Texas Volleyball: Teams, Clubs, Rankings, and the Road to San Antonio

The 2025 season ended with a Texas school holding the trophy. Six Texas programs show up in the 2026 AVCA preseason poll. And in December, the Final Four lands at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Dec. 17-20.

Put those three facts together and this is the best year in a decade to care about Texas volleyball teams.

Here is the map: who is ranked, who to watch, how school and club teams differ, what El Paso families are working with, and what actually changed for anyone hoping to play in college.

Why is Texas volleyball so strong right now?

Start with December 2025. Texas A&M swept Kentucky in Kansas City to win the program’s first national title. It was the first all-SEC final in Division I women’s volleyball history.

The path there was absurd. The Aggies knocked off No. 1 overall seed Nebraska, who had gone undefeated in the regular season. Then they knocked off No. 1 seed Pitt. Kyndal Stowers took most outstanding player, and Jamie Morrison won his first title.

Austin has been doing this longer. Texas has posted exactly one losing season since the program started in 1974. That year, 2000, is when the school hired Jerritt Elliott. Since then: three national championships, 11 Final Fours, and an average of 25.4 wins a season.

So in a four-year window, two Texas schools have won three national championships. That does not happen by accident. The state has a huge player pool, high schools that take the sport seriously, and a club scene that runs almost year-round. Kids here get reps.

Which Texas volleyball teams are ranked in 2026?

The AVCA preseason coaches poll dropped August 10. Six Texas programs showed up on it.

Nebraska opened at No. 1 with 57 of 63 first-place votes. Kentucky, Pitt, and Stanford filled out the top five.

The Aggies being eighth after winning the whole thing raised eyebrows, and we wrote about that ranking when the poll came out. Nebraska sitting first is less of a surprise once you look at what the Huskers spend.

One more thing to sit with. Only two teams have ever won a national title after starting the year outside the preseason top 10. Both were ranked No. 11. UCLA did it in 2011, Stanford in 2016. SMU opens 2026 at No. 11.

How brutal is Texas’s nonconference schedule?

Elliott built it himself, and he cheerfully admits it is the hardest in the country. Seven of the Longhorns’ eight nonconference opponents are ranked.

• Aug 22 — No. 12 Arizona State, Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, 6 p.m. CT on FS1
• Aug 24 — Marquette, same building, 7 p.m. CT
• Aug 29 — No. 18 TCU, Players Era Showcase, T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
• Aug 30 — No. 1 Nebraska, T-Mobile Arena, 2:30 p.m. CT on FOX
• Early Sept — No. 20 USC at Gregory Gym, then No. 7 Louisville in Nashville
• Sept 9 — at No. 11 SMU, Moody Coliseum, Dallas, ACC Network
• Sept 13 — No. 6 Wisconsin at the Moody Center

Two of those carry grudges. Nebraska leads the all-time series 33-25, but the last meeting was the 2023 national championship match, which Texas swept. And Wisconsin ended the Longhorns’ 2025 season in the Elite Eight, inside Gregory Gym. That rematch closes nonconference play.

Elliott can schedule like this because nobody is firing him over a September loss. He is 635-125 at Texas, the most wins of any coach in program history, with three national titles and 14 conference championships — though none yet in two seasons in the SEC. Texas extended him through 2029 and pushed his salary past $800,000.

Which Texas volleyball players should you be fueling?

Rankings are about programs. NIL is about people. Here is who is carrying these rosters.

The setter situation is the story in Austin. Ella Swindle started as a true freshman on the 2023 title team and owns 2,308 career assists across 81 matches. She may not start this year anyway. Elliott is running a 6-2, which uses two setters and keeps three attackers at the net, and junior Rella Binney started both preseason scrimmages with five-star freshman Genevieve Harris rotating in. Elliott’s line is that he has three good setters and all three will play. Binney, a 5-10 junior from Hawaii, is the latest in a long Hawaiian pipeline at Texas — Elliott played men’s volleyball there.

Torrey Stafford is the one to back. The senior outside hitter transferred in from Pitt and has been an All-American in each of her first three college seasons: 1,288 career kills, 578 digs, 88 aces. She led Texas with 516 kills last year. Under the NCAA’s new five-for-five rule, which scraps redshirting and gives every athlete five seasons, she could return in 2027 — though she has said Europe is on her mind.

The rest of the Longhorn front row. Sophomore Cari Spears put up 358 kills as a freshman All-American, and yes, she is Marcus Spears’ daughter. Sophomore Abby Vander Wal added 280 as a freshman and just won a U-21 Pan-American Cup with the U.S. national team. Freshman Henley Anderson was the top recruit in the 2026 class. In the middle, Nya Bunton and Taylor Harvey both broke out last season. Back a Longhorn →

Texas A&M is rebuilding on the fly. The Aggies took heavy graduation losses off the title team, and Morrison has called this a brand-new group. Senior setter Margot Manning is the returning constant, and senior transfer Natalie Ring hit 16 kills in the exhibition win over No. 21 Baylor. Back an Aggie →

Everywhere else is where fan money actually moves a season. A tournament team at UTEP or Rice runs on a fraction of what Austin and College Station spend, and those athletes have no media rights deal behind them. They have fans. Use the athlete directory guide to go roster by roster.

