nice job with it timing like you said paul just wasn't there for daniel hart what a good pass combination out of the back row lowberg is stuffed really good read and reaction by the longhorns like a smart play by asia emile they know there's three options here in this rotation you've got hagerty and hart in the front row but you always have grace slover coming out of the back row nice move by aj o'neal and what a disciplined read because wisconsin does not set the back row very often tough serve but drifts just over the end line tied at 14 opening set number one seed wisconsin champions again of the big ten champions of the big 12 texas at 24 and one their only loss was in their second season if you will in the spring to rice at home close to an ace and now it's down we've come to the media timeout second semi-final texas and wisconsin coming out of the timeout here is hilly looking to continue the run for wisconsin leading by only one wisconsin getting some really good touches and some digs and a net violation called against texas and lauren barnes once again just a contortionist in the left back i do like what wisconsin is doing getting some touches on schuyler field which is not easy to do she is up there in the air she's good at hitting over the top of locks barnes good accurate transition set up into the block by hagerty restart the point [Applause] eggleston with the dig but then danielle hart with a stuffed block against fields on the outside danielle hart is so good at the net moves well look at this timing here big hands drops that left hand into the cross court nice job by that wisconsin block salema wisconsin on an 11-5 run to take the 17-14 advantage schuyler fields in this tournament 21 kills against penn state new career high 18 kills against nebraska absolutely on fire so you know well there when when you do the chalkboard i mean who do you put at the top of the list that you're going to focus on for texas but clearly they have a plan for schuyler field they absolutely do and right now you know texas hitting hitting 143 and that's it's an unbelievable job by wisconsin containing this this powerful offense right now of texas schuyler fields 0 for seven and with an error now that she got stuffed holly let's hear more about wisconsin well they've had a crazy season remember they were in the national championship finals last year and lost to stanford and they have so many people back they kind of thought they'd get it rolling this year and be right back here well covet had other plans they had several long pauses many players on their team got covered and were slow to recover and really struggled they have only played this as their sixth match since february 21st so they maybe weren't firing on all cylinders but they say that unfinished business from last year is driving them the number one thing right now that's driving us is losing in that national championship match we were not happy about the way we played and stanford was a fantastic team they played great but we still kind of had that sting from that loss from last year so we definitely have something to prove this year it's a special group that we have first of all we've got 20 people on our team i mean that's a lot that's a huge roster we've got half of them are seniors they've been around for a long time they know what these moments are there's a maturity that goes about things that maturity already on display after texas got out to a quick start settled the ship 11-5 run hilly first team all-american once again setter of the year in the big ten conference pass and breaking down here a little bit for texas we haven't seen that so far going off speed as fields and finally i know it's early i know it's still early but if you're schuyler fields and the way she's been playing that's nine swings to get to her first kill outstanding sophomores field 6-2 sophomore out of missouri city texas first team all big 12. tough serve pretty well handled by hagerty and devin robinson smartly off the hands deep but that was a tough pass that was a tough pass and that's what they wanted to do drive haggerty off the net force her back force her deep trying to get the ball off the net but she handled it well was a perfect pass in the end hagerty hitting 3 30 so far in the tournament that ball out of bounds but a touch off the block hagerty wish he would have played it nice swing a nice adjustment by skylar fields who played right side last year i should say in 2019 move to the left how difficult to transition is that well you know it's hard when it's a different flight of the ball and you're used to kind of a certain rhythm and tracking the balls a little a lot differently on the left side but she's done a phenomenal job and she said coach i'll do whatever you need for me whatever you want to put me and has done a fantastic job taking over that role nice stab by gabriel to keep that ball alive and grace lowberg she's living up to the text that she sent her coach i've got your back she's got several kills she's a primary passer and then has a stuff block here as barnes goes back to serve and the lead once again is three 1916 opening set kentucky has already moved on all of texas hitters are stacked on the left side of the court you see phillips go around the back overpass but hilly makes the first contact barnes stepping in nice dig by fields robinson going high hands again nice transition play like molly hagerty in that middle back doing a really nice job controlling the ball and sydney hilling just steadying out the ship time out once again called by texas wisconsin continuing the run after trailing early very early and wisconsin badgers again among the nation's leaders the fourth best offense in terms of efficiency at 325 with a little bit of a caveat that's 325 again in the best conference in the country that is just a remarkable efficiency number i tell you both teams right now holding their opponents to numbers they're not used to seeing right now but that's what happens in in these matches in these semi-final matches these elite level teams playing against one another this is exactly what you're gonna see well you have two juggernaut offenses the question is and they pointed out who's gonna slow down who and right now right now it's wisconsin in the first match a wonderful performance by kentucky getting into their first ever national championship match and this was their head coach the national coach of the acric skinner afterwards it's significant our players you can see the excitement enthusiasm these players you mean they're never gonna no one's ever gonna be able to take this away from them and uh you know for us to be our best against the winner of this next match you know we need to enjoy it here for a couple hours while we're watching the match and getting a feel for um you know wisconsin and texas and then tomorrow it's it's on coming up for you saturday eight eastern time on espn2 congratulations to the wildcats making history once again first ever regional final first ever national semifinal and it goes without saying another first and a chance at their first national championship texas has won twice in 2012 and 1988 wisconsin like kentucky looking for their first wisconsin has been to three national championship matches but they have yet to get over the final hurdle last year as we heard was stanford and the years prior 2000 and i'll look up the other one was they lost to nebraska and penn state that's right so they're not exactly stubbing their toes against some less than spectacular opponents well so difficult to get here it's such a hard feat to get back to the national championship matches brian butler taking advantage of the overpass it was 2 000 that was nebraska winning that championship and then in 2013 russ rose and penn state won again and last year as mentioned catherine plummer in stanford catherine plummer putting on the best out of system hitting performance i'd seen in a big match at the college level serve josiah doing her job and out of the timeout good time out called by head coach jared elliott now in his 20th year and a time out now is called by wisconsin jared elliott the big 12 coach of the year for the seventh time 15 straight regional semifinals there's coach elliot in the middle of your screen got quite a distinguished staff tanya johnson jamie morrison also was