The victory Saturday night over Creighton appeared breezy and effortless, with the win pushing the Texas volleyball team to its fifth straight appearance in the Final Four.

On Monday, as the Longhorns took a day off from practice to concentrate on finals, what everyone continued to rave about was UT’s dramatic victory over BYU in the regional semifinals. It featured all sorts of quirky momentum swings, from the Longhorns taking a 2-0 set lead in the match before losing two straight sets. Texas then needed to rally from a six-point deficit in the pivotal fifth set while surging to a 16-14 win.

The Texas offense was diverse, with points coming from the left and right side and from emphatic blocks in the middle. Four players registered double-digit kills. And it was all keyed by senior setter Chloe Collins. If the Longhorns repeat the performance, if Collins continues to keep so many of her teammates involved, count on fourth-seeded UT having a decent chance against top-seeded and defending national champion Nebraska when the Final Four starts Thursday night in Columbus, Ohio.

“Chloe had her best weekend this weekend,” said Texas coach Jerritt Elliott. “We had some really good transition setting. We got some great points off some swings she was setting.”

Collins posted 70 assists against BYU, a career high and only four short of cracking the top-10 single-match list at Texas. Elliott praised the location of Collins’ sets, her decision-making and her ability to get the ball to the hottest hitter.

And after playing a position in which self-confidence is so critical, Collins went home and re-watched the match before reviewing her 34-assist effort against Creighton. She’s played in the past three Final Fours and is one of the best at her position in the country. Yet Collins loved the assurance she gleaned after analyzing a career effort.

“I can honestly say after I went home after both matches, I can say, ‘Wow, I contributed to this team the way I know I should have,’ ” Collins said. “I was a leader and did my job. … Just being confident in myself, going out on the floor and giving my team confidence, that’s always great, too.”

The Cornhuskers swept the Longhorns last year in the national championship match in front of an adoring home crowd in Omaha. UT suffered the same result against Nebraska in August at a tournament in Oregon. That was when UT was trying to re-discover its identity after the academic suspension of All-America middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu. Elliott called it “one of the biggest beatings I’ve taken as a head coach.”

Like Texas, the Cornhuskers also were nearly knocked out of the tournament in the regional semifinals before they outlasted Penn State. Nebraska lost the first two sets and fought off two match points for the Nittany Lions in the third set, but the Huskers righted themselves and won in five. Nebraska then swept Pac-12 champion Washington to clinch a Final Four berth.

Since Texas lost to Nebraska more than three months ago, the Longhorns were forced to diversify their offense behind outside hitters Paulina Prieto Cerame, Ebony Nwanebu and Micaya White and middle blocker Morgan Johnson.

Collins has so many options now.

“We just have this confidence when we step on the floor,” she said, “that we’ve never had.”

FINAL FOUR

Thursday-Saturday, Columbus, Ohio

Thursday’s semifinals: 2-Minnesota vs. 6-Stanford, 6 p.m., ESPN2; 1-Nebraska vs. 4-Texas, 8:30, ESPN2

Saturday’s final: Thursday’s winners, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Four of the country’s most prestigious college volleyball programs descend on Columbus, Ohio this week for the NCAA championship. Texas, Nebraska, Minnesota and Stanford have combined to make 49 Final Four appearances and 12 national titles.

Here’s a look at each team heading into this week’s Final Four:

No. 1 Nebraska (31-2)

Last year, Nebraska lost only four matches on the way to winning their fourth national championship. But they’ve been even more dominant this season and are two wins away from becoming only the sixth school to repeat.

The Cornhuskers won their first 13 matches before an October conference loss to Ohio State snapped a 28-match winning streak. They then won another 14 straight before falling on the road against fellow Final Four semifinalist Minnesota in five sets.

In all, Nebraska has conceded only 18 sets all season.

Much like Texas, the Big Ten champions appear to be peaking at the right time. Nebraska’s tournament run started with sweeps of New Hampshire and TCU, setting up a regional semifinal rematch with 16th-ranked Penn State, which had taken the Huskers to five sets in early November.

The Huskers fought off two match points in the third set before coming back to win, 3-2. They then bounced No. 8 Washington in straight sets — their eighth sweep in the past 11 matches — to advance to the Final Four. Only Stanford has more NCAA Tournament all-time victories than Nebraska’s 102.

Key players: Twin sisters Kadie and Amber Rolfzen have combined for 587 kills and 265 blocks. And six of Mikaela Foecke’s 22 aces this season have come in the NCAA Tournament, including three against Penn State.

Vs. the field: Nebraska and Texas have met six times in the past four years. The Huskers are 2-4 in those matchups, though one of those wins was in the 2015 championship match. Nebraska swept Texas in the second match of the season. The Huskers split their Big Ten matchups with Minnesota.

No. 2 Minnesota (29-4)

Minnesota heads to Columbus with the least playoff experience of the remaining teams. The Golden Gophers have never won a title and have fallen in three of their four Final Four semifinal appearances.

Still, what they lack in NCAA pedigree, they make up for with momentum. Minnesota has won 14 straight matches, dropping only nine sets during that streak. Nine of those 14 wins were sweeps, including wins over North Dakota, Hawaii and No. 10 UCLA. All four of Minnesota’s losses came on the road to eventual playoff teams.

Key players: Stanford may be hard-pressed to stop senior outside hitter Sarah Wilhite, whose 512 kills is the most of any player in the Final Four. Hannah Tapp, a senior middle blocker, has added 324 kills and a .326 hitting percentage.

Vs. the field: There was the 3-2 win at home over Nebraska the day before Thanksgiving, but other recent history isn’t as good. Minnesota fell to Texas in last year’s Final Four semifinals. The last loss before this 14-game winning streak was to Nebraska, in late October. And Thursday’s Final Four semifinal will be a rematch with Stanford, who won in four sets back in August. Minnesota is 0-6 all-time vs. Stanford.

No. 4 Texas (26-4)

The Longhorns are certainly no strangers to postseason success. They won NCAA championships in 1988 and 2012 and have made it to five straight Final Fours.

This is the first time in six years, however, that Texas entered the NCAA Tournament without a Big 12 championship. The Longhorns finished second to Kansas by one match despite splitting the season series with the Jayhawks, who were bounced in the second round of the NCAA tournament by Creighton.

But coach Jerritt Elliott has Texas playing some of its best volleyball of the season at the perfect time. The Longhorns swept UT-Rio Grande Valley and SMU to open the postseason, then had to overcome two match points in a five-set thriller over BYU in the regional semifinal before returning to form against Creighton, their fifth sweep in the last seven matches.

Key players: Outside hitters Micaya White (455 kills) and Paulina Prieto Cerame (399 kills) lead the offense, with senior setter Chloe Collins (1,261 assists) providing service. Collins will finish her career with the fourth most assists in program history.

Vs. the field: Thursday’s Texas-Nebraska semifinal is a rematch of old conference foes. The Huskers swept Texas in last year’s NCAA title match and swept the Longhorns again in an opening-season tournament in Oregon. Texas eliminated Minnesota in last year’s semifinals.

No. 6 Stanford (25-7)

Stanford may be the underdog Thursday against Minnesota, but no program has more semifinal wins (14) or Final Four appearances (20) than the Cardinal. Their 6-8 record in championship games is one win shy of Penn State’s record seven titles. But they haven’t won a title since 2004, a drought that includes consecutive losses in the final from 2006-08. A win on Saturday would be truly historic; no school has ever won a title with more than six losses.

