Texas and two former Huskers win 2022 National Championship
No. 1 Texas claimed its third NCAA national championship on Saturday night in Omaha. The Longhorns powered past Louisville who was in the program’s first-ever title match.
The Longhorns were ranked No. 1 all season except the week after they lost to Iowa State, their only loss of the season. They made sure to be No. 1 at the end of the season.
Texas volleyball swept Louisville 25-22, 25-14 and 26-24. They hit .371 and held the Cardinals to a .189 clip.
Outside hitter Logan Eggleston had 19 kills and hit .341. The AVCA National Player of the Year had 10 kills and hit .541 in the first set. Madisen Skinner had 12 kills and hit .407. Both were named on the All-Tournament team. Eggleston was the MVP.
Two former Husker volleyball players won their first national title as well. Middle blocker Kayla Caffey and defensive specialist Keonilei Akana transferred to Texas after the 2021 season. Caffey and Akana played in the 2021 national championship for Nebraska.
Caffey played at three schools and won two rings at her third (a Big 12 championship and a national championship).
Texas and Louisville – including three former Huskers – advance to National Championship
After she was pulled in the Final Four against San Diego, Caffey got another chance against the Cardinals. She hammered one kill down the middle in set one. Caffey had got three set over three sets.
As for Akana, she had four digs and two assists. She is known for her tough serving but didn’t serve an ace against the Cardinals until the very end. Akana served three straight times at the end of the match.
She had arguably the most important play of the match. Akana drilled an ace on match point to win it all.
Texas Head Coach Jerritt Elliott leaned over to Caffey next to him and said “Ice in her veins” when Akana served the last point. He was right.
Middle blocker Asija O’Neal said on match-point she was praying but when she say the ball come off Akana’s hand, she knew it was an ace.
Louisville’s legendary season comes to an end
Louisville volleyball is led by a former Husker player and assistant coach. Cardinal Head Coach Dani Busboom Kelly took Louisville to its first Final Four in 2021 and its first national championship in 2022. In fact, the Cardinals are the inaugural ACC team to compete for the NCAA national title.
Busboom Kelly has been one of three women to lead her team to a national championship match. No female head coach has won a national championship.
“There’s so many words to say about this match and this season, it’s hard to know what to say first, especially when you feel disappointed in the way you played,” Busboom Kelly said. “But you feel like so incredibly proud of the body of work that this team did this season.”
While the score was close in the first set, Texas had control for the majority of it. However, Louisville was in control of set three until the end. The Cardinals were up 24-22. Texas called a timeout and went on a 4-0 scoring run.
Dani Busboom Kelly back in Nebraska with hopes of winning a national championship in a different red
Busboom Kelly said if Louisville volleyball could have won the third set, she had a good feeling they could have beat Texas.
“I’m really proud of this team, our senior class, It’s unbelievable, what they accomplished,” she said. “It’s tough being in this moment, and not taking advantage of it.”
Louisville had the crowd’s support. The majority of the sold-out crowd of 16,952 was behind the Cardinals. When Texas called the time down 24-22, they broke out in a “Go Big Red” chant.
Busboom Kelly said after the match that “Go Big Red” is not Louisville’s chant but they got the drift.
“The crowd really, I think, win or lose, they just wanted to see more volleyball,” she said. “That’s how I felt too. It’s like, “Man, I want to see what we can do and let this game continue.” So I felt like the crowd. They wanted to see us play great.”