coached in two olympic games off to the right of your screen and his back to us is eric sullivan all-american for legendary head coach al skates at ucla and went on to have an olympic career and a really really strong sophisticated deep bench as far as coaches and assistant coaches let's go over to holly rowe well they have a great bench but they also have real balance on this texas team this might be jarrett elliott's most balanced team he's ever coached and he said it's just so beautiful how this unselfish group with unparalleled chemistry is really coming together balance is like the the best part of our team we're fortunate to have five great attackers right now and so when we talk about balance we are able to distribute to any attacker and uh you know take advantage of some match-ups that we have in a way it kind of makes my job a little harder sometimes because i'm just like who who should i set in this point for that to work um you know people have to give up their egos and this team has been committed since day one to be a team their selflessness has been truly amazing well texas has the talent to win a national championship just about every year but jared elliot said this is the best chemistry he's had on a texas team in his 20 years coaching and you guys can feel it this is a different group nobody cares who's getting set breon butler one of the best hitters in america first team all-american she had like three swings the other night and she said you know what i don't care as long as we're winning i agree with you holly that's a great point i've been following texas volleyball pretty closely for the last several years and i've not seen the intangibles as far as their team chemistry at this level they're really a tight group and king a three-nothing run to get right back in this opening set rekki is somehow able to tuck that ball down inside i like that sydney hilly is going to fire that ball in there she's trying to take some more chances a little bit she's talking to her about it i'll lay that ball higher for you next time but off the net firing it in there and trying to make some action happen in the middle of the court even when it's not perfect here's chivita tough serve down the line pretty nicely handled and logan eggleston changing direction nice use of the edge of the block i'll tell you what that pass was unbelievable because that was a tough serve by chavita serving this just really threatened the needle here down the line you see you see goes after it keeps it under control and gabriel keeping it in system nice job o'brien misses that serve looking at some of the numbers eggleston five kills already with 17 swings texas hitting 220 right now wisconsin hitting 275. so both well below their season averages here is lowberg who's really bounced back nicely after struggling against florida in several phases including serving another really good pass o'neil holding the middle that's it i mean it was a perfect pass on another tough tough serve coming from wisconsin you watch this pass here o'neal gets everybody to hold and pause just for a little bit you see hidden excuse me hilly's chasing it out there and ricky's nowhere to be found loberg right on target toreki nice dig in the cross court by peterson and in transition o'neill doing it at both ends nice work by asia o'neil out of the middle wearing number seven invert orange well here's the key if you can dig a slide attack right to the target the middle blockers still making their way back they're going to be late you run that one ball because you know she's not there and you can score texas responding with a nice run doing the job and blocking defense and that one tucked down inside the block went straight down a lot of people thought including yours truly that it might have come back on hagerty's side but that one did indeed get down inside the block of texas is the ashburn on to serve wisconsin back on top by one tough chance for lowberg what a read by chavita on the off speed bang bang bang and still alive the texas bench can't believe it i think they wanted four contacts they'll get the call in any case the texas bench is up an irate what a rally there's a lot going on there but i tell you what both sides are battling they know how important this set is it's 23 all each team going as hard as they can and fighting for every single point got a win by two best three out of five the most dangerous server on the floor for texas is back at the line eggleston a huge number 48 aces on the year javita what a clutch pass fields for the lead good block touch fields again tucking the ball down inside heart number 18 in white for wisconsin [Applause] wisconsin does still have one time out remaining and kelly sheffield in his eighth year in madison is going to use it right now so a nice run by texas to come back and take the lead 24-23 what's keyed the response by the longhorns well it looks like their ball control is is really good right now so they're holding the block getting some one-on-one opportunities there's not just four hands right in front of them and they're able to control the ball serving a little bit tougher too and and hitting the ball high off the block getting wisconsin off the net in transition a little bit more out of system so it's a combination of a few things but i tell you right now they're they're just playing pretty clean right now to make this little push well we've got a timeout i want to remind you nba friday's double header features some of the hottest teams in the nba 7 30 eastern time it's the celtics and the nets 10 eastern time it's the nuggets versus the warriors coverage begins with nba countdown at 7. 7 30 and then at 10 eastern on espn and the espn app there is six-time nba all-star jermaine o'neill 19 years in the nba and when he was 18 years old and a rookie with the portland trailblazers before going on and having a really strong stretch of years in indiana i covered a ton of his games and he was a wonderful young man now he's become a fantastic family man and proud father and had a magnificent nba career must be incredibly proud of his daughter asia o'neil who has overcome not one as a child but two open-heart surgeries she had the last in january of 2020 has gone through a tremendous amount to get back on the floor when we talked to asia o'neil and she visited with her father about and he just said of course you're gonna play you're gonna be just fine of course you're gonna play set point number one o'neill's been solid once again in this match three of seven also has a block eggleston to serve set point number one cabello in as a blocking specialist on the texas side to see if they can slow down hagerty a little bit get some hands on it naomi cabello six foot one freshman out of florida and the ball is served out of bounds and sydney hilly will go back to the line and it's deuce 24 all sydney hilly one of the toughest servers on this team o'neal on the slide gets that through danielle hart that time really nice play by asia o'neil who's hitting 486 in the tournament she's just so efficient and you can count on her you get the ball to her she's going to be able to score she's got the vision and the range to do it set point number two for the longhorns the number four seed taking on the number one seeded wisconsin badgers really good clutch pass and heart unloads what a dig by peterson oh and it's going to be a double contact a fantastic get by sydney hilly but the ball went right through the hands of danielle hart trying to set the ball at the net and so texas makes a nice strong comeback after a time out and they run some points they close out the opening set 26-24 set number two coming up next the winner gets kentucky [Music] welcome back once again to omaha the opening set and a little bit of overtime goes to the four-seeded texas longhorns 26-24 and just checked the results on the year and that's just the sixth set all season long that wisconsin has dropped what was the key to the texas turnaround especially after 20. i tell you there's so much we talked about the offense but it's really the defense you had a lot of tough serving by josiah some big defensive plays by the defenders sydney peterson and that that's what enabled them to score on the offensive end of the game so the 27 dig was big for me look at barnes the reaction she made i'm telling you she's