The Cardinal were the preseason favorites to win the Pac-12, but ended up third behind Washington and UCLA. Stanford lost three of four matches during a stretch in October, but rebounded to win 10 of its last 11 matches to close the regular season.

The Cardinal swept Denver and Boise State in the first two rounds of the NCAAs, then beat Florida State in four sets to set up a regional final match against No. 3 Wisconsin. The Badgers went up 2-0 before Stanford rallied for the 3-2 win, which also was its NCAA-record 113th all-time playoff victory.

Key players: Freshman setter Jenna Gray has shined in the national spotlight with 182 assists this postseason. Inky Ajanaku is tied for the team lead with 175 blocks. She also has the second most kills (329), and her .410 hitting percentage is the 13th-best mark in the country.

Vs. the field: Stanford upset then-No. 3 Minnesota in the second match of the season, 3-1.

The Texas volleyball team last traveled to Columbus, Ohio in 2002. A familiar foe, though, will be waiting for the Longhorns’ return to the Buckeye State on Thursday: Nebraska.

Texas (26-4) will meet Nebraska (31-2) in Thursday’s night’s semifinals of the Final Four. It’s a rematch of last year’s NCAA championship match won by the Cornhuskers. This is the fifth straight Final Four appearance for Texas, which has run into Nebraska six times since 2013. Texas is 4-2 in those matchups, but the Huskers have taken the last two — the 2015 title match and a sweep of the Longhorns in the first week of this season.

That loss, in the VERT Challenge tournament in Oregon, still feels like a fresh wound for Chloe Collins.

“If anything, I’ve thought about our August match and how excited I am to play them again, just knowing that we have changed so much and developed as a team,” Collins said this week. “Yes, it is a bitter taste in your mind because you always want to win that national championship, but it’s a new year and I think we’re on our way to obtaining that goal.”

Texas and Nebraska are almost a year removed from the Huskers’ 25-23, 25-23, 25-21 sweep in the NCAA title match that was played in Omaha, Neb. The Huskers pulled away in the championship-clinching set, but there were 26 ties and 12 Texas leads over the first two sets.

Nebraska and Texas didn’t have to wait long for a rematch; in the second match of the season, they faced off in Eugene, Ore. The Huskers won by 10- and nine-point margins in the first two sets before closing out the match with a 25-21 win in the third. The Longhorns hit only .140, Texas’ lone sub-.200 hitting percentage performance of the season.

It was “one of the biggest beatings I’ve taken as a head coach,” said Jerritt Elliott, who took over Texas’ program in 2001 after two years at USC. Collins said Texas lacked on-court chemistry that day and played like “an amateur team” in the defeat.

“It was one of the most devastating matches because going into the match, you want to compete well and play your best, but obviously we did not,” Collins said. “Coming into this match, I think we have a certain confidence because of how we’ve been playing this past month-and-a-half.”

The Texas team that lost to Nebraska in August wasn’t the Texas team that fell to the Huskers in last year’s title match. And you can also argue that Nebraska will see a different Texas on Thursday, too.

Outside hitters Micaya White and Ebony Nwanebu lead Texas in the kills-per-set category, but the August assembly marked only the second match back for two players who combined to play once during injury-riddled 2015 seasons. Still six weeks away from her move to middle blocker, Yaazie Bedart-Ghani was used as a backup outside hitter in the loss. Texas also played four freshmen in the sweep.

Nebraska, meanwhile, was led in kills by seniors Kadie and Amber Rolfzen. The twins are averaging 3.19 and 1.96 kills per set. Elliott also lauded the Huskers’ ball-handling and ability to receive and deliver in the service game.

“They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason,” Elliott said.

Texas and Nebraska have followed a similar trajectory in the postseason. Both have recorded three sweeps, and both the Longhorns and Huskers survived five-set challenges in the regional semifinals. Texas enters the week with a seven-match winning streak; Nebraska has won five straight.

Minnesota (29-4) and Stanford (25-7) will meet in the other semifinal. Here’s a breakdown of all four teams in the field.

“It’s just been a crazy year, a lot of ups and downs,” senior Paulina Prieto Cerame said after Texas knocked off Creighton in a regional final. “I’m really glad that I’m doing this with these girls, Jerritt and the rest of the staff.  We’re just really excited to be back in the Final Four again.”

FINAL FOUR

Thursday-Saturday, Columbus, Ohio

Thursday’s semifinals: 2-Minnesota vs. 6-Stanford, 6 p.m., ESPN2; 1-Nebraska vs. 4-Texas, 8:30, ESPN2

Saturday’s final: Thursday’s winners, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Ebony Nwanebu and Micaya White’s debuts at Texas were delayed for a year, but both were worthy of national acclaim.

White and Nwanebu have been placed on the first team of the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Division I All-America team. White, a redshirt freshman, was honored as an outside hitter, while Nwanebu, a junior, was one of three right-side hitters on the first team.

Nwanebu is averaging 4.06 kills per set, and she boasts a Big 12-best .384 hitting percentage. This is Nwanebu’s second appearance on the AVCA first team as she was honored in 2013 during her freshman year at USC. Nwanebu transferred to Texas in 2015 after spending two years in California, but she was sidelined by a back injury after that season’s first game.

“I really don’t know how to explain the feeling,” Nwanebu said at a NCAA press conference in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday. “I never thought I’d get back to playing at this level. Coming off an injury, I accepted the fact that I would never be like I was my freshman year. To be back to that form is a great feeling for me.”

White missed all of the 2015 season with a leg injury. This year, she hit .274 while leading Texas in kills (455) and kills-per-set (4.06). A six-rotation player, White also had eight matches in which she recorded double-digit kills and digs.

“I had great trainers and strength coaches, (who) got me back into shape,” White said. “Ebony has been there with me. We were training room buddies, we’ve helped each other out, she’s been like an older sister to me.”

Texas senior setter Chloe Collins, who is distributing 11.57 assists each set this year, was a second-team pick for the AVCA’s All-America team. Senior outside hitter Paulina Prieto Cerame earned honorable mention status.

A Nebraska team that will meet Texas in the national semifinals on Thursday had four of its players honored on one of the All-America teams. Kansas junior Kelsie Payne, who hails from Connally High, was recognized on the first team for the second straight year.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cat McCoy concedes that most people probably wouldn’t describe her as chill.

Texas’ junior libero loves to compete, even if she’s just playing a card game. That competitive streak, though, has helped her emerge as the Longhorns’ defensive ace. This week, she’ll anchor the defense again in the NCAA volleyball Final Four as Texas attempts to win a national championship.

The Longhorns (26-4), in the Final Four for the fifth straight season, meets top-seeded Nebraska (31-2) in Thursday night’s semifinals, a rematch of the 2015 national title match.

“I think a lot of people expect us to get there every year, but it’s quite the challenge,” McCoy said.

Aggressiveness is an attribute that McCoy proudly displays each time she glides across the floor in search of a dig. Her favorite drill in practice? A routine in which she must collect 10 digs from volleyballs that are either hit sharply at her or launched into nearly unreachable places around the court.

