MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newsletters
No. 1 Longhorns lose to Long Beach State in season opener, rebound to beat LMU
The Texas Longhorns fell August 25 to Long Beach State in the season opener 3-1 at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California, but bounced back to sweep Loyola Marymount the following day.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The defending national champions and preseason No. 1 team in the country dropped its first match of the season but bounced back for a California split.
The Texas Longhorns fell August 25 to Long Beach State in the season opener 3-1 at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California, but bounced back to sweep Loyola Marymount the following day.
Against LMU, Texas won 25-22, 25-22, 25-19 behind 10 kills from Jenna Wenaas and eight from Madisen Skinner. Skinner, the preseason Big 12 Conference player of the year, also had a team-high 10 digs.
Freshman setter Ella Swindle had 24 assists and five digs with three blocks.
In the first set, Skinner served five consecutive points to give the Longhorns a 12-6 cushion and Wenaas had five kills in the set. She had five more in the second set to help push the Longhorns to the set win.
The Lions jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the third set before the Longhorns figured it out. Texas worked the set back to 10-10 and then went on an 11-3 run to put it away and clinch the sweep.
Against Long Beach, Texas tied the match after winning the second set 25-18, but a bad third set put them behind 2-1 and Long Beach closed it out in four sets.
Skinner had 16 kills while Wenaas chipped in 11. Bella Bergmark had five kills and five blocks for the Longhorns.
The loss ended a 15-match winning streak for the Longhorns, dating back to last season following a 3-2 loss Oct. 19 to Iowa State. Texas won its final 15 matches last season which culminated with a 3-0 win over Louisville in the national title match.
Texas (1-1) takes on Minnesota at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Minneapolis.