A career night from freshman Abby Vander Wal helped Texas volleyball stay perfect Friday with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss.
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Live updates from SEC match

Texas Longhorns outside hitter Cari Spears (23) and middle blocker Ayden Ames (5) jump to block a Tennessee attempt in the fourth set as the Texas Longhorns take on the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at home in Austin, Oct. 8, 2025.
One game after setting a new career high with 15 kills in a win over Oklahoma, Vander Wal fired 21 kills on 45 swings with just two hitting errors. Texas needed all it could get from Vander Wal in what became a personal duel with Ole Miss outside hitter Gabi Placide, who had 22 kills. But the No. 2 Longhorns (17-0, 9-0) have plenty of firepower besides Vander Wal; classmate Cari Spears tallied 16 kills and Torrey Stafford had eight of her 16 kills in the final set as Texas pulled away for the 35-33, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18 win.
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Texas remains half a game ahead of No. 3 Kentucky at the top the SEC standings, with neither team yet to lose in conference play. Last season, Kentucky edged Texas for the conference championship in the Longhorns’ SEC debut, which snapped a streak of seven consecutive conference titles for Texas.
MORE: Texas volleyball: Longhorns seeded No. 2 in initial NCAA selection committee rankings
Read below for a replay and highlights from Texas volleyball’s win over Ole Miss.

Texas Longhorns setter Ella Swindle (1) taps the ball over the net in the fourth set as the Longhorns take on the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at home in Austin, Oct. 8, 2025.
Feisty Ole Miss delivers some hits, but too much from the Texas freshman tandem of Abby Vander Wal (21 kills) and Cari Spears (16 kills), and too much Torrey Stafford (16 kills) especially in the final set. Texas will try and keep its perfect record intact Sunday at LSU. Texas wins 3-1.
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Set 4: Texas 18, Ole Miss 13
It’s taken 3 1/2 sets, but the Longhorns may finally be wearing down the Ole Miss attack, Texas is hitting .462 this set behind Abby Vander Wal (21 kills) and Cari Spears (16 kills), but Gabi Placide (5 aces) is back at the service line for Ole Miss. Texas leads 2-1.
Texas freshman Abby Vander Wal (20 kills) fires back-to-back kills, and the Longhorns are trying to squeeze this Ole Miss attack that’s reliant on Gabi Placide (20 kills). Texas leads 2-1.
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Ole Miss has 10 blocks, which keeps giving the Texas offense fits. But the Horns are hitting .417 this set after back-to-back kills from Torrey Stafford (10 kills, 11 digs). Texas leads 2-1.
Can Texas get Gabi Placide off the service line? Nope. The Ole Miss talisman serves six straight points to go along with 18 kills as the Rebels win the third set. Texas leads 2-1.
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Can Texas get Gabi Placide off the service line? The Horns will have to if they want to avoid a fourth set. She fires her third ace as the Rebels trying to stay alive. Texas leads 2-0.
Freshmen Abby Vander Wal and Cari Spears have combined for 30 kills. That’s a heckuva one-two punch for Texas, but Ole Miss is hanging tough after an ace from Gabi Placide (18 kills). Texas leads 2-0.
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The Rebels have committed two straight errors, and they talk things over and try and prevent the Longhorn sweep. Texas leads 2-0.
Abby Vander Wal has a new career-high with 16 kills for Texas, but Ole Miss isn’t going away behind 15 kills from Gabi Placide. These two attackers are having a nice duel. Texas leads 2-0.
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Abby Vander Wal has reached a career-high 15th kill for the second consecutive match for Texas, and the Longhorns are trying to find one spurt to give them a cushion in the third set. Texas leads 2-0.
The Longhorns reel off a 7-0 run late to seize control of the second set. Abby Vander Wal has been the star with 14 kills and just one attacking error for Texas, but Devin Kahahawai has been an unsung hero with lots of good swings and strong rotations And she helped settle down the Texas defense at the net. Texas leads 2-0.
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Ace from Rella Binney, and Texas finally has some breathing room. Ole Miss takes a timeout. Texas leads 1-0.
Abby Vander Wal had a career-high 15 kills in Sunday’s win over Oklahoma, and the Texas freshman is on pace to top that tonight. She has 11 kills, and Texas has a lead late in another taut set. Texas leads 1-0.
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Gabi Placide has 12 kills with just two errors on 28 swings for Ole Miss. The Longhorn blockers need to find an answer if they hope to avoid another nail-biter of a set. Texas leads 1-0.
Ole Miss has come to play. The Longhorn block is getting its hands on a lot of swings, but the Rebels are covering their attackers. Abby Vander Wal (10 kills) and Cari Spears (9 kills) are leading the Texas attack. No sign of Taylor Harvey at middle. Texas leads 1-0.