McCoy recently went into the Gregory Gym stands in search of a volleyball during an NCAA Tournament second-round win over SMU, and she knocked the holiday-themed headgear off a woman who was in the front row. It wasn’t her first collision with a fan with good seats.

“My job is to get after every ball I can,” McCoy said. “If I see a ball going into the stands, I am going to go for it no matter what.”

McCoy has been playing volleyball for more than half of her life, and she chose the sport over soccer when she became a teenager. Since she was 10, the Southlake native has lined up as a libero.

McCoy isn’t hard to spot on the court. Liberos wear a different-colored uniform than their teammates, so McCoy typically has on her black No. 8 jersey regardless of whether the Longhorns are donning their home whites or road oranges.

As a libero, she’s also not allowed to attack the net. The 5-foot-7 McCoy insists she can spike a volleyball, but her swings must be saved for practices — much to the annoyance of Texas coach Jerritt Elliott.

“It’s not just effective,” admitted McCoy, who enjoys playing beach volleyball because she’s allowed to sample all aspects of the game.

McCoy is in her third season as Texas’ libero, and she was an all-conference honoree in 2015. She’s tallying a team-high 3.96 digs per set and her 20 aces rank third on the team. She has recorded double-digit digs in all but four of Texas’ 30 matches.

Elliott said McCoy’s on-court calmness and confidence has improved this year, and both the coach and player credited associate head coach Erik Sullivan with her growth.

As a team, Texas has limited teams to a .199 hitting percentage in 2016. The Longhorns allowed eight of their first 14 opponents to hit over .200, and both Nebraska and Wichita State topped .300. In Texas’ last 16 matches, only BYU and Iowa State have hit better than .200 against the Texas defense (the Cyclones did it twice).

McCoy credited the development of sophomore middle blockers Morgan Johnson and Yaazie Bedart-Ghani for the defensive turnaround. Freshman defensive specialist Autumn Rounsaville is contributing 1.4 digs per set as McCoy’s sidekick, and senior setters Chloe Collins and Nicole Dalton and freshman outside hitter Micaya White also are assisting away from the net.

McCoy deserves her due, though.

“I feel like people don’t give her a lot of credit when she definitely deserves it,” Collins said. “She demands greatness out of herself and from people around her, and that’s one thing I admire about her. She is always, not 100 percent, but 110 percent in everything.”

McCoy will be countered by Nebraska libero Justine Wong-Orantes on Thursday. A senior, Wong-Orantes is averaging 4.24 digs per set, and she joined teammate Kadie Rolfzen, White and Texas outside hitter Ebony Nwanebu on the first team of the AVCA’s All-America team on Wednesday.

“A lot of times the liberos are not recognized for what they do,” Nebraska coach John Cook said. “There are very few liberos that have been named first-team All-Americans, so I think that’s just great respect for Justine and what she’s done and the level that she’s playing at.”

FINAL FOUR

Thursday-Saturday, Columbus, Ohio

Thursday’s semifinals: 2-Minnesota vs. 6-Stanford, 6 p.m., ESPN; 1-Nebraska vs. 4-Texas, 8:30, ESPN

Saturday’s final: Thursday’s winners, 8 p.m., ESPN2

In high school, Ebony Nwanebu and Andie Malloy chased championships on the same side of the net. On Thursday, they will attempt to prevent each other from winning a collegiate crown.

Nwanebu’s Texas Longhorns will meet Malloy’s Nebraska Huskers in a NCAA semifinal match on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio. Texas (26-4) will need a big contribution from Nwanebu, a junior outside hitter who earned AVCA All-America honors this week. Malloy is averaging 2.67 kills per set during her senior year with the Huskers (31-2).

Mallory and Nwanebu played together at Lovejoy High in Lucas, and they were members of the school’s 2010 and 2011 Class 3A championship teams. In 2010, both players earned spots on the UIL’s Class 3A all-tournament team. Nwanebu, in fact, was the MVP of the Class 3A championship game in 2010, and Mallory earned that award the following year.

On Thursday night, the former teammates will be rivals.

“I’ve known Andie since our awkward pre-teen years, and we ended up going to the same high school together,” recalled Nwanebu, who said the two players exchanged messages on Twitter this week. “And she’s one of my have best friends.  And she was my setter.  I don’t know, I love her and it’s going to be weird seeing her across the net.  But I’m excited.”

Nwanebu had a 13-9 lead on Malloy in the kills department when Texas and Nebraska played in August, but Nebraska swept the Longhorns. That was the first meeting in college between the Lovejoy graduates. Malloy arrived at Nebraska this year as a graduate transfer from Baylor, and Nwanebu was injured for both of Texas’ 2015 matches against the Bears (Nwanebu played her first two years at USC).

The showdown between Nebraska and Texas won’t just be a reunion for Lovejoy High. Nebraska seniors Amber and Kadie Rolfzen have played on national teams with Chloe Collins and Nicole Dalton, who are both senior setters on Texas’ roster. Collins said on Wednesday that she was looking forward to seeing the twin sisters off the court, and she added that “friendships are still there, whether we’re competing against each other or with each other.”

“It’s just kind of cool, the volleyball world is pretty small,” Amber Rolfzen said. “And you have great friendships that come from it, whether you’re playing against them or on the same team as them.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Junior Ebony Nwanebu had 15 kills and No. 4 Texas rolled into the NCAA championship match with a 25-18, 25-23, 25-21 sweep of No. 1 Nebraska at Nationwide Arena. Texas not only improved to 27-4 with the victory, but the Longhorns avenged a loss to the Huskers in last year’s title game. Nebraska (31-3) also swept Texas during this season’s first week.

Texas trailed only once in the opening set as Micaya White and Paulina Prieto Cerame each killed four volleyballs and the Longhorns logged four blocks. The second set featured 14 ties and three lead changes, and Texas overcame four service errors en route to a two-point win. At the intermission, Prieto Cerame led all players with her 10 kills.

Texas controlled much of the third set, but the Longhorns called a timeout when Nebraska pulled within 16-15. Texas, though, responded with a 3-0 run and the Longhorns were able to beat Nebraska to the finish line. The Longhorns closed out the match on a Morgan Johnson kill.

Awaiting Texas in Saturday’s championship match will be a Stanford team that upended second-seeded Minnesota in four sets. Kathryn Plummer and Inky Ajanaku each contributed 15 kills for the No. 6 Cardinal.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Thursday night, Texas beat a familiar foe to get to a familiar place.

Ebony Nwanebu hammered home 15 kills in No. 4 Texas’ 25-18, 25-23, 25-21 sweep over top-seeded and defending national champion Nebraska in the NCAA semifinals of the Final Four. The Longhorns, who won the national title in 2012, will meet No. 6 Stanford on Saturday night in the championship match at Nationwide Arena.

It was Texas’ fifth sweep in its last six matches. And it avenged last year’s NCAA championship match loss to the Cornhuskers.

“We’re just so happy that we built this opportunity for ourselves,” senior setter Chloe Collins said. “To go out and play the way we played against Nebraska was absolutely tremendous. We’re just all smiles and trying to soak in this moment while we can and then focus on Stanford on Saturday.”

Nebraska (31-3) had won two straight over — both sweeps, in last year’s championship match and again in the first week of this season. The Longhorns knew they were viewed by many as the underdog in Thursday’s semifinal, but they seemed to embrace that role. Still, Collins admitted that there were pre-match feelings of excitement, nerves and anxiety.