a contortionist she should try out for cirque du soleil when all this is over i mean she was going right the ball went left she spun on a dime and still made a play on the ball couldn't make a play on the second one hit straight to the floor here the chi health center good pass rekki on the one foot takeoff even in front lowberg is down so got to try to create something nice stab by gabriel that ball was left way inside smart shot into the block to restart the point by texas robinson who's been good has that deflected and blocked again hillary is there all the balls down in front of the referee a little bit of a late call but all that matters is he get it right much better set to the perimeter it spreads things out absolutely that's the difference you gotta put the ball right on the outside and look at this nice easy touch and if any part of that ball hits the floor it's gonna get called down great hustle by sydney hilly couldn't come up with it tough swing for lowberg oh and manages to get the ball to the floor a nice little roll right now again a very very important receiver playing six rotations is number 21. six foot three senior out of geneva illinois first team all big ten in an honorable mention all-american phillips on the outside nice little wrist away we'll give you some of the kill leaders eggleston with eight leading the way brianne butler perfect six for six devin robinson with five grace loberg with four molly hagerty with four so far pretty quiet for dana recki only two of eight her kill percentage if you will straight batting average in that category usually much higher good delivery once again dana recki clears up plows the road and then everybody else is wide open well that's a really nice reach too by sydney hilly normally a pass that pulls you back and pulls your hands back it's hard not to just set the ball behind you and she flings that ball all the way to the pin o'neal again even gets that it had to be a really good shot if you got it down in front of barnes and barnes is flying she was airborne she's not happy about it she was in the right position defensively for a hard hit ball but man look at her just flying trying to get that ball but o'neil finds that open spot on the court barnes from naperville illinois a transfer from minnesota [Applause] rekki again big seam in the block puts the ball to the floor the middles particularly for texas having a big impact and now dana recki has got three kills on ten swings well dana recki now having this opportunity to hit schuyler fields a very good left side blocker but she's able to hit that ball past her inside the block oh that's such a nice play and it started with a perfect pass by number 33 for texas logan eggleston on hitting that ball over top of the block down the line badger's not quite there lowberg's in that she's shading a little bit maybe you could scoot over a little bit more digging that ball over the top it does turn out that that is the first match all season long where wisconsin has lost the opening set nice tip to the floor good read by sydney hilly who's managing who is i should say majoring in graduating in something that i can't i can't pronounce genomics brilliant brilliant student athlete and leader of this wisconsin team that's a really nice play you see brienne butler take that little shuffle step to the outside she reads it has nobody even around easy serve leads to a very very easy side out skyler fields starting to work her way into this match now five kills on 15 swings texas won the opening opening set came back from a three-point deficit fairly late one at 26-24 that was a good pass really good touch robinson is blocked brianne butler along with molly phillips they bookend at six foot four six foot five that is a stout block up front phillips puts her hands into this match for the first time wearing number 15 in white i like how much i like how molly phillips makes that move inside the court she's reading the setter dives back in for that 31. where does gabriel go brianne butler turns it back nice dig by hilly and did you get a touch missed it out of bounds molly haggerty number 23 in white looking for some hands and didn't get the edge so you look at that swing and people might say what is she doing she's going after the hands that's an intentional swing trying to hit it high off the edge of the block and out of bounds just missed the right hand of molly phillips nice little run here by gabriel out of honolulu hawaii another free ball opportunity o'neal again you might need a timeout if you're kelly sheffield and wisconsin great hustle by barnes trying to keep that ball alive but a free ball comes over and it's going to be tough to stop texas with a free ball coming over tonight yep there it is time out called by wisconsin texas on top one set to none leading here in the second 9-4 there's a lot of offense with this texas team but i tell you what when you can get the ball to breon butler you better watch out because she is going to score hitting a cool 8.75 right now with seven kills zero errors on eight attempts hitting high and over top of the ball is breon butler both middles for texas outstanding and holly's got more on brian butler well actually today at their practice this morning i talked to jarrett elliott she'd been a little quiet in their ncaa tournament matches and he said we have to get her going tonight but the key to doing that is good passing she's got to get good passes to the setter so the setter can set her up quickly and that's what we're seeing from texas gabriel with the first contact fields going off speed texas thought that ball was down might have our first challenge if texas doesn't win this point [Applause] jenna gabriel is really playing good defense in the right back area one as is barnes non-stop defensively down the line devin robinson i think we're going to have a challenge assistant coach eric sullivan flew up off the texas bench claiming that that ball was down again three challenges for the first four sets for each team can challenge up or down in or out deflection off a player either at the net or in the back court also foot fault on the three meter line foot fault on the service line going to have a quick serving substitution deanna craft the six-foot redshirt senior out of seattle washington we're in number 31 coming in now for hagerty thrown back right at you eggleston out of the back court and number 10 devin robinson with a swap what a move by devin robinson i tell you like the way she's playing tonight as well she struggled a little bit in the last match but she's really locked in right now you can see her focused on the hitters coming at her doing a nice job for wisconsin tight pass kaboom from danielle hart what teams in this tournament we had it in the opening semifinal won three sets to one by kentucky teams are really responding to what they're getting during the timeout absolutely and this all starts with this tough serve by diana kraft forcing this ball over the net eggleston perfect look how solid an all-around player logan eggleston number 33 and burnt orange has become big 12 player of the year playing six rotations and just an absolutely perfect pass to set up butler melania back on now to serve and a service error there and wisconsin's only down by two texas won the opening set 26-24 made a nice little run towards the end so that's a big miss because she's a very good server and they're happy to get out of that and then you go back with barnes coming at you with a tough serve working on eggleston up to it once again to butler one on one with dana rekki what a move so i like the run by jana gabriel laying that ball behind her giving it to butler but i tell you what dana recki was completely aware of the situation she takes a little move drops in hard on the angle that was good offense it's just better defense by retki what a good read and good quickness deflection and that ball away from retki nice off speed once again by eggleston registering her ninth kill smart play by eggleston and then that tip it's so close to the blockers it's hard to it's hard to play as a blocker and it's hard to grab as a defender really high contact point with that kill texas hitting 288 so far in the match wisconsin at 2 54. loberg nice roll shot ned is bouncing all over the place [Applause] net violation is called against wisconsin