Which Texas volleyball matches can you call right now?

Every one of these has a live prediction page. Pick a side, back an athlete, watch it play out.

• Aug 23 — No. 8 Texas A&M vs No. 11 SMU, AVCA First Serve, Milwaukee, noon CT on ESPN2. Two ranked Texas teams in the season’s first weekend. Make the call
• Aug 24 — No. 2 Texas vs Marquette, Fiserv Forum, 7 p.m. CT. Marquette received votes and is not a soft landing. Make the call
• Aug 28 — Texas A&M vs Grand Canyon and Arkansas State, Reed Arena. The Aggies unveil the national championship banner in College Station. GCU · Arkansas State
• Aug 29 — No. 2 Texas vs No. 18 TCU, Las Vegas. Texas is 25-1 all-time against the Frogs and has won 16 straight. Make the call
• Aug 30 — No. 1 Nebraska vs No. 2 Texas, T-Mobile Arena, 2:30 p.m. CT on FOX. Title-match rematch, three years later. Make the call

Then circle Nov. 1. Texas A&M visits Austin for the only regular-season meeting between the two best programs in the state.

What is our prediction for Texas volleyball in 2026?

Four calls, on the record, before anyone has played a conference match.

Texas reaches San Antonio. The Alamodome hosts the Final Four Dec. 17-20, and a 4-1 nonconference run would likely lock in a regional host spot. If the bracket breaks right, the Longhorns could win a national title without ever leaving the state. The beat writers in Austin have them at 20-3 in the regular season. We will take the over on the wins and the under on the drama.

The SEC comes down to Sept. 27 in Lexington. Texas has finished second in the league both years it has been in it. Only five SEC teams are ranked. Beat No. 3 Kentucky on the road and the path to a first SEC title is clear.

SMU finishes higher than it starts. No. 11 is the softest hard ranking in the poll, and the Mustangs get chances early. Beat A&M on Aug. 23 and the number moves fast.

TCU is the one people underrate. Twenty-one wins last year and a fourth straight trip to the NCAA second round. The Frogs will not scare anyone in August and will be a miserable draw in December.

Hold us to these. We publish the receipts in Rankings and Predictions.

What are the main types of volleyball teams in Texas?

The pipeline that feeds all of the above starts in a high school gym. Henley Anderson won a Class 6A state title at Dripping Springs before becoming the top recruit in the country. Camille Presley finished her coursework at Austin High, reclassified a year early, and is now a 17-year-old on a top-five roster. Those are Texas kids who came up through Texas gyms.

Three broad buckets cover most of what you will find.

School teams. For most kids, middle school or high school is the first real structured season. UIL play runs from August into the November state tournament. School ball teaches you how to compete inside a schedule you did not choose, with teammates you did not pick. You also learn the boring stuff: show up on time, take a correction without sulking, contribute when you are not the one putting the ball away.

Club teams. Club runs outside the school season and goes deeper on skills. Teams are sorted by age and level, and you play more matches against more opponents. Club is not one thing, though. Some Texas volleyball clubs travel constantly and recruit hard. Others stay local and focus on development. Both are fine. They are different products at different prices.

Community and rec leagues. Rec ball is for players who want the sport without the grind. Think city leagues, church leagues, private gyms, and adult nights. It is the best on-ramp for beginners, and the best way for an adult to keep playing at 35.

How does club volleyball work in Texas?

The club calendar runs roughly November through June. Tryouts land in the fall, usually right after the high school season winds down, which means families decide fast.

Most Texas club volleyball runs through USA Volleyball’s Lone Star and North Texas regions, with AAU as a parallel track. Regional tournaments feed qualifiers, and qualifiers feed national events. Ask any club which region and which circuit they play, because the answer shapes your entire spring.

Then ask what it costs. Club fees are only part of it. Add hotels, flights, gas, entry fees, and the weekends you will not get back.

Worth knowing before you spend: high school athletes in Texas have their own NIL rules, and they are not the same as the college ones. We break those down in Texas NIL laws and how high school athletes can actually get deals.

What should you ask before joining Texas volleyball clubs?

The best club is rarely the biggest one. It is the one that fits the athlete you actually have, right now.

• Coaching. Does the coach teach, or just yell? Watch a practice and you will know in ten minutes.
• Practice plan. Are drills game-like, or are kids standing in lines?
• Placement. Will your athlete be stretched, or buried on the bench?
• Money and calendar. Get the full season cost and the full travel list in writing.
• Playing time. Ask directly. A vague answer is an answer.
• Position work. If your kid is a setter or a libero, who is coaching that specifically?
• Culture. Do the players look like they want to be there?

