Jerritt Elliott reveals his thoughts about Longhorns’ path to a third national title in the NCAA tournament

Texas volleyball coach Jerritt Elliott knew the Longhorns would have to pack their bags during the NCAA tournament. He just didn’t know where they’d be going.

No. 13 Texas landed first- and second-round hosting duties but will likely travel to face two of the toughest teams in the nation in the later rounds — possibly No. 2 seed Creighton and No. 1 seed Penn State.

It won’t be easy for the reigning back-to-back national champions, but Elliott believes his Longhorns will be ready. Texas opens NCAA play against Southland tournament champion Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Gregory Gym. UT-Arlington and USC will meet in another first-round match on Thursday.

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“Yeah, there’s no easy route for us,” Elliott said Sunday. “Obviously, we've got our first-round opponent Corpus Christi, who will be feisty and play some really good defense. And then we've got USC, who was in a conference that has nine teams that made the tournament. They’re dangerous, and they’re really good.

“Creighton has the second-highest hitting percentage if they move on, and the second-best defense in the country. And then obviously Penn State’s a handful. We’re basically going to have to go through everybody to get there, but I’m excited about it.

“I think we have the team that can do some that can do some damage,” Elliott added, “and I think we're very confident right now.”

Why is Elliott so confident? This is the same path Texas had last year. The Horns won the first two games at home and then went west to Palo Alto, Calif. Texas beat No. 11 seed Tennessee and then No. 2 seed Stanford to reach the Final Four.

Elliott said his team will be at full strength against A&M-Corpus Christi as outside hitter Madisen Skinner is expected to return. Skinner missed the regular-season finale against Ole Miss due to illness. The Horns got a terrific performance from Devin Kahahawai in Skinner’s place to hold off the Rebels in five sets.