what a sprawl that was a sprawl i wasn't even sure that was going to be up yeah i thought the ball was down when i saw it live we've had some controversy there was a net violation at a critical moment in our first semifinal in washington was out of challenges lowberg blocked outside by phillips how about the decision by jared elliot because of this long season starting in september and now we're in april he's had lots of time to look at different rotations and different positional choices and trying to go he decided to go with his long lineup yeah i mean it's it's a big block at the net tough to get around but i tell you when you're serving tough and now that's why they're moving molly haggerty back in you've got more options if the pass is bad you have her hitting out of the back row as well nice tool down the line once again by robinson texas leading at 13 to 10. number 15 in burn orange molly phillips at six foot five as we mentioned doesn't really get a lot of opportunities offensively but already with a couple of big blocks well coach elliott says that she's one of his smartest players most advanced has grown so much and he just loves having her on the court here's chavita right on cue but a really good dig by hagerty phillips again smart throw off the block that time really smart shot exactly to your point fantastic transition play you get eggleston out of the play she's in the middle of the quarter trying to play this ball gabriel understands exactly what she needs to do and sets this ball to phillips using that iq tooling the block off the edge of the hands here's peterson texas back on top by four well they're really working area five that's five to five good set by o'neal high flat hagerty with a punch o'neal with a slide smart shot again just throwing it into the late blocker dana recky tell you what texas is doing a really nice job controlling the ball on their side of the net gabriel of course running this offense going to eggleston going behind the to o'neill a lot of options using them all efficiently and effectively [Music] on the slide yep i like to go cross court but i can also hammer the line give her that line and she is going to crush it the texas middles to me have been the story of the match brianne butler jarrett elliott telling holly rowe that she had to get more involved they're 14 of 22 hitting 591 slide again owen barnes nice hustle nice hustle that time by lowberg but another kill things are going your way asia o'neil now with seven kills you brought up the ball control earlier of this texas team and how it's improved and i'm telling you this is why this is why they're able to have the offense they have out of the middle of the court gabriel can set whomever she wants right now [Applause] hagerty looking for some high hands chance to score a nice touch by peterson ripped into the cross court javita will track that down out of the back row and missed [Applause] looked like a perfectly set up play logan eggleston just didn't get good contact what about that hustle by georgia civita chasing down that ball and i like that lowberg goes up she doesn't send a free ball over there she takes an approach tips the ball over the over the net and disrupts some stuff on the other side of the net i hate when you disrupt that stuff is the ashburn on to serve plenty of time for wisconsin to get back in now only trailing by four make it five there is no defense for that asia o'neil having a very very big semifinal last uh championship we always say last year but really in 2019 texas is at home again highly regarded highly seated and the biggest upset that year was louisville taking out texas in the regional semifinals and the longhorns had to wait a long time to try to dispel that memory nice stab by o'neal keeping the ball off the floor and then cutting the line skyler fields once again and the lead is 18 to 12. wisconsin does have one timeout remaining texas already leads in this best of five one set to none yeah asia o'neil coming up big with that dig in the left back texas is just playing at a very very high level and we talked about it selima you've seen this team all season long you used to be an assistant coach at texas you know the team you know the system you know jared elliot his assistant coaches tanya johnson and eric sullivan very very well and if rate rate this texas team in ball control compared to all the ones you worked with well i tell you what adding the addition of o'brien and yoseah has been huge for the team i mean that's all i can say they can they can all handle the ball they can pass well play good defense so i'm telling us one of the best ball control teams and you had logan eggleston as a primary passer who's doing a fantastic job as a six rotation player you've got a lot of great ball control in this team asia o'neil brianne butler having big matches o'neill eight of 13. and for more on asia o'neil let's go to holly rowe once again well paul you mentioned it briefly but this time last year asia o'neil says i couldn't even sit up in bed without help from my mother that's because in january 2020 she had open heart surgery to correct a mitral valve leak and it's the second open-heart surgery she's undergone in her life she had you know there wasn't ever a question if i'd come back and play volleyball she went through whatever it took and and you can just see the scars under the neck of her jersey there all the way down her chest what this young woman has had to endure to be out on the court she said i never thought i wouldn't be back i just had to get back here for my team had the first surgery as a very young woman in 2012 and then as she grew and you pointed out holly developed a leak in that arterial structure and had to go back in for very very serious surgery she told us when we spoke on zoom yesterday that after the season in 2019 they tested her and her cardiovascular output was only at 50 percent she said now she feels absolutely great she's playing like it texas leading one set to none 18-12. [Applause] the bail on looking for butler bringing caveo on to look for a little more size wisconsin their bench is screaming for a touch texas is screaming the ball's out of bounds the judge has got the final say there was a touch off the top of the block and it's 18-13 nice swing by hagerty off the top of the block this call is being challenged that there was indeed no touch devin robinson is leading the way with seven kills loberg has five on 24 swings hagerty five on 23 swings wisconsin hitting i say only because they're so good and have been they're hitting 325 on the year they're hitting 240. texas is over 300 again now when this was live i thought i heard a touch that i may have been wrong i'm not quite seeing one yet but we will see the different angles look at brianne butler i mean cabello is a pretty long athlete in her own right and breon just sort of blocks out the sun said i'll come get that one they immediately yelled no touch but we shall see we shall see had a critical touch call and an overrule remember when the uh when washington still had challenges that helped them win the one set that they did kentucky won the first in our first semifinal washington came back to win the second and then kentucky closed it out no touch no touch so that's a good use of the challenge for the texas longhorns 19 to 12 two-point switch and i would guess that this is among the biggest deficits wisconsin has faced this year you've got wisconsin in this two two and a half ish person serve receive with o'neal and her tough serve coming in that cross court area of the court in wisconsin shifting over there is a lot of room down the line hagerty swinging to the deep cross court that ball out of bounds so back-to-back hitting errors and now the lead is 20 to 12. see hagerty talking to hillary a little bit wanting that that swing that's the right swing to take on the deep area of the court texas on a 10-3 run o'neal doing a really good job at the service line drifted that one just out of bounds but her serve at six foot three has a lot of movement trajectory on it pays she hits it at a high contact point it really just goes flat over the top of the tape she's been an effective server all year this season endless 20 to 13 is the advantage for texas already up one set to none and as we mentioned that is the first opening set that