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Oh, my. An epic first set ends in heartbreaking fashion for Ole Miss, which commits a rotation error to give Texas its final point. That may have been the Rebels’ best set of the season behind nine kills from Gabi Placide. But Texas freshman Abby Vander Wal hammers nine of her own as the Longhorns survive the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead.
What a battle in the opening set. A dig of sorts by Emma Halter – she took a rocket from Gabi Placide off the chest and chin – led to a point for Texas, but the Longhorns are in a dogfight.
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Credit the Ole Miss defense for getting the Longhorns completely out of system. The Rebels are hitting. 296 to .269 for Texas, and Ole Miss star Gabi Placide has six kills on 11 swings. Let’s see what Jerritt Elliott can do to get Texas back on track.
A service ace by Bella Bonnano and a hitting error by Texas’ Cari Spears, and the Rebels are suddenly on a 3-0 spurt. Texas coach Jerritt Elliott is challenging a non-call on a net violation by Ole Miss. Anything to slow the momentum.
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Ole Miss attacker Gabi Placide is showing her quality against the Longhorns’ big block with four kills. But she’s going to need some help against the balanced Texas attack. The Longhorns have eight kills and have yet to commit an attacking error on 20 swings.
Two kills from Torrey Stafford and a kill and a block from Nya Bunton have the Longhorns off to a fast start. It’s not a big crowd at cozy Gillom Center, and the fans are pretty quiet early.
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Middle blocker Nya Bunton will get the start for Texas over freshman Taylor Harvey, who has started over the past month. Setter Ella Swindle, defensive specialist Ramsey Gary, middle blocker Ayden Ames and libero Emma Halter also join outsider hitters Torrey Stafford and Cari Spears in the starting lineup. Ole Miss will start Cammy Niesen, Mikihana Tufono, Gabi Placide, Carson Eickenloff, Tessa Jones, Melia Johnson and Shayla Meyer in the starting lineup.
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Where: Gillom Center in Oxford, Miss.
Sports
STM’s Eleanor Guidry named All-Metro Volleyball MVP | High Schools
When watching St. Thomas More’s volleyball team play, it’s hard not to notice Eleanor Guidry.
As the Cougars’ libero, Guidry wears a different uniform color than her teammates, but that’s not the only reason the defensive specialist stands out.
Guidry often makes difficult digs look routine and has established herself as the anchor of the Cougars’ defense.
“She’s so consistent and she has great range,” coach Jessica Burke said of the 5-foot-6 senior. “She has great platform awareness, can put the ball and manipulate the ball how she wants. She takes up a lot of space in serve-receive and defense, so that helped take the pressure off some of our kids that were new to the passing unit.”
Guidry finished last season with 651 digs, 42 aces, 42 assists and a 2.23 pass rating on 802 attempts this past season.
“El makes the hard things look easy and that’s the mark of a really good player,” Burke said. “She’s not flashy. She doesn’t do more than she needs to do. She reads extremely well, so she is in the right place at the right time. She has great range, so if she is hitting the floor then she is making a big play. It’s a play that most liberos wouldn’t even get to.”
In 2025, Guidry helped lead the Cougars to a 41-5 record and a fifth consecutive Division II state championship. For her efforts, she was named the Acadiana Advocate volleyball team’s Most Valuable Player.
“I think it is well deserved,” Burke said. “This kid works so hard all of the time. She takes zero days off and she has zero quit. Anything I ask her to do, she does it. Any adjustments I ask her to make, she makes them. It’s hard sometimes for people to recognize the libero because they’re just first contact. They don’t get the big kill or they’re not running the offense as a setter, but they’re so integral to a great team.”
Sports
Taylor, Horvath named Dixie Turman State Farm Agency Student-Athletes of the Week
COMMERCE – East Texas A&M University men’s basketball player Josh Taylor and women’s basketball player Nina Horvath are this week’s Dixie Turman State Farm Agency Student-Athletes of the Week.
Taylor (Wollongong, Australia) appeared in all three games last week, averaging 5.7 points and 2.7 rebounds, which included 17 points and six rebounds off the bench at Nicholls. The Lions play at New Orleans on Monday before returning home to host UTRGV on Saturday at 5 p.m.
Horvath (Oberwart, Austria) guided the Lions to a 2-1 week, starting all three games and averaging 12 points per game as well as 2.3 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game. In the win at New Orleans, she led all scorers with 24 points. The Lion women play both their games at home this week, hosting A&M-Corpus Christi for Faculty & Staff Appreciation Day on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. and UTRGV on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
The Dixie Turman State Farm Agency Student-Athletes of the Week is awarded by Lion Athletics each week during the academic year in partnership with Dixie Turman State Farm Agency.
