Madisen Skinner refuses to let USC Trojans end Longhorns’ volleyball dynasty during NCAA tournament

If someone is going to end Texas’ volleyball dynasty, they better drive the stake all the way through the Longhorns’ burnt orange heart.

Madi F’in Skinner and the back-to-back defending national champs aren’t going down in this NCAA tournament without one hellacious fight.

A recent ESPN profile on Texas superstar Madisen Skinner revealed how she once wrote “MFS” on her finger tape for a shot of confidence. Associate head coach David Hunt reminded her the next day, “You're Madi f---ing Skinner, all right.”

The three-time national champion Skinner channeled that energy Friday night with thunderous back row attacks, savvy tips at the net and a game-high 23 kills. The Horns started slow but turned it on full throttle for a 26-24, 25-20, 25-22 sweep in a packed Gregory Gym.

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“She obviously went off and does her thing,” said USC’s Ally Batenhorst, who had a team-high 17 kills herself. “She’s a great player.”

An NCAA tournament match that was supposed to be close really wasn’t as all. Texas (20-6) is headed to the NCAA regionals at Penn State to face Creighton in the Sweet 16 round.

“Penn State rocks,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said of the Nittany Lions’ home atmosphere. Their fans may not fill the place up for Texas-Creighton, though. “The first match will be quiet.”

The Horns plan on raising the roof. “I think there’s a lot of good teams right now. I think there’s a lot of capabilities. But on any given night, we can beat anybody,” Elliott said.

There was nothing quiet, reserved or demure about what the Horns did against the Trojans (22-10). They put the Women of Troy on blast. Well, Skinner and Jenna Wenaas did, anyway. Wenaas had 13 kills and hit .619.

It started funky for the home team. USC got out of the blocks strong and looked a step quicker in every facet. Skinner had four attack errors early, and Elliott was so frustrated, he called timeout down 19-16 and let assistant Erk Sullivan chew on all of them.

“Look, I told them you don’t have to play perfect to win the NCAA tournament,” Elliott said. “You’re going to get into some battles, and you’ve got to find ways to kind of grind and get through it. And I thought we did that tonight. I thought we stuck together.”

After the timeout, the Horns reset. Emma Halter chased down an errant ball near the scorer’s table, and in a flash, Ayden Ames was slamming it right down Broadway. Skinner converted on two tips over the USC wall. Wenaas had a huge swing that put UT up 23-22, and Skinner had two back row attacks.

Don’t sleep on Reagan Rutherford (seven kills) or Marianna Singletary (six kills). Both of them can drive it through the floorboards and did against USC. Averi Carlson is the one directing traffic; UT’s setter dished out 40 assists. 

An opening set that was tailor-made for the Trojans — on the road, in a hostile gym in the NCAA tournament — swung to the Longhorns.

“First off, congratulations to Texas. Two-time defending national champion. It definitely shows,” USC coach Brad Keller said. “Madi Skinner is one heck of a player.”

USC got some points off dumps in the second set. But here comes Skinner, flying from the rafters and just blasting Trojans with her howitzer. It was one back row attack after another. Finally, she rotated to the front row and got a ball to fall into a dead spot and then hit a deadly cross shot.

The third set looked like it would turn into a runaway as Wenaas and Skinner helped Texas run up a six-point advantage. But USC continued to battle, a huge reason why Keller was almost brought to tears in the post-game press conference.

“God, they fought,” Keller said. “They’re (expletive) studs. And they’re just great people. They just do it the right way.”

Skinner had only one attack error in the final two sets. It was an amazing turnaround from UT’s supernova who, some believe, is the face of college volleyball.

“We’re gonna get beat if we don't play clean volley on our side, and if we're not taking care of our business,” Skinner said.

“Like Jerritt said, there’s a lot of talent out there. There’s a lot of really good teams, and I think as long as we're focused on what we’re doing and making sure we’re executing our systems the best we can, then we’re putting ourselves in the best position to win.”