The match, the second semifinal of the night after Stanford’s 26-24, 25-19, 22-25, 25-22 upset over No. 2 Minnesota, didn’t start until around 10 p.m. in Columbus, which made for a long day for a team that ate breakfast at 9 a.m. Texas held a practice in the morning, then killed five hours at the team hotel with naps, treatments and Netflix. During the Stanford-Minnesota match, the Longhorns stayed in their locker room and stayed loose by listening to music and dancing.

Then it was time to get to work.

“Our whole mindset throughout the day was just focusing on us,” Collins said. “At the end of the day, it’s between us and no one else out there. We all emphasized that, and we came together even more than we did before. We built off that.”

Texas trailed only once in the opening set, as freshman Micaya White and senior Paulia Prieto Cerame each had four kills. There were 14 ties and three lead changes in the second set, and the Longhorns overcame four service errors to earn a two-point win. At the intermission, Prieto Cerame led all players with 10 kills. She finished with 12.

“I just wanted to smash the ball,” Prieto Cerame said. “I wanted to be aggressive and I wanted to be smart and get that W for us. I think Chloe did an awesome job getting me those out-of-system sets when we weren’t passing perfect, and same with the whole team.”

Texas controlled much of the third set, but twice had to hold off a Nebraska rally. The Longhorns put together short scoring spurts after Nebraska pulled within 16-15 and 19-18, and were able to keep the Huskers at arm’s length. Morgan Johnson’s fourth kill ended the match.

Collins led the Longhorns with 37 assists. Johnson registered seven blocks, and White contributed a solid stat line of seven kills, eight digs and five blocks. Nebraska was led by Mikaela Foecke’s 13 kills.

“In the timeouts, we were just talking about (how) we can’t be satisfied with the score,” said senior Nicole Dalton, the last remaining member of Texas’ 2012 title team. “We just kept talking about being relentless, and the coaching staff did a really good job of keeping us composed.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Before each match, Texas middle blocker Morgan Johnson must listen to Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight.”

To her ears, the final 90 seconds of that 1981 anthem are “superb.” Johnson, though, isn’t in charge of the music selections in Texas’ locker room — junior libero Cat McCoy put together the oft-used pre-game playlist — so she must use her headphones.

Her biggest contributions, anyways, can be found in the form of blocks.

Johnson is responsible for 145 of Texas’ 298.5 blocks this season, 18 of which have been solo stuffs. Alongside fellow sophomore Yaazie Bedart-Ghani, she has solidified the middle of Texas’ offensive and defensive presence. Texas (27-4) will meet Stanford (26-7) for the NCAA volleyball title on Saturday night.

“Obviously it’s an exciting time,” Johnson said. “Every team dreams of being in our position, and we’re so grateful to be in this position and have the opportunity to go out and represent our university to the highest.”

Texas opened this season with an unexpected hole on its roster when All-American middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu was ruled academically ineligible. Texas gave playing time to freshmen Orie Agbaji and Blair Westerlund before settling on the combination of Johnson and Bedart-Ghani, who were members of the 2015 signing class.

“It’s been the key to our season and the key to the development of this team,” Texas coach Jerritt Elliott said.

To offset the loss of Ogbogu, Johnson transitioned from the “M1” position in Texas’ scheme to the “M2.” (The biggest difference between the two positions is where and how the middle blocker attacks). Bedart-Ghani, who was an NCAA all-tournament honoree in 2015 as an outside hitter and hadn’t played middle blocker since the eighth grade, was then moved by Elliott to the M1 spot in October.

Johnson had a solid start to her sophomore season, but she broke out with six blocks and 10 kills on 15 swings in a sweep of TCU on Oct. 19. Two months later, the last of Johnson’s four kills closed out Thursday’s semifinal sweep of Nebraska that also featured her team-high seven blocks.

Bedart-Ghani, who blocked nine attempts during her second game in the middle, also has given Texas an effective weapon to pair on offense with outside hitters Micaya White, Ebony Nwanebu and Paulina Prieto Cerame. Bedart-Ghani’s .371 hitting percentage trails only Nwanebu’s .384 among Big 12 qualifiers. In Texas’ NCAA Tournament opener against UT-Rio Grande Valley, Bedart-Ghani converted a staggering 13 of her 14 swings.

“It’s been tremendous to our team, the way they have just bought in,” senior setter Chloe Collins said.

Both Bedart-Ghani and Johnson needed time to make adjustments this fall, especially when it came to footwork. Bedart-Ghani also said she had to improve her hand positioning on block attempts while getting used to a higher set from Collins. Elliott commended both players for their conditioning work.

“It was kind of rocky at the beginning,” Johnson said. “But as the season progressed, we started getting better and building that confidence and chemistry, and I feel like we’ve peaked at the right time.”

At 6-4, Bedart-Ghani and Nwanebu are the tallest players Texas has, and Johnson is only an inch shorter. On Saturday, though, Texas will be looking up at its competition.

Stanford’s 6-6 Kathryn Plummer (413), 6-6 Audriana Fitzmorris (301) and 6-8 Merete Lutz (289) rank first, third and fourth on the team in kills, and Fitzmorris and Lutz are each averaging at least one block per set. Three-time AVCA All-American middle blocker Inky Ajanaku is producing 2.84 kills and a team-best 1.52 blocks per set, and the 6-3 senior isn’t even among her team’s five tallest players.

So how will the Longhorns prepare for Stanford?

“I think we just need to focus on our side, and do what we know how to do and play Texas volleyball,” Bedart-Ghani said. “As long as we do that, I think we’ll be OK. We just need to focus on playing our game.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio — This week, Lexi Sun and Ashley Shook were both roommates and rivals.

Sun and Shook were among the 24 athletes who participated in the Under Armour All-America volleyball match on Friday night. Both Texas signees, Sun and Shook competed on opposing sides of the net at the Nationwide Arena. Sun’s West team recorded a 25-16, 25-21, 25-16 win over Shook’s East squad.

“It was a great experience getting the opportunity to play with some girls that I had played with before and some that I hadn’t,” Sun said. “Just getting to know them and play with them, they’re such amazing players. The coaches that were selected, I loved them as well.”

With Texas volleyball coach Jerritt Elliott in attendance, Sun was named the MVP of the West team after she led all players with her nine kills. A six-foot-two outside hitter who PrepVolleyball.com has rated as the nation’s top recruit, Sun also collected three service aces.

Shook contributed eight assists and four digs to the East’s efforts. The 6-2 Shook, who checked in at No. 6 on the aforementioned list of 2017 recruits, also finished in a second-place tie in a competition for the evening’s top setters.

“I know we lost in three, but it was definitely competitive on both sides,” Shook said. “We still wanted to win, but it’s OK.”

Sun and Shook account for half of Texas’ 2017 recruiting class, and they were the only Texas representatives at the Under Armour festivities. The two players were acquaintances beforehand — Sun and Shook respectively hail from Solana Beach, Calif., and Plainfield, Ill. — but they were given the opportunity to bond this week as roommates. Shook said she learned that Sun was “spunky,” while Sun described her future teammate as “even-keeled.”