A good program should make an athlete better at volleyball and better at losing. Both skills travel.

Where do volleyball teams in El Paso, Texas fit in?

El Paso sits about eight hours from Dallas by car, so the travel math is different out west. That makes what is happening at UTEP a bigger deal locally.

The Miners went 25-5 in 2025, won the Conference USA regular season title, and earned a second straight at-large NCAA Tournament bid. They also moved leagues. UTEP started play in the Mountain West this year alongside fellow newcomers UC Davis and Hawai’i, with nine home matches at Memorial Gym.

The league schedule is a full round robin, 18 matches over nine weeks. Only the top four teams reach the Mountain West championship in Las Vegas in late November, and only the winner gets the automatic NCAA bid.

For families searching volleyball teams in El Paso, Texas, that is a real advantage. You can watch NCAA Tournament-level volleyball twenty minutes from your house, and your kid can see what the level actually looks like instead of guessing from a highlight reel. You can also back the roster directly.

For club, be realistic about the map. Pick fewer tournaments and pick them on purpose. A club that plays four smart events with good competition beats a club that drives ten hours a month for nothing.

How should you read Texas volleyball rankings?

Rankings are a snapshot, not a verdict. Read them that way and they are useful.

The AVCA coaches poll is the standard at the college level, and the first in-season poll lands Aug. 31, after the opening weekend. High school polls come from state and national outlets. Club rankings usually track qualifier results and are more volatile than anyone admits.

Three questions keep you honest:

1. Who made it, and from what? Results, schedule strength, and opinion all get weighted differently.
2. How old is it? A poll from three weeks ago has missed two injuries and a lineup change.
3. What is it blind to? Coaching, culture, playing time, and academic fit never show up in a number.

A team can drop two ranked matches and still be the better team in December. Ask A&M.

Where can you follow Texas volleyball news?

Go straight to the source and skip the aggregators.

• School and university athletics sites for schedules, rosters, and results
• Your district or UIL page for playoff brackets
• Club sites and team apps for tryout dates and tournament plans
• AVCA for poll releases through the fall
• Our volleyball coverage for the NIL side of the season

Set a family calendar for practices, matches, travel, and deadlines. Confirm details with a coach before you book anything. Most of the stress in a volleyball season comes from missed information, not missed serves.

What changed for Texas players headed to college?

Two rule changes landed at once, and a lot of families have not caught up.

Roster limits replaced scholarship limits. Division I women’s volleyball used to be a head-count sport with 12 full scholarships. That is gone at schools that opted into the House settlement. Those programs now carry a roster limit of 18 and can spread aid across the roster however they want. More players can get some money, but walk-on spots have thinned out across Olympic sports — a squeeze we covered in what the settlement did to non-revenue sports.

Five-for-five replaced redshirting. Every college athlete now gets five seasons, full stop. That is more eligibility per athlete competing for the same 18 spots, which makes each roster spot harder to win and each senior year less final.

Schools that opted in can also share revenue directly with athletes, under a cap that started at $20.5 million in 2025-26 and rises about four percent a year. Volleyball competes with football and basketball for that pool, and at most schools it does not win that fight. The math on who actually gets paid is bleaker than the headlines suggest.

There is a pro league at the end of it now, too. Emma Halter, the libero on Texas’s title teams, plays for the Indy Ignite in Major League Volleyball. That is new, and it changes what a college career is worth.

Which is why NIL matters more in this sport than people think. Volleyball players are already building real followings — the ceiling just is not where football’s is.

That is the gap RallyFuel exists to close. Fans back a specific athlete, 90% of the contribution reaches that athlete, and if the deal’s conditions are not met, the money comes back automatically.

Every Texas volleyball roster on RallyFuel

Every D1, D2, and D3 athlete is listed, which means the whole state is here:

Ranked: Texas · Texas A&M · SMU · TCU · Baylor · Rice

The rest of the D1 map: Houston · Texas Tech · UTEP · UTSA · Texas State · North Texas · Sam Houston · Stephen F. Austin · Tarleton State · Lamar · Abilene Christian · Incarnate Word · Houston Christian · Texas A&M-Corpus Christi · UT Arlington · UT Rio Grande Valley · East Texas A&M · Prairie View A&M · Texas Southern

Below D1, the money gets thinner and fan support matters more. See Texas D3 schools and NIL, the Lone Star Conference at the D2 level, and Texas JUCO.

The takeaway

Texas volleyball is deep enough that a player can find the right level at almost any age. The trick is matching the athlete to the environment instead of chasing the name on the jersey.

Watch a practice. Ask about playing time. Read rankings as information, not as a scoreboard for your kid’s future. And if the season ends the way this state hopes, the last match of the year will be a two-hour drive from most of it.

Back a Texas volleyball athlete on RallyFuel →