Playing Through

UT's volleyball squad with coach Jerritt Elliott
Photo courtesy of University of Texas

He's a coach, so of course Jerritt Elliott is going to say there are things his volleyball team needs to work on. And after the University of Texas team's hard loss in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, Elliott is no doubt right.

For the last two months, the Longhorns had been firing on all cylinders. They hadn't lost a match since September. Matter of fact, they had lost only seven of the last 76 sets going into Saturday's regional final in Gainesville, Fla., against fifth-ranked University of Southern California. Ranked third in the nation, the UT women were playing with an infectious swagger. They were bigger, more physical, and, frankly, cockier than anyone they'd faced in months. And the cockiness wasn't just a Texas thing. It was born of the kind of chemistry that all teams of destiny have – a blend of personality and esprit de corps – of cagey experience in two-time All-American setter Michelle Moriarty and strapping youth in Big 12 freshman of the year Juliann Faucette.

Volleyball players: 1) hit a ball over a net and 2) look awesome on the beach (and really intimidating in those wraparound sunglasses) – that was about the extent of my knowledge of the game when I stumbled into Gregory Gym back in September (I teach and take some classes at UT). But I was immediately smitten. I had the kind of crush on these athletes that I used to experience as a kid, when it seemed that playing for a college team was just about the coolest thing in the whole world. A few games later, though I still didn't know jack about volleyball, I was talking like an aficionado. Forget about football, I was telling everyone: This is the team to watch.

So what happened? Had I jinxed them?

"We just made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes," said Elliott, returning home Sunday from Gainesville. "Statistically, in every category, it was pretty close to our worst match of the year. It's one thing if you play your best and put it all out there and still lose. That's hard, but it's worse when you just never get on a roll. That's the disappointing part."

Disconsolate, Elliott tried to take comfort in talking about various ways his team could improve next year. They could become more efficient in their passing game, he said. Their ballhandling could get sharper. Stuff like that. Stuff I didn't understand. But you could tell that he wasn't there yet. He wouldn't say it, but knew he was thinking it: A team like this year's is about as good as it ever gets.