In addition to playing in the all-star game, the Under Armour All-Americans got to meet beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings and attend a banquet that featured the AVCA’s collegiate All-Americans. Sun and Shook watched on Thursday as Texas beat Nebraska in a national semifinal match, and they’ll return to Nationwide Area on Saturday to root on the Longhorns in the NCAA championship match.

That Texas team currently features eight players who were once Under Armour All-Americans, six of which — juniors Ebony Nwanebu and Cat McCoy, sophomores Yaazie Bedart-Ghani and Morgan Johnson and freshmen Micaya White and Orie Agbaji — will still be in Austin when Sun and Shook arrive in 2017. And as if there was any doubt, both of the incoming recruits were picking the Longhorns to beat Stanford for the NCAA title.

“Texas in three,” Sun projected.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The NCAA will conclude its Division I volleyball season on Saturday night as Texas and Stanford battle for a national championship at Nationwide Arena. Texas (27-4) is the NCAA tournament’s fourth overall seed, and the Longhorns are coming off a sweep of top-seeded Nebraska. No. 6 Stanford (26-7) has knocked off the tournament’s second and third seeds over its past two matches.

Each a second-place finisher in their conference, Texas and Stanford are chasing a bigger championship this evening. Both teams survived close calls in the NCAA Tournament. Texas overcame two match points in a third-round thriller against BYU, and Stanford rallied from a 2-0 hole in a five-set win over Wisconsin in the regional finals.

Texas has lost four times for the first time since 2012, and that last defeat was a 3-2 loss at Iowa State on Nov. 12. That previous sentence may be a good omen for the Longhorns, though. Texas went 29-4 during the 2012 season, and the Longhorns didn’t lose again that year after a 3-2 loss at Iowa State.

Here are more facts to learn before tonight’s match-up, which will be televised at 8 p.m. (CST) on ESPN2:

1. Texas and Stanford have combined for eight NCAA championships

Whoever wins tonight will have to clear out some room in their trophy case. Texas won NCAA championships in 2012 and 1988, and Stanford earned the most-recent of its six titles in 2004. The Longhorns were also the AIAW champions in 1981.

Texas and Stanford are both led by coaches who took over their programs in 2001. Texas won its 2012 championship under the guidance of Jerritt Elliott. John Dunning was coaching the Cardinal in 2001 and 2004 when they were the last team standing in the NCAA bracket. (Dunning also led Pacific to NCAA championships in 1985 and 1986).

Only two players on either team have experienced the claiming of a national title. Texas defensive specialist Nicole Dalton, who has been a team captain since 2014, appeared in that 2012 title match against Oregon. Longhorn outside hitter Paulina Prieto Cerame also won a championship with Penn State in 2013.

2. Stanford has a lead over Texas in the history books

Thanks to a 3-1 win in 2013, Texas has won the most-recent installment of this rivalry. Stanford, though, holds an 8-18 edge in the all-time series with five of those wins being recorded in the NCAA Tournament. (Texas has twice beaten Stanford during the December Madness).

Volleyball, though, isn’t the only sport that Stanford boasts a winning record against Texas in. In regards to team sports, Texas has found its most success against Stanford in softball.

• Football: 2-2
• Baseball: 33-36-1
• Softball: 4-1
• Men’s basketball: 2-2
• Women’s basketball: 4-7
• Soccer: 0-4

Texas, though, did score a big head-to-head victory over Stanford in 2002. That year, Sports Illustrated respectively ranked Texas and Stanford as the best and second-best athletic departments in the country.

3. The Ducks and Badgers provided these teams with a measuring stick

Texas and Stanford have two common opponents on their 2016 schedule: Oregon and Wisconsin.

Texas opened this year with a 3-0 win over the Ducks, and Stanford swept Oregon in its second-to-last match in the regular season. Texas, though, was beaten in five sets by Wisconsin on Sept. 18, and the Cardinal rallied past that Wisconsin team in the postseason’s fourth round.

Texas is 1-0 against teams from Oregon’s Pac-12 conference this season. Stanford last played a team from the Big 12 in 2014.

4. Three All-Americans have bounced back from serious injuries

If you’re searching for comeback stories, you don’t need to look any further than Texas and Stanford’s rosters.

On Wednesday, Texas outside hitters Micaya White and Ebony Nwanebu were named to the first team of the AVCA All-America team. Joining them on the 14-player team was Stanford senior middle blocker Inky Ajanaku.

Those three players combined to play in one match during the 2015 season. White missed all of her freshman year due to a tibial stress fracture, while a back injury sidelined Nwanebu, who is currently a junior. Ajanaku suffered a knee injury during the summer of 2015, so she had to miss what was supposed to be her senior year.

White and Nwanebu are now leading Texas with their 4.02 and 3.73 kills per set, while Ajanaku is averaging 2.84 kills and a team-high 1.52 blocks per game. Wednesday marked the third time that Ajanaku earned AVCA first-team honors, and Nwanebu was also a first-team honoree during her freshman year at USC.

Speaking of Nwanebu’s time at USC, Nwanebu and Ajanaku played four times during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Each player recorded double-digit kills in each of those meetings.

5. Texas and Stanford will look similar in 2017

In its sweep of Nebraska on Thursday, Texas started two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman (and freshman Autumn Rounsaville was inserted into the match after the first play). Stanford started its two seniors alongside a sophomore and four freshmen against Minnesota.

Neither team will have many gaps on their rosters in 2017, although those holes won’t be easy to fill.  Setter Chloe Collins, who will end her collegiate career with the fourth-most assists in Texas’ history, joins Dalton and Prieto Cerame as the only seniors in the Longhorn locker room. Stanford will need to replace Ajanaku and setter Kelsey Humphreys.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Inky Ajanaku and Kathryn Plummer combined for 34 kills, and Stanford claimed its seventh NCAA championship on Saturday night with a 25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21 win over Texas.

With the loss at Nationwide Arena, Texas (27-5) earned runner-up status for a second straight season. The Longhorns, who last won a national championship in 2012, were swept by Nebraska in last year’s title match.

Texas held 18-15 and 18-16 leads in the first two sets, but Stanford ran past the Longhorns to take a 2-0 lead. Needing to keep its championship hopes alive, the Longhorns then hit .344 in the third set.

Stanford, though, scored the first six points of the final set, which forced Texas to burn both of its timeouts. Texas never got closed than three points, and Stanford (27-7) won the NCAA title on Plummer’s 18th kill of the contest.

Freshman Micaya White led Texas with her 17 kills and 11 digs, and Ebony Nwanebu added 16 kills. Texas setter Chloe Collins closed out her career with 46 assists and 11 digs, and she exits Texas with the fourth-most assists in school history (3,679).

COLUMBUS, Ohio — All the Texas Longhorns could do was watch.

Much like the 17,345 spectators at the Nationwide Arena, the Longhorns eventually just became witnesses to Stanford’s celebration of a NCAA championship on Saturday night. As gold and silver streamers littered the floor and DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” blared over the speakers, there was nothing else for the Longhorns to do.

Stanford (27-7) claimed the NCAA’s Division I volleyball title with a 25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21 win over the Longhorns. Swept by Nebraska in last year’s finale, Texas (27-5) earned runner-up status for a second straight season. Texas was making its fifth straight trip to the Final Four, but the team was unable to secure its first championship since 2012.

“It’s pretty frustrating putting in all that work and coming up short,” junior libero Cat McCoy said. “I’m just really proud of the fight of the girls. Coming out the way we did in the third set really shows how tough we are, and Stanford just played a really good game.”