wisconsin has lost all season long looks like we've got jay demps in the lineup here trying to block butler hart is able to get that ball to the floor jay demps 6-2 freshman out of raleigh north carolina she's hitting 353. thought we might see her toward the latter stages of the florida match but kelly sheffield decided to go with experience but now trying to add some punch fields again able to tuck that ball down inside heart wow what a change in the shot i like that angle seize that big block in front of her and see some speed inside the hands and the middle blockers hitting that ball sharp fields now with seven kills but look at this logan eggleston leading the way and then after that with eight kills apiece is the two middle blockers that has not necessarily been the case for texas all season long or in this tournament if you will that's something they've talked about a lot and and have been able to execute at times but again it's it's that ball control and knowing your opponent where can i go with the ball at this point who's successful right now and right now both middles extremely playing an extremely high level texas with a big lead at 21-15 on the overpass off the top of the tape break for texas but now break for wisconsin ball was slowed by the tape but texas could not make the play give another kill to devin robinson molly haggerty looking to serve right in front of logan eggleston or trying down that seam good block touch on the outside by robinson chance here for wisconsin and loberg that ball might have been out of bounds off the block barnard's really good underhand set but blocked on the outside barnes with the cover again phillips again on the right side just out of bounds wow that was super close really close what a good effort by wisconsin 21-17 tell you barnes just making stuff happen in the left-back area of the court you see this ball hits just oh man we're going to challenge there's going to be a challenge asked for by texas wow wow wow any part of the ball on any part of the line 21-17 the ball was called out wisconsin at a perfect 16-0 the only undefeated team in the country and texas at 24-1 their only loss was late in the season to rice wisconsin rallying right now putting some pressure on on texas from the service line and playing some fantastic defense and transitioning off of that i like the play of devon robinson right now on the right side of the court being told from the scorers table selena this is very interesting the challenge is not in or out the challenge is was the ball illegally played past the imaginary plane extending from the center line the pursuit yeah you have to be completely on your side of the court this is something brought in for player safety so we'll see barnes makes this play i believe yep well by that angle i think it's just fine i think so as well that was kind of midway through the rally the ball went back and forth and then it was ruled that phillips hit the ball out of bounds right kaylee kimura is the second referee she's the one looking at the replay and devonnie mcclarty is the first referee three challenges per team through the first four sets and as i've mentioned and it's that's going to be talked about an awful lot washington being out of challenges when there was clearly a net violation on kentucky oh that's a legal play that's that's clearly a legal play and that's going to be the best angle jared elliott now how time goes by 20th year i remember when jared ellie was playing at cal state northridge grew up in southern california and what a job he's done at the university of texas a national champion in 2012 for this program 13th national semifinal teams waiting clearly they are looking for what wasn't wasn't it clearly definitive to you selena i mean that's what we're challenging well that's what we're being told from the scorers table and those are the replays that we've seen and those were the videos that they were going to well the decisions been made there we go kaylee kimura will come over and make the final decision i think this is clearly going to be wisconsin's ball or in my opinion it should be yep yep call will stand yeah that's the right call hagerty will serve in wisconsin wisconsin's got a glimmer right now they do yeah after trailing by as many as six good short serve do they have a chance the glimmer is getting a little bit brighter selima i tell you what with molly haggerty back there anything is possible this is your warrior your leader when you need points from any position on the court time out called by texas and that was against the player that molly haggerty knows well morgan o'brien who played at illinois they've been facing off against one another in intense competition in the big ten went right at her and dropped a float floater right in front of her let's go to hollywood you see molly haggerty who time in and time again comes up with these huge moments and huge plays in volleyball matches for wisconsin she's wearing that number 23 for a good reason she absolutely idolizes and is obsessed with michael jordan she's like he was such a baller he was so clutch and that's how i want to play it's no mistake that she's wearing number 23 across that chest because she comes up in moments like this all the time she does exemplify the ultimate baller and a pretty good example in mj the lineup this weekend has the nba ufc and mlb 8 30 eastern time on abc's the lakers and the mavs 10 eastern time on espn plus the prelims of us ufc 261 3 30 eastern time on espn nba sunday it's the suns and the nets and then 7 eastern time on espn sunday night baseball with the padres and the dodgers back with penn state all-american saleem rockwell holly rowe i'm paul sunderland thank you so very much for joining us earlier kentucky continues their historic run they have put themselves in a position to win their first ever national championship wisconsin this is their fourth time in the national semifinals they're a perfect 3-0 but they have yet to get over the final hurdle texas perennially it seems to this part of the tournament 13th time overall and they are national championship champions in 1988 and 2012. wisconsin back within three going short again lowberg looking inside nice cover by robinson fields down inside and not hagerty nor barnes can get to that one and skylar fields who was oh for her first seven is starting to hit it up a little bit she really is and it's it's the speed that gina gabriel is able to get her that bubble look at that facing one direction hitting in another direction cutting that ball just in front of the defenders skylar fields now with eight kills on 27 swings the lead is four once again one on one the ball set a little bit tight devin robinson missing that ball out of bounds and now texas once again feeling a little bit of comfort on top 23-18 two points away from a commanding two sets to none lead [Applause] ball said a little bit low brian butler all over it but that's going to be negated by a net violation looked like they got molly phillips for it number 15 on the outside texas in the right spot at the right time but just clipped the net see if wisconsin go on a little bit of run here barnes is a tough server absolutely can make something happen and try to force them off the net not let butler get the ball phillips going right over the top of a very big block she's 6'5 but had to go over dana retki and then also on the outside was uh grace loberg and she just chops that ball to that zone of the court kind of down the line right in the middle back area of the court five set points for texas [Music] lowberg misses over the top texas closes out the second set 25-19 and now wisconsin is going to have to do something they haven't done in a long long time they're going to have to dig themselves out of a big hole crazy welcome back live once again to omaha nebraska the second semifinal kentucky waiting in the wings the championship on saturday and right now texas the number four seed on top of the big ten champions wisconsin badgers two sets to none back with saleem rockwell i'm paul sunderland logan eggleston the big 12 player of the year she's got 10 kills but what she's doing in ball handling seems to be even more impressive she's passing the ball well and playing some defense well everything she's doing right now is quality quality touches from the back row from the