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
Pride Collect Three GNAC Weekly Awards After Wesleyan Winter Invitational
WESTON, Mass. — Hannah Griffin, Zoe Kirk, and Justin Thuotte each represented the Pride this week in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) weekly awards. Kirk earned her second Rookie of the Week honor of the season, while Griffin collected her first career Track Athlete of the Week award. Thuotte was named Field Athlete of the Week, marking his first honor of the season and the fifth weekly award of his career.
Zoe Kirk continued her strong rookie campaign with a pair of top-10 finishes. She placed third overall in the high jump with a mark of 1.50 meters, setting a new indoor program record and surpassing the previous mark of 1.46 held by teammate Grace Micklon. Kirk also finished ninth in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 9.93.
Hannah Griffin captured the top spot in the 800 meters with a time of 2:44.36, edging her nearest competitor by nearly one second.
Justin Thuotte delivered another standout performance at the Wesleyan Winter Invitational, winning the long jump with a mark of 6.70 meters to set a new indoor program record, besting his own previous mark of 6.65 from the last meet. He also placed third in the triple jump at 12.99 meters and rounded out his day with a 10th-place finish in the weight throw, posting a personal-best mark of 13.59 meters.
Regis track and field stays close to home this weekend, traveling to Brighton, Massachusetts, to compete at the Suffolk Ice Breaker at The Track at New Balance.
Sports
Ella Parker to Join Milwaukee Volleyball as Newest Addition to Roster
MILWAUKEE – Ella Parker has been announced as the newest addition to the Milwaukee volleyball roster, head coach Susie Johnson announced on Monday afternoon.
Parker will join the Panthers this spring after spending the last three semesters at St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y., where she was a member of the Red Storm for the past two seasons.
“We are excited to add Ella to our team this spring,” said Johnson. “Having played in the Big East Conference, she has match experience and will bring a lot to our program in the Horizon League. We’re excited that she not only can score points for us but defend as well.”
This past fall, Parker played in 16 matches for St. John’s and recorded 138 kills, along with 10 service aces, 26 digs, and 15 blocks. She posted a season-high 16 kills on Oct. 4 at UConn while hitting .361 and later recorded a season-best .692 hitting percentage with nine kills without an error against LeMoyne earlier in the year.
As a true freshman in 2024, Parker saw action in three matches before an injury ended her season.
Originally from Corrales, New Mexico, Parker was a three-year member of the Cougar volleyball team at Cibola High School in Albuquerque. During her prep career, she earned AVCA Girls High School All-Region honors as both a junior and a senior and was named to the All-American Watch List.
A multiple-time All-State, All-Region, All-Area, and All-Conference selection, Parker was also chosen for the New Mexico Red and Green All-Start Team. She set Cibola program records for both most kills in a season and most kills in a match.
Parker played club volleyball for Duke City Volleyball Academy and competed in beach volleyball with the Albuquerque Beach Volleyball Academy. Away from the court, she was also a competitive swimmer for more than 10 years.
Parker joins fellow transfer Kameron Stover, along with incoming freshmen Olivia Doerre, Emma Duffy, Kayla Landerud, and Hope Wagner as newcomers for the 2026 volleyball season.
Sports
T&F trio earn GNAC honors
PORTLAND, ORE. – The University of Alaska Anchorage had three Seawolves earn GNAC Athlete of the Week honors for indoor track and field.
Liv Heite was named the women’s track athlete of the week. Her top effort was a 60-meter hurdles time of 8.91 seconds, upping her name to third on the GNAC performance list this winter. Heite is the reigning GNAC silver medalist in the event from last season. She also ran 8.09 seconds in the 60 meters, 26.02 seconds in the 200 meters and ran a leg of a UAA 4×400 meter relay squad that posted 3:57.48 minutes to round out her productive weekend. Now in her third season at UAA, Heite is a four-time GNAC medalist earning silver in both the 2024 and 2025 100-meter hurdles (outdoor), silver in the 2025 60-meter hurdles (indoor), and silver in the 2025 400-meter hurdles (outdoor)
“Liv looks like she is ready to pick up where she left off,” said head coach Ryan McWilliams. “She started the season off faster than she did last year and ran consistently over the weekend. I think she is ready to take it to the next level.”
Sarah Dittman was named the women’s field athlete of the week. She kicked things off with a high jump mark of 4-11.75 feet (1.52 meters) and a long jump of 17-4.25 feet (5.29 meters), placing fifth in both events. Each of those marks slotted her fourth among GNAC competitors so far in the indoor season. Dittman also contributed on the track, running a 200 meters time of 26.79 seconds, a 60-meter hurdles time of 10.61 seconds and running a leg of UAA’s 4×400 meter relay unit that posted a time of 4:14.89 minutes.
“Sarah had an encouraging start to her college career,” said head coach Ryan McWilliams. “I am really looking forward to seeing where her growth and development over the course of this season is going to take her.”