Texas pulled ahead in both of the first two sets, earning 18-15 and 18-16 leads. The Longhorns, though, entered the intermission facing a 2-0 deficit after Stanford sprinted to the finish line in both sets.

Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott was displeased with his team’s two-hitter rotations and first-ball contact in the sets, and Stanford’s .295 hitting percentage didn’t help matters. Texas also committed five service errors, two net infringements and a ball-handling violation in the first set.

“Stanford’s a good team,” sophomore middle blocker Morgan Johnson said. “They got on long rallies that we couldn’t put a stop to. They kept putting together points where we just put in one or two points, and so that added up.”

Following the break, Texas mixed up its line-up. Freshman middle blocker Orie Agbaji, who had played twice in Texas’ previous 17 matches, was inserted into the action, which allowed Yaazie Bedart-Ghani to move over and replace senior Paulina Prieto Cerame on the outside. Prieto Cerame, an all-Big 12 outside hitter who had registered 12 kills in a semifinal win over Nebraska, had connected on just two of her 26 attempts in the first two sets.

The on-court shuffle gave Texas the spark it needed in the third set, and the Longhorns kept Stanford at a distance in a seven-point win.

“We went for it and it paid off,” Elliott said. “We just started off slow in game four, otherwise it would have been a lot closer.”

Texas was attempting to rally from a 2-0 hole for the first time since a win over West Virginia in 2014. Stanford, however, extinguished those hopes with a 6-0 start to the fourth set. The Longhorns never got closer than three points, and Kathryn Plummer closed out the match with her match-high 18th kill.

“It doesn’t feel great,” Johnson said. “Obviously, we wanted to come out on top, but we didn’t. Now we just have to prepare for next season and know that this will not be the outcome next season.”

Facing a Stanford team that boasted five players who are at least six-foot-four, Texas hit .217. Freshman Micaya White and junior Ebony Nwanebu, who both earned all-tournament honors, respectively led Texas with their 17 and 16 kills. Bedart-Ghani earned 11 kills on 22 attempts.

Texas senior setter Chloe Collins recorded 46 assists, and her 3,679 career assists will rank fourth in the school’s record books.

Stanford middle blocker Inky Ajanaku was named the tournament’s most outstanding performer after she complemented Plummer’s performance with 16 kills and eight blocks. En route to winning its seventh NCAA championship — which moved Stanford into a first-place tie with Penn State in that category — the Cardinal posted three straight wins over this tournament’s second, third and fourth seeds.

During the 2016 volleyball season, Texas junior Ebony Nwanebu shined on and off the court.

Sidelined by a back injury in 2015, Nwanebu bounced back this fall. She ranked second among the Longhorns with her 423 kills and 3.78 kills-per-set, and she also registered 74 blocks and 17 aces. The 6-foot-4 outside hitter was lauded by her conference (All-Big 12 first team) and country (AVCA All-America first team).

In the NCAA championship game on Saturday, Nwanebu recorded 16 kills to cap a week in which she earned all-tournament honors. Texas, however, was beaten by Stanford in four sets.

Nwanebu, who is majoring in youth and community studies, also endeared herself to the Texas fans with her #EbbOnTheWeb video series. Those videos were published on the volleyball program’s Twitter account throughout the season, and they featured Nwanebu interviewing and interacting with her teammates and coaches.

Here are some the memorable #EbbOnTheWeb videos from the 2016 season:

Sept. 30: Cheering with Natalie Gilbert

Oct. 12: Magic tricks with Cat McCoy

Oct. 29: Scare tactics with Lauren Beard

Nov. 11: Conquering fears with Morgan Johnson

November 12: Arm wrestling with Blair Westerlund

Nov. 30: Trivia with Jerritt Elliott

Dec. 16 and 17: Dancing and good deeds with Yaazie Bedart-Ghani and Mirta Baselovic

Throughout the season, Nwanebu was unable to book one guest: junior Mirta Baselovic. Following Texas’ sweep of Nebraska in the national semifinals, Nwanebu was aided by sophomore Yaazie Bedart-Ghani and ESPN’s Holly Rowe as she attempted to drum up enough support to coax Baselovic onto the show.

Baselovic, though, was not an easy get. The middle blocker tweeted that she would go on Nwanebu’s show if she raised $219 (a dollar amount that matched the likes of the Bedart-Ghani video at that time) for the International Rescue Committee, which is a humanitarian aid organization. Baselovic’s demands were quickly met — the fundraiser had earned over $800 as of Sunday morning — and she appeared in the #EbbOnTheWeb finale.

When the 2017 volleyball season begins, expect the Longhorns to be hungry.

Having reached the Final Four in each of the five past seasons, Texas is hardly starving for success. Texas, though, last won a national championship in 2012, and the team has been the NCAA Tournament’s runner-up the last two years. The latest silver showing — last Saturday’s 3-1 loss to Stanford in the NCAA championship match — ended the season on a sour note.

“Now everyone on the team has felt how it feels to make it to this point and not get the result that we want,” middle blocker Morgan Johnson said. “Now everybody has the same drive and has the same hunger for a championship.”

And when Johnson says everybody, the sophomore isn’t exaggerating. Fourteen of the 17 players on Texas’ roster are underclassmen.

Freshman Micaya White and junior Ebony Nwanebu led the team with their 479 and 423 kills this season, and both outside hitters were first-team honorees on the AVCA’s All-America team. Johnson will return next year after ranking second in the Big 12 with 150 blocks, and coach Jerritt Elliott has spoken optimistically about the potential of freshman middle blocker Orie Agbaji. Sophomore Yaazie Bedart-Ghani also will give Elliott some flexibility as she transitioned from outside hitter to middle blocker this fall.

Defensively, Texas will return its top four blockers. Junior libero Cat McCoy is poised to become the school’s all-time leader in digs, and freshman defensive specialist Autumn Rounsaville earned a career-high 18 digs in the championship match.

Texas also should be boosted by the return of middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu, who was sidelined by academic issues this season. Ogbogu will rejoin the Longhorns in January, and the three-time All-American will offset some of the depth problems that Texas dealt with during her absence.

“We’ve got the pieces next year to be extremely special,” Elliott said. “The areas of weakness that we had should be fixed. I think our backcourt could be even better, and I think our blocking could be significantly better. It’s my job to create the chemistry and unity to make that happen. Because on paper, it’s going to be one of our best teams.”

While the roster will look similar in 2017, the loss of three seniors will leave the team with needs that must be addressed.

Setter Chloe Collins was a second-team All-American who exits Texas in fourth place on the school’s assists list, and outside hitter Paulina Prieto Cerame averaged 3.5 kills per set. Nicole Dalton had a role on defense, but the third-year captain’s leadership will be tougher to replace.

“There aren’t enough words in the dictionary to say how much they mean to us and the program,” Johnson said of the outgoing seniors. “They’ve given us so much confidence and love and the season has just been amazing because of them.”

Additional help is on the way for the Longhorns in the form of a four-player signing class that features three of the nation’s top six prospects. California-raised outside hitter Lexi Sun was rated by PrepVolleyball.com as the country’s best prospect, and Boling middle blocker Brionne Butler was ranked second.