2025-26 DIXIE TURMAN STATE FARM STUDENT-ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
| Date | Female | Male |
| Sept. 9 | Haleigh Risner, Women’s Cross Country | Ozlo Rigby, Football |
| Sept. 15 | Marie Baertz, Women’s Golf | Jeremiah Garcia, Men’s Cross Country |
| Sept. 22 | Alana Lawless-Felarca, Soccer | Davis Seybert, Men’s Golf |
| Sept. 29 | Gracie Campbell, Volleyball | Christian Jourdain, Football |
| Oct. 5 | Kristen Sueltz, Soccer | EJ Oakmon, Football |
| Oct. 13 | Jade Washington, Volleyball | Janis Erll, Men’s Golf |
| Oct. 20 | Haley Mullaney, Volleyball | Jeremiah Garcia, Men’s Cross Country |
| Oct. 27 | Gillian McKenzie, Soccer | Janis Erll, Men’s Golf |
| Nov. 4 | Edith Martinez, Women’s Cross Country | Paul Odidi, Football |
| Nov. 10 | Nevaeh Smith, Volleyball | Ronnie Harrison, Men’s Basketball |
| Nov. 17 | Mareva Heck, Women’s Cross Country | Eric Rodriguez, Football |
| Nov. 26 | Tiani Ellison, Women’s Basketball | Damian Garcia, Men’s Basketball |
| Dec. 10 | Reza Po, Women’s Basketball | Gianni Hunt, Men’s Basketball |
| Dec. 22 | Cora Horvath, Women’s Basketball | Noah Pagotto, Men’s Basketball |
| Jan. 5 | Nina Horvath, Women’s Basketball | Josh Taylor, Men’s Basketball |
-ETAMU-
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Sports
Mulderig Scores 18; Women’s Basketball Falls Late to Marist
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan Jaspers women’s basketball team (1-12, 1-3 MAAC), despite a combined 32 from Colette Mulderig (18) and Hana Mühl (14), fell to the Red Foxes of Marist (5-9, 2-2 MAAC) by a final score of 62-57 inside Draddy Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Brianna Davis and Mühl both knocked down the first pair of buckets from inside in the first few minutes.
- Four free throws courtesy of Elisa Solé Sanchez and Mulderig upped the advantage to five points.
- Autumn Taylor’s feed to Mulderig in the paint gave her four on the day and a six point lead for the Jaspers, before ending the quarter at four.
- Marist jumped back on top following seven unanswered points, a run starting in the first and culminating at the start of the second frame.
- Mulderig was granted the opportunity at a three point play following her and-one layup in the paint, extending her point total to seven.
- Davis drove inside for a layup with under a minute to go, eventually being the last bucket of the half, as Manhattan held a three point advantage going into the locker room.
- The Red Foxes came out of the break on a mission, scoring the first six points forcing a Green and White timeout.
- Kristina Juric tacked on two field goals out of the media timeout, giving the Jaspers the lead once more.
- Davis and Mulderig beared the scoring load down the stretch of the third frame, combining for seven in the final four minutes to knot things up at the end of the quarter.
- It was another hot start for the visitors to start the fourth, going up six within three minutes.
- Solé Sanchez tallied two layups at the five minute mark to cut the margin down to two.
- Mulderig went one-for-two from the stripe with 1:13 remaining, putting the hosts within reach at one point.
- Manhattan got outscored 6-2 in the final minute, with the Red Foxes holding on 62-57.
STATS AND NOTES
- Graduate forward Colette Mulderig led the way in scoring with 18 points on seven-for-14 shooting, as well as seven rebounds and four blocks.
- Senior guard Hana Mühl accumulated 14 on the scoreboard, the third time she’s hit that number on the season. In addition, the Croatia native sunk all six of her free throw attempts for a new season-high.
- Senior guard Brianna Davis spread the rock around with four assists, while swiping it away on the defensive end for three steals.
- Junior forward Kristina Juric pulled down the most rebounds with eight, her second-most on the year.
- Manhattan shot at its best rate in the third quarter, with a 50% clip.
NEXT UP:
Manhattan will continue its 2025-26 campaign on Thursday, January 8 when the Jaspers travel to Buffalo to take on the Golden Griffins from Canisius. Action is scheduled to take place from Koesssler Athletic Center starting at 11 a.m. and can be viewed on ESPN+ with a paid subscription.
Sports
STM’s Jessica Burke named volleyball’s Coach of the Year | High Schools
St. Thomas More’s volleyball program continued its winning ways this past season, and coach Jessica Burke was again an instrumental reason for the Cougars doing so.
Burke, who led the Cougars to a 41-5 record and a fifth consecutive Division II state championship, was named the Acadiana Advocate’s All-Metro Volleyball Coach of the Year.
It’s another coach of the year honor for Burke, who was named the 2025 American Volleyball Coaches Association regional coach of the year.
It was another impressive showing by Burke and her Cougars, who ended the season on a 17-match winning streak.
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