Tyler Drake was named the men’s field athlete of the week. His weekend was highlighted by a third-place finish in the long jump, as he cleared 22-3 feet (6.78 meters). That stands as the second-best long jump by a GNAC athlete so far this season. On the track, he posted times of 23.55 seconds in the 200 meters and 8.36 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.
“Tyler had himself a great start to his college career,” said head coach Ryan McWilliams. “He set personal bests in the hurdles and long jump and moved himself into the top-10 on UAA’s performance list. His long jump start is even more encouraging because of how obvious it is that he still has so much room to grow.”
UAA will compete at the UW Preview Jan. 16-17.
Sports
Shank Named GNAC Setter of the Week After Facilitating Offense in Season Opener
WESTON, Mass. — Evan Shank earned the first Setter of the Week honor of the 2026 season from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) after leading Regis College to a 3–0 sweep of Elms on Saturday.
The junior directed the offense in the Pride’s straight-sets victory on January 9, recording 33 assists to average an impressive 11.0 assists per set. Making his debut in crimson and gold, Shank efficiently controlled the tempo throughout the match, guiding Regis to a dominant non-conference win.
Shank and the Pride will return to action on Wednesday, hosting Curry College for their 2026 home opener at 7 p.m.
Sports
UC Davis Athletics Concludes Fall With Competitive Success, National Honors and Facilities Investment
DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis Athletics capped the Fall 2025 season with record-setting performances, national and conference honors, and postseason success across multiple programs. The season also marked the announcement of Aggie Ascent, a $265 million facilities plan designed to enhance the student-athlete and fan experience.
“Across multiple programs this fall, our teams competed at a high level, earned conference championships, advanced in postseason play, and achieved milestones that reflect the depth and consistency of our department,” said UC Davis Athletic Director Rocko DeLuca. “Those results are a direct credit to our student-athletes, coaches, and staff, who continue to raise the standard through their commitment, preparation, and belief in what we’re building here. As we celebrate those accomplishments, we’re focused on matching that competitive momentum with long-term investment in our facilities and resources to support our teams at the highest level of Division I athletics. I’m proud of what this group accomplished this fall and excited about where Aggie Athletics is headed.”
Aggie Ascent Announcement
This fall, UC Davis Athletics announced Aggie Ascent, a comprehensive facilities master plan. The $265 million, phased, gift-driven project prioritizes high-impact and revenue-generating facilities, beginning with a reimagined UC Davis Health Stadium featuring premium seating, suites, and a year-round hospitality space, alongside a new NCAA-compliant Woody Wilson Track and Field Complex and a Golf Training Center serving both Aggie programs and the surrounding community. Future phases include upgrades to baseball, soccer, and the University Credit Union Center, as well as a new softball stadium and redevelopment of south campus facilities.
Developed in partnership with ELS Architecture and Urban Design, the plan represents the university’s unified vision for athletics infrastructure, focused on enhancing the student-athlete experience, elevating the fan experience, and ensuring long-term sustainability. The project reflects UC Davis’ commitment to innovation and competitive excellence at the Division I level.
Championships and Postseason
UC Davis Athletics delivered a strong year highlighted by postseason appearances, conference championships, and historic milestones across multiple programs. Aggie football, gymnastics, and women’s golf each qualified for NCAA postseason competition, with several teams extending their seasons beyond conference play.
Conference success followed, as volleyball captured the Big West regular season title and men’s water polo claimed the Big West Conference championship, continuing the program’s tradition of postseason success.
Football, under second-year head coach Tim Plough, continued its national climb by advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals for a second-straight year, while posting a top eight finish nationally in back-to-back seasons coming in at No. 8 following the most recent fall. Field hockey also marked a milestone year, hosting and competing in its first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship game.
Historic Wins and Notable Awards
UC Davis student-athletes earned significant national and conference recognition across multiple programs this year. Men’s water polo standout Thomas Kiesling was named a third-team ACWPC All-American after earning All-Big West First Team honors, placing him among the nation’s top collegiate players.
Field hockey collected major accolades, as Karly Redman earned MPSF Offensive Player of the Year honors, while freshman goalkeeper Addie Collingwood was named MPSF Freshman of the Year following an impactful debut season.
Football earned multiple postseason honors this season, highlighted by a handful of Aggies receiving All-America recognition from four different national organizations. Among those was first team All-American Jacob Psyk, making it three-straight seasons the Aggies have had at least one first team All-American.
Volleyball capped a strong season with multiple major awards. Jade Light was named Big West Player of the Year and earned American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American Honorable Mention, becoming the program’s first All-American since 1996. She was joined by Mia Starr, the Big West Setter of the Year, and Ximena Cordero Barr, who earned Libero of the Year honors. These accolades coincided with a record-setting season, as the Aggies posted the most conference wins in program history.
ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS:
UC Davis, the No. 2 ranked public university by the Wall Street Journal, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked #1 in Agriculture and Forestry as well as #1 in Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026–27.
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