front row everything she's doing playing at an extremely high level right now just keeping the blue and keeping the team together i guess she's hitting the ball pretty well also 10 kills seven digs once again having a tremendous season the 6-2 junior out of brentwood tennessee and for more on eggleston let's go over to holly rowe as important as logan eggleston has been on the court for the texas longhorns her work off the court has just been as important she has been one of the most vocal leaders in that longhorn campus about black lives matter and about changing what's happening in our society she said that it's important work she's doing and we sat around together as we saw the results of that verdict come in yesterday it's a very poignant moment with logan eggleston i've just gotten a lot of time over this past year to kind of reflect on what i personally stand for i've been a really big advocate on my campus for social change um and racial injustice things like that and so that's something i'm super passionate about and i'll continue to use my voice for what i believe is right logan wanting to use her voice so she can affect change and she was so grateful that that verdict came in the way that it did you know it has been such an emotional off season after this all has come to life these important conversations that have been going on and schuyler fields also very vocal about what this means to her and how important black lives are on the texas longhorn campus being black in america what's the difference between you and me is it that you stay quiet and i fight for what i believe i love my black skin why do they hate us both women and men i'm black in america and i fear for my life i'm black in america and the system's not right we need a change and we need it now i encourage you to use your own voice and if you don't know how educate yourself or ask a friend it takes one man at a time to bring racism to end and just so inspiring to see these young people using their voices teaching all of us and really appreciate all of these beautiful words from these young women at the texas lotters thank you holly texas on top once again two sets to none very tight in the opening set 26-24 and all texas 25-19 so selima obvious question put yourself in the in the wisconsin huddle the adjustments that they have to make in order to get get on the board well one adjustment right now you're seeing demps back in to see if they can get some offense going a little more firepower from them on that side of the court but they just have to control the ball and speaking of controlling the ball texas is out ball controlling wisconsin right now in serve receive and they're also doing an excellent job defensively the digs are about dead even but texas has really really improved maybe the best i've ever seen from texas in that phase offense to defense by eggleston throwing that ball into dana rekki's late hands up and out of bounds and a quick start for texas long way to go this wisconsin team is really tight really competitive and incredibly talented so i still think we're going to be here for a bit oh i agree with you i mean this wisconsin team has proven how good they are and that they can play and they can battle with anybody so i would never count them out and be ready for a long night nice play by devin robinson the outstanding freshman using high hands hitting high and flat and deep are you surprised she's leading the way offensively with nine kills you know the thing i've seen devin robinson play throughout the season and she's put up consistent numbers you know last last match was probably the the lowest that i've seen her play as far as hitting percentage so i'm not i'm not entirely surprised that she's stepping up in this way i am surprised that other players aren't having that much success right now well into your point grace loberg has got five kills 27 swings molly hagerty four kills 24 swings look i know the options are different they're hitting out on the left side it's a more difficult set of circumstances but robinson has got her nine kills on only 14 attempts nice play down inside for the freshman out of north carolina this is a pretty big moment for her i tell you what she's up for the challenge she can come in and hit at a high high contact point and she snaps on top of the ball that's what coach shelffield said she is going to be one of the best players that we've ever had she can hit out a system almost better than anybody we're going to use her when we need her at times during the tournament hitting 353 on the season which is a very high number and remember all of those matches those are all in the big ten no cupcakes no cupcakes in the big ten no cupcakes is right [Music] perfect pass what a block on the outside by eggleston working on dana rekki really nice move by eggleston getting all the way out there and then dropping in the hard cross at the last minute you see this move here hands drop look at that press back into the court and a little shimmy to finish it off you got that move don't you i know you do oh i do texas is a good blocking team number one in the nation in total blocks and 2.8 percent one on one for eggleston not great contact missed it just a little bit that's a tough angle hagerty tracked it down in wisconsin off to a slow start here in the third or is texas just off to a very fast start well fast start and a nice play tip over the top forces hagerty in and under and then she's off the court she's and hillary has no options at that point i see lowberg pull out of the passing pattern here now they're going with two again perfect pass but a little bit too tall just a little too tall i think i think wisconsin needs an early timeout seven to two here and what about the job sydney peterson has done the last two years the starting libro in comes the transfer morgan o'brien she becomes the ds accepts her role and is helping to lead texas some very important dignitaries on hand for this national semi-final first kevin warren the commissioner of the big ten conference i would say that's a fairly big responsibility and also the distinguished athletic director and former head football coach at wisconsin he's going to be retiring soon june 30th is his last official day barry alvarez here to support his badgers coming out of the timeout peterson once again texas on top by five that was a really good swing and it still came back to wisconsin hagerty on the outside doug in the backcourt by josiah crushed by eggleston [Applause] a couple of big plays by the defense on the side of texas but josiah with a huge one off of a monster swing by molly hagerty an outer system set here to eggleston rips it cross court that delivery even underhand by jenna gabriel once again and i said it earlier i think she's the most improved setter in the country playing for an elite team let's say the top 25 she is the most improved jenna gabriel 5-8 junior out of honolulu hawaii first team all big 12 and setter of the year and also a third team all-american logan eggleston 22 kills against penn state 18 kills against nebraska working their way so far through the big ten on the overpass danielle hart says not quite so fast and i thought well i feel still think we're going to be here for a while wisconsin's going nowhere well absolutely and they've got izzy ashburn one of the best servers that wisconsin has at the service line she can run off three or four points on her own ashburn has 22 aces coming into this semifinal good pass by o'brien transition has not been really good so far for wisconsin and well what are you talking about nice but don't you agree selima yeah they have not been scoring in transition at a high enough rate so far lowberg will maybe turn that around they've been having some trouble certainly texas doing a nice job keeping the left side blocked attackers busy forcing some other things to happen on the wisconsin side of the net wisconsin's got 48 digs so they're having opportunities eggleston off speed again touched pokey kept alive and the ball falls when we talk about the tips that texas when they tip the ball they really contacted at a very very high point they work on that in practice either they tip it easy over the net that way or throw it down [Music] tight pass handled nicely beautiful handle that time by sydney hilly six foot senior out of brooklyn