MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- No. 2 Texas (27-2) punched its ticket to its sixth NCAA Volleyball Championship national semifinal in the past seven years with a 3-1 win (25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 31-29) against No. 7 seed North Carolina (29-3) at the Sports Pavilion on Saturday.
UT will face the winner of Nebraska/BYU at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City on Thursday, Dec. 18, at either 7:00 p.m. ET or 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
It is the third consecutive national semifinal appearance for UT and 10th overall appearance. The Longhorns claimed the 2012 national championship. They are 4-5 in national semifinal matches and 2-2 in the championship match.
After taking the first and third sets, Texas was pushed to multiple match points in the fourth set as the Longhorns avoided a fifth set with a 31-29 victory in the fourth, hitting a match-best .356.
For the second consecutive night, three-time Big 12 Player of the Year Haley Eckerman led the Longhorns in kills with 14. Khat Bell, Amy Neal and Chiaka Ogbogu also recorded double-digit kill outputs on the night as Texas outhit its opponent for for the 26th time this season.