Illinois native Ashley Shook was sixth on that list of top recruits, but she may attract the biggest spotlight on the Texas campus. With Collins now gone, Shook will join freshman Riley Fisbeck as the only setters on the roster.

“I would like to start as the starting setter, but I know that’s a lot for a freshman, so I’m going to come in ready to compete,” Shook said last weekend after taking part with Sun at last week’s Under Armour All-American match. “I want to win a Big 12 championship with the team and a national championship (in the) first year, and hopefully all four.”

Following the loss to Stanford in the championship match, reporters gathered around Johnson, McCoy and Rounsaville in a silent — yet crowded — locker room. On the other side of Nationwide Arena, White and Nwanebu sat next to Elliott in a post-game press conference.

The vibe in both rooms was the same. The Longhorns have set their sights on Kansas City, which will host the 2017 Final Four.

“I have one more season to win a championship,” Nwanebu said. “I know Caya (White) said in the locker room that all of us need to work our butts to get to this point next year and have a different outcome, and I’m going to do everything in my power to do that.”

Texas junior Ebony Nwanebu was named a finalist for the Honda Sport Award for Volleyball alongside Kadie Rolfzen of Nebraska, Inky Ajanaku of Stanford and Sarah Wilhite of Minnesota.

The award has been given annually for 41 years by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards. It’s given to the top athlete in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports. The winner is eligible to win the 2017 Honda Cup as the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

Nwanebu, a two-time First-Team All-American, completed her first full season at Texas with 423 kills while hitting a team-high .379 in 30 matches. She was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team in addition to being selected as the Austin Regional MVP. She was also named to the All-Big 12 First Team.

Sally Schlobohm is the only UT volleyball player to win the award, doing so in 1981. Overall, seven Texas volleyball players have been nominated on nine occasions. Past nominees include Haley Eckerman (2012, 2013), Juliann Faucette (2010), Destinee Hooker (2008, 2009), Demetria Sance (1998) and Katy Jameyson (1993).

The finalists are chosen by a panel of coaches from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Over 1,000 NCAA member schools will vote on the winner which will be announced next week.

The winner will then be eligible to win the Honda Cup Award which will be presented in June.

Micaya White was named VolleyballMag.com’s freshman of the year while three other Longhorns were honored by the site.

Ebony Nwanebu was named a Division I First-Team All-American while Paulina Prieto Cerame and White were named to the second team. Chloe Collins was selected as a third-team member.

White is the third Longhorn honored as a freshman, following in the footsteps of Haley Eckerman (2011) and Demetria Sance (1995). She finished this season with 479 kills while hitting .273. White had 551 points, 83 blocks and 263 digs on the year.

White was named an AVCA First-Team All-American in addition to being named the Big 12 freshman of the year. Nwanebu joined White on the AVCA first team as she made 423 kills while hitting .379. Nwanebu was also named a finalist for the Honda Sport Award.

Prieto Cerame finished the season with 413 kills and 459 points.

Collins had 1,344 assists and 286 digs in addition to being named an AVCA Second-Team All-American.

Stanford’s Inky Ajanaku was named player of the year while coach of the year honors were given to Creighton’s Kirsten Bernthal Booth.

Recruiting is the lifeblood of every successful college sports team. While rankings and evaluations have developed a 24/7 following for fans of major sports (football, men’s and women’s basketball), gathering talent is no less important — in some cases, perhaps even more so — in sports with smaller followings.

Texas pulled in blue chips across the board in 2016. Based on accepted recruiting rankings from football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball, track and field and swimming and diving, here are the best recruits to land on the 40 Acres this year.

Keep in mind that these recruits are all from the Class of 2016, meaning they arrived at UT this past fall.

1. Joyner Holmes, women’s basketball, No. 2 overall

A product of Cedar Hill High School near Dallas, Holmes has made an immediate impact for No. 16-ranked Texas. Through 10 games she had started eight times, with averages of 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks. The 6-foot-3 forward was ranked behind only Baylor’s Lauren Cox on ESPN’s HoopGurlz rankings, and chose Texas over Notre Dame and Tennessee.

RELATED COVERAGE: The high school-to-college learning curve is steep

Holmes has already drawn comparisons to some of the game’s greats.

2. Claire Adams, swimming, No. 3 overall

Imagine, as a 17-year-old, being disappointed to not make an Olympic team. Adams was the 2015 United States champion in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke, but broke her hand in preparation for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials and finished 46th in the 100 back. The Carmel, Indiana, native arrived at Texas this fall and appears to be rounding back into form. At the Texas Invitational earlier this month, she helped break a seven-year-old record in the 800-yard freestyle relay — swimming a team-best 1:43.05.

3. Orie Agbaji, volleyball, No. 4 overall

How good is Texas volleyball? On their way to a national runner-up finish, the Longhorns used blue-chip recruit Orie Agbaji sparingly. The 6-foot-2 middle blocker from Kansas City appeared in 15 matches, including last week’s national championship. Longhorns coach Jerritt Elliott has mentioned Agbaji as one of the building blocks for future squads, so expect to see a lot more of her next season.

RELATED COVERAGE: Texas has the returning pieces ‘to be extremely special’

4. Alecia Sutton, women’s basketball, No. 6 overall

The only women’s basketball program to snag two of the top six recruits wasn’t UConn, Notre Dame or Baylor. Longhorns coach Karen Aston may look back on this recruiting class when cutting down the nets someday soon. Sutton, a St. Louis native and the No. 2 point guard prospect in the Class of 2016, is already seeing minutes behind All-Big 12 point guard Brooke McCarty.

5. Lauren Case, swimming, No. 7 overall

A semifinalist at the U.S. Trials in the 200-meter butterfly, Case posted the sixth-best time during the prelims in Omaha. She also qualified for Trials in the 400 free and was a two-time member of the USA Swimming Junior National Team. The Woostock, Georgia, native kicked off her Texas career with a third-place finish at the Texas Invitational.

6. Destiny Collins, track and field, No. 8

After her career concluded, a rival coach wrote on the Riverside County track and field website that “Collins will forever be the standard here in Riverside County as we don’t forsee anybody approaching her 4:40 (1,600 meters) and 9:53 (3,200) county records…. perhaps, ….ever?” That’s high praise. Even though she didn’t win state as a senior, Collins proved her status by winning at 3,000 meters in the USATF Junior Championships.

7. Jarrett Allen, men’s basketball, No. 17 overall

This name you’ve definitely heard before. It says something about the strength of Texas athletics as a whole that the most ballyhooed recruit in a major sport was actually the seventh-biggest recruit (by rankings) to land in Austin this year. So far the local product (St. Stephen’s) is averaging 9.5 points and 6.7 rebounds through 10 games.

RELATED COVERAGE: Shaka Smart: Jarrett Allen’s recruitment was ‘unique’

8. Andrew Jones, men’s basketball, No. 31 overall

Not as publicized but just as crucial for Texas coach Shaka Smart as he continues to build the Longhorns program, Jones was the No. 5-ranked point guard in the 2016 class. The MacArthur (Irving, Texas) product has started six games and is averaging 9.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Just off this list was James Banks, the No. 63 overall recruit.

9. Devin Duvernay, football, No. 36 overall

Another familiar name, Duvernay (Sachse) was originally signed with Baylor before the school’s sexual assault scandal and Bears coach Art Briles’ exit led him to Austin. The Longhorns were glad to welcome him, especially once he started hauling in long touchdown passes.