park minnesota wearing number two went up and really had to stretch to get to that ball she is so good at handling tight passes i tell you what she's one of the best setters to manipulate around the net and set her attackers molly haggerty hanging in the air crushing that ball fields quickly off the arm that time of robinson i was i was joking earlier in the match that i couldn't pronounce or spell what sydney hilly has majored in it's genetics and genomics i had somebody do it for me phonetically and she's working on her graduate degree in applied biotechnology [Music] that was my major too yeah me too you don't believe me oh that ball served just out of bounds o'neal with a flat serve that time 10-7 wisconsin wisconsin's right there they're right there molly haggerty has slowed down offensively she's old for her last nine and off the edge again what a matchup between schuyler fields the sophomore out of missouri city texas and devin robinson out of iowa nice matchup there on the wing and i tell you devin robinson had her number for a little while there blocking her in the cross court doing a nice job but fields now getting that ball a little bit further outside the block she's able to tool off the edges gabriel now with 42 assists back to serve what a pass by barnes robinson boy she hits the ball at a really high flat trajectory good lesson for every young player out there well that's true it's deep in the court she's not really bouncing balls she's not swinging into the block hitting high hitting flat off the hands robinson with 10 kills leading the way for wisconsin fields again ball set a little tight well outside the antenna that's the first quote-unquote unforced air for texas in quite some time texas has taken 110 swings they have 10 hitting errors they've been blocked four times so they've hit six balls out of bounds six out of bounds and 110 swings that ball served just into the top of the tape and so texas point possession leading at 13-9 kelly sheffield in his eighth season national finals in 2019 also in his first year in madison in 2013 after coming over from the university of dayton working on demps demps again pretty good delivery josiah's all over that watch for brianne butler phillips instead one on one wisconsin scrapping playing some good defense trying to keep that ball alive but again another free ball here one-on-one opportunity for phillips scoring in this cross court she hits the ball so sharp and down at such a high contact point at our 6'5 frame robinson again nice touch by brianne butler demps has to come in and take the first contact off the edge of the block devin robinson wisconsin needs every point they can get but robinson leading the way now with 11 kills on 18 swings i'm lowberg has six molly haggerty has five dana redkey has four kills on 15 swings texas has done a really good job on the four-time first team all-american they have they've slowed her down and they need robinson in there she just rotated out but just look how many swings i mean dana retki is usually a machine in first ball side out and so wisconsin is having to work so hard to score well they are and i know they they're not going to force a ton of those balls that have been off the net to dana with a big block of texas smothering her in that situation so they want to get it to her on perfect passes let her go after it eggleston chance again going off speed starts with a nice block touch at the net by texas again controlling the ball that's been the name of the game right now for texas slow the ball down control it on the on the back back court and transition out of it to the timeout texas leading by five ncaa women's volleyball championship coverage continues with the national final beginning saturday april 24th at 8 pm eastern on espn2 for more information on the ncaa women's volleyball championship visit ncaa.com your home for all 90 ncaa championships and of course the nba starting to wind down towards the playoffs friday double header coming your way features a couple of the hottest teams in all of the nba 7 30 eastern the celtics and the nets 10 eastern time the nuggets and the warriors coverage begins with nba countdown at 7 then 7 30 and 10 eastern on espn and the espn app back with saleem rockwell plenty of time 15 10. look at some of the numbers texas the season on the night compared to what wisconsin's season numbers are they're hitting 210 so far on the evening texas is doing a wonderful job from the service line they're winning that phase they've been working on it really stressing that in practice some contact that time inadvertently between i think logan eggleston and sydney hilly sydney hilly trying to walk it off or maybe she got tangled up let's take a look she may have just on her own sure i don't know oh yeah oh yeah yeah tweaked her ankle a little bit now in order for the center line is there as a protecting protective barrier but in order for it to be a violation your entire foot has to be over the line the line itself is a little bit of a neutral zone if you will that could have been a serious injury it could have been she got a tweak she's okay yeah eggleston was legal she was not under it was close but by don't do you agree absolutely 15 to 11. dug by barnes what can haggarty do this is a tough chance and a pretty good set dug by yosia [Music] hagerty out of the play hilly knew it had to go over on two look at the dig by barnes and right back at you by o'brien and again [Applause] and finally dana recky to the floor [Applause] unbelievable defense lauren barnes making everything happen for wisconsin right now and getting her team fired up if i got in that position you'd have to call 911. just call him right now off chevita the kill by asia o'neil i have 9-1-1 on swell i should i don't have it on speed dial just in case though lauren barnes 28 digs in that marathon match clutch win by wisconsin over florida 16 digs she has just been tremendous those numbers per set much higher during the ncaa tournament the lead is still four rekki again finding a scene does wisconsin wisconsin seems to me been under so much pressure in different phases of the game all night they need some easy scores they do and i think you know dana rook is doing all she can to get her team fired up i think everybody individually is trying their hardest to make one big play that's what they need to do on the wisconsin side they can close this gap and absolutely win this set and then we've got ourselves a match but they have to steady out and maintain their level of play asia o'neill once again of course down two sets to none you said they got to win yep yep to continue on and get back to the finals they have got to win this set must win situation for wisconsin their fourth time in the national semifinals previously they're 3-0 and eggleston gives wisconsin a stress-free point 17-14 we have seen a lot of comebacks and some upset so far in this tournament going back to the first and second rounds what washington did coming back two sets down to pittsburgh they won all three of their matches three sets to two kentucky had to play such high level to advance nice block touch and a little confusion there between o'neill and o'brien and sydney hilly and wisconsin are back within two texas has both of their team timeouts overpass wow joust won by jenna gabriel tell you she is so good at winning these joust so strong timing is impeccable she netted jenna gabriel netted on that play so we might have a challenge here and speaking of annette taking us back if you folks have been with us all night long there was a net call not called at a crucial crucial juncture in the third set washington was out of challenges and on the replay we could clearly see that azani tealer was in the net that was that was very very unfortunate for washington and their fans could have turned that third set and uh given washington actually at two sets to one advantage instead of the other way around this should be a quick call yep yeah yeah yeah well you win the you win the joust but you lose the wall there you go she's she's smiling too yeah but it's 17-16 yep i know it is not smiling too much wisconsin the big ten champs a chance for wisconsin to tie fields again it is roofed danielle hart and devin robinson on the outside and it's 17 apiece wisconsin with a huge block watch this move by danielle hart