The Texas Longhorns defeated the Wisconsin Badgers in an epic semifinal showdown. The 2022 champs conquered the 2021 champs and have made it to the finals for a third time in the last four years. However, they now come face to face against a former nemesis and the top seed of the 2023 NCAA Volleyball Championship.

The Nebraska Huskers paraded to the finals after crushing the Pittsburgh Panthers with a mighty clean sweep. While the Texas Longhorns have a formidable and well-rounded lineup, the Huskers have been a tough opponent for them. In fact, according to a social media post, Nebraska has already made Texas bleed twice in the national championship finals.

The final boss that has always been out of reach for Texas

Famed Volleyball analyst Lincoln Arneal, who covers Nebraska Volleyball events, tweeted an interesting statistic on X. He wrote, “The championship match on Sunday will be a rematch of the 1995 and 2015 title games. Nebraska won both of those. Texas is playing in its third title game in the past four years, winning last year. Madisen Skinner is going for a personal three-peat.”

The Texas Longhorns may be the reigning champions, but they haven’t had a lot of luck in the postseason games. This is especially true for the final four stages, as Texas has made it to the semis 10 times since 2008. However, only two of these appearances have resulted in title wins. One last year, and one back in 2012. Thus, while the team itself has a solid foundation, it stands on shaky ground, especially when facing an opponent they have always lost to.

Interestingly, even Huskers fans see Wisconsin as a tougher opponent over Texas for the Championship. Nebraska has only lost one match this year and doesn’t plan on making the finals the site of their second loss. But, despite the odds, the Texas Longhorns can turn things around this year. In fact, 2023 can also be the year when they exact revenge on the Huskers.

The Texas Longhorns and their armor-breaking offense

The Wisconsin Badgers fought hard against the Texas Longhorns. While they seemed to recover from the first-set loss in the second set, they eventually lost in set four. Moreover, the third and the fourth sets saw Wisconsin get flattened by the Texas Longhorns, as they beat them with scores of 25-22, 20-25, 25-13, and 25-16.

Notably, Wisconsin is also a defense-heavy team like Nebraska. The armor-piercing offense of Texas has the flamboyant Madisen Skinner, who consistently dishes out kills for her team. Moreover, she even performed fabulously in the semifinals against Wisconsin and was the highest kill-scorer on the court with 18 kills.

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While Texas won their last final appearance and took the NCAA Volleyball Championship home, Nebraska lost to Wisconsin in 2021. Everyone’s eyes are now peeled to see both factions face each other on 17 December. Will the Texas Longhorns defend their title and get their revenge? Or will Nebraska reign supreme a third time and give the best Christmas present to its fans?

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