going off one foot nice drop by devon robinson this ball might be heading out but catches skyler fields on the way out the door a little bit of a facial that time administered how many how many outstanding outstanding freshmen have we seen so far in this tournament and on the season the wisconsin softball team headed over to nebraska for a series of games there going uh to lincoln let's go over to holly once again well guys we have a pretty special cheering section here for wisconsin as they try to gain some momentum to tie this up and extend this match the entire wisconsin badger softball team is here they are on their way to a series against nebraska a weekend series against nebraska and there they are the entire softball team coach healey making a cool move last minute call to bring them here and watch and support this team so gotta love all this badger support as they try to extend this match thank you holly coming up next on sportscenter with scott van pelt the lakers in dallas anthony davis returns to face luca doncic embiid and giannis inside the clash of the top eastern contenders in the nfl draft the art of finding the right match sportscenter with svp next on espn and the espn f wisconsin on a 7-2 run they trailed 15-10 last two sets to none come back was november 9 2018 so just guessing my calendar let's see would that be i'm not sure which weekend you you have that don't you salima well let's just say it was in the heart of the 2018 big ten season absolutely so a couple weekends before the selection shows so they were three weekends out if you play in the big ten or the pac-12 or the big ten or the sec kentucky into the finals no sec team has ever won the women's volleyball championship tied at 17. ball left a little bit inside barnes again hagerty off the edge and down it's a good matchup hagerty's working on jenna gabriel now that's a good matchup by italian and it starts with the serve is doing exactly what they want to do they're forcing this ball to be pushed to the outside back to set skyrow fields and then barnes can digger doing a nice job and man hagerty tooling off the edge of that block hagerty again same match-up she was looking for it she was looking for jenna gabriel down the line and just missed it but what a good run from the service line by sydney hilly absolutely and what an amazing job by lauren barnes keeping them in it digging the hard driven ball flying in for the tips over the top [Applause] hagerty having a tough time with this big block as everybody else in the country has give you her numbers in just a moment hagerty again looking for gabriel and that falls right on the line and that was jenna gabriel that was all gabriel haggerty trying to hit that ball down the line wanting to go over top of the smaller setter got that left hand you bet she's excited about that molly hagerty six kills on 33 swings six errors 33 swings zero that was ripped beautiful connection that time to danielle hart wow we need a little more danielle hart in our lives so she can get on it she can get on it fast and quick there is hagerty to the back row hard up front along with jade demps and devin robinson has been the offensive star so far for wisconsin good block touch by heart hagerty right on target robinson again what a dig by hagerty wow what a layout outside hitter in the middle box staying neutral stabs it with one hand perfect dig to sydney hilly that's what your leader does she's a baller [Music] collision in the back court between barnes and haggerty fields wow fields with a field goal right right through devon robinson and what texas is trying to do is when they have the opportunity to run it fast they're trying to get speeded up to the pins a little bit in transition inside out whenever they can to beat that big wisconsin block tied at 20. texas leading two sets to none kentucky in the championship match on saturday must win nice save by robinson keeping that ball off the floor brianne butler that time off the block and out of bounds see if they bring in grace sloberg yep gonna need some passing here yep that's good substitution lowberg is really solid in receive look for this ball to go to either robinson or hart here remember wisconsin is the only undefeated team left in the country must win set situation robinson again wow what a performance by the freshman wow she has carried them to a degree offensively huge swing 12 of 19 526. those are astronomical numbers against texas block [Applause] service winner 22-21 wisconsin on top and lauren barnes back at the line [Applause] she'll continue to work that scene trying to get it to the left of logan eggleston and on schuyler fields if possible fields right through the wickets that time of dana redke tied at 22. looking at the defensive numbers lauren barnes with 13 digs it feels like 23 sydney hilly with 14 and molly haggerty with 14 as well i'll give you the texas numbers 55-59-55 wisconsin in the big category here's josiah who's been really really good defensively for texas tied at 22. [Applause] what a dig by o'brien eggleston off the block rattled around it looked like ricky and robinson were there [Applause] and it started with this huge dig by morgan o'brien recce coming in on that front slide o'brien saves the day keeps this ball alive and what a play by brianne butler getting quickly right back on retki sixth kill of the set for logan eggleston texas two points away oh and it got through when it's your night tell you what [Applause] and she is flinging that ball back there's sydney hilly on the run all the way across the court all the way across the court has faith in the freshman to get it done out of system the first set was deuce we're tied at 23. texas won it 26-24 won the second 25-19 wisconsin must-win situation chevita on to serve brianne butler redkey dove into the wrist away and brianne butler with a good read match point for texas [Applause] low berg block touch texas a swing for the finals uh off the block we might we might have a challenge it looked like that might have been touched by the block the call is out of bounds and head coach jared elliott is going to the challenge card if this ball was touched by wisconsin texas is going to win this match three sets to none i thought i saw it yeah there's a touch yep yep texas is moving on to saturday night to play in the championship against kentucky clearly you could see the touch the official will go over and confirm the video evidence you agree with that right celina well i said it yeah i saw it i saw it initially from the beginning and i saw it on that that first replay of course she needs to make her way over there and see what she's seeing herself that's really smart shot by logan eggleston devon robinson has led the way with 14 kills balance from texas four attackers in double figures and the middles for texas have been almost unstoppable asia o'neil 11 of 18 no errors breon butler 11 of 16. they're hitting average between the two of them 6 20. they're hitting 6 20. tremendous performance their bench is waiting getting ready to explode wisconsin knows it they know touch off the block and texas will play kentucky for the national championship on saturday night they win it three sets to none over the wisconsin badgers unbelievable performance by both sides of the net a fantastic run by wisconsin getting back to the national semifinal and texas overpowering fantastic execution at every single phase of the game two tremendous programs but on this night it was the texas longhorns that stood head and shoulders and they will play in the championship match coming up next at sportscenter with scott van pelt a sweep for texas over wisconsin the championship on saturday

Channel: NCAA Championships

Views: 35,755

Rating: 4.9145908 out of 5

Keywords: NCAA, ncaa sports, college sports, volleyball, college volleyball, ncaa volleyball, texas wisconsin, texas wisconsin volleyball, texas vs wisconsin, texas vs wisconsin volleyball, texas vs wisconsin volleyball 2021, texas vs wisconsin 2020, ncaa volleyball 2020, ncaa volleyball 2021, texas vs wisconsin 2020 volleyball semifinals, texas vs wisconsin full match, full replay, women's volleyball, ncaa women's volleyball, ncaa, ut volleyball, ut volleyball 2021, ut volleyball 2020

Id: npJRaOCbZP0

Length: 101min 44sec (6104 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 27 2021