RELATED COVERAGE: Devin Duvernay is Baylor’s loss, Texas’ gain

10. Brandon Jones, football, No. 40 overall

The top safety in the 2016 class, Jones came to Austin as a 4-star prospect from Nacogdoches. He featured in all 12 games as a true freshman, picking up 16 total tackles and two blocked punts. He’s widely considered the future at safety alongside DeShon Elliott.

RELATED COVERAGE: Brandon Jones’ father still a part of safety’s life, game

Get caught up with the end of the year series: 

Dec. 19: Texas football’s top 10 plays of 2016

Dec. 20: 10 best Longhorn newcomers of 2016

Dec. 21: 10 best Texas football moments of 2016

We’ve relived the highlights and rehashed the low-lights , but individually there were a few Texas Longhorns who shone brighter than the rest in 2016. These 10 athletes were the biggest stars on the 40 Acres this year.

10. Breaunna Addison

Addison finished off her career as one of the most decorated tennis players in Texas history, and in the process helped the Longhorns to one of their most unlikely NCAA tournament runs ever. She was 37-4 in 2016 — the second-best winning percentage in program history — and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals  in singles with a win over No. 3 seed Francesca Di Lorenzo from UCLA. She also helped the Longhorns to the NCAA Round of 16.

RELATED COVERAGE: Bohls: Addison, Goldhoff pacing unlikely sweet tennis teams

Addison ended her career as a two-time Big 12 player of the year and three-time All-American, and claimed 109 singles victories.

9. Imani Boyette

Aside from her incredible story, Boyette is a heck of a basketball player. She averaged 11.3 points, 8.9 rebounds and blocked 104 shots during her senior season, and led the Longhorns to the Elite Eight with an 18-point, 10-rebound showcase in the Sweet 16 win over UCLA. She finished her career as the only Texas player to achieve 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 200 blocks.

RELATED COVERAGE: Paul and Imani Boyette mixing marriage, school and athletics

Off the floor, the No. 10 pick in the WNBA Draft was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. A survivor of multiple suicide attempts and molestation as a child, she has overcome those obstacles with the help of poetry and basketball. She is married to Texas football player Paul Boyette, who recently finished his career as a defensive tackle.

8. Micaya White

As a redshirt freshman, White stood out on a team that made it all the way to the national championship and featured some of the best volleyball talent in the country. So much so, in fact, that she was named freshman of the year by VolleyballMag.com and picked up a first-team All-America honor from the American Voleyball Coaches Association.

RELATED COVERAGE: Micaya White, her fellow Texas freshmen ready for first NCAAs

White had 479 kills, 551 points, 83 blocks and 263 digs while hitting .273.

7. Connor Williams

If he were eligible for the 2017 NFL Draft, teams would be lining up to pull the trigger on Williams. The Longhorns’ 6-foot-6, 288-pound sophomore left tackle was named a first-team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and the Football Writers Association of America. He also paved the way for D’Onta Foreman, Texas’ 2,000-yard rusher.

RELATED COVERAGE: Texas’ Connor Williams prefers the quiet approach

6. Ebony Nwanebu

After a back injury sidelined her last fall, Nwanebu — the former national freshman of the year at USC — soared in her first full season with the Longhorns. Her 423 kills and team-high .379 hitting percentage earned first-team All-American status and Honda Sport Award consideration.

RELATED COVERAGE: Bohls: Look past her ribbon and nails — Texas’ Nwanebu is tough

Off the court, Nwanebu’s bubbly personality — showcased in her online video series ‘#EbbOnTheWeb’ — warmed Texas fans’ hearts all the way through the national championship match.

5. Beau Hossler

Surely you know Beau. A teen sensation before he even stepped on UT’s campus, Hossler accomplished plenty once he got there. He won five events during his junior season and was named the Fred Haskins Award winner as the nation’s top collegiate golfer. He also led the Longhorns deep into the postseason before a major shoulder injury sidelined him for the national championship match against Oregon.

RELATED COVERAGE: Beau Hossler leaving Texas, ready for PGA Tour challenge

That injury might have been his defining moment as a Longhorn. After injuring his shoulder on the 16th hole, he played through agonizing pain and sunk the match-clinching putt to send Texas to the championship. He turned pro in July.

4. Townley Haas

Here’s where this list really picks up steam. A case could be made for each of the top four at No. 1. Haas is a 20-year-old gold medalist, fresh off his first Olympic gold medal as part of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. He also made the final in the individual 200 free, finishing fifth in Rio. Haas, who was still a true freshman last spring, holds the NCAA, American, U.S. Open, NCAA Championship meet, school and Big 12 records in the 200-yard freestyle. He won NCAA championships in the 200 free, 500 free and 800 free relay.

RELATED COVERAGE: Longhorns lap competition at NCAAs, claim 12th national title

3. Joseph Schooling

Why Schooling over Haas? It really could go either way, but I’ll go with the guy who won his country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal at the Rio Olympics. Schooling’s came in an individual event, the 100-meter butterfly, while Haas won his as part of a relay. Oh, and Schooling beat Michael Phelps.

Singapore awarded Schooling a cool $740,000 for winning gold, causing the NCAA to reconsider its stance of allowing athletes to keep bonuses awarded by national federations. And in case you’re wondering, Schooling has four individual NCAA national championships to his name — including a record-breaking one in the 200 butterfly.

Legitimate cases could also be made for Jack Conger (national champion, gold medalist, subject of international investigation) and Will Licon (national champion), but I decided to spread the love and limit the list to two per sport.

Which brings us to…

2. D’Onta Foreman

Not much more needs to be written about Foreman’s 2016 season. He rushed for 2,028 yards, the second-most in Texas history. He did it in 11 games, and went from a virtual unknown to a potential first-round NFL Draft pick.

He’s ahead of the swimmers because, well, the swimmers didn’t have to swim with teammates (or opponents) on their backs. It would have been awfully entertaining if they had.

1. Courtney Okolo

While Foreman didn’t get an invite to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony, Okolo won her sport’s award as the best athlete in the country. After a year that included four national championships, an NCAA record and a gold medal, Okolo hoisted The Bowerman earlier this month.

RELATED COVERAGE: Courtney Okolo is writing the book on sprinting at Texas

Okolo defended her indoor title in the 400 meters, broke her own collegiate record by running 49.71 at the LSU Alumni Gold in April, then took the NCAA crown in Eugene, Oregon. She also anchored victories in the 4×400 relay both indoor and outdoor, including an incredible come-from-behind win in Eugene. And while Okolo missed out on qualifying as an individual for the Olympics, she made up for it by running the opening leg on the United States 4×400 team that took gold in Rio.

Get caught up with the end of the year series: 

Dec. 19: Texas football’s top 10 plays of 2016

Dec. 20: 10 best Longhorn newcomers of 2016

Dec. 21: 10 best Texas football moments of 2016

Dec. 22: 10 worst moments of 2016 Longhorn football

Dec. 23: Top 10 recruits to come to Texas in 2016

Dec. 24: 10 best Longhorn moments of 2016

Almost without exception, the best athletes at Texas are among the very best in their respective sports. With that in mind, I decided to choose these 10 athletes from 10 Longhorn teams. Here’s who you should look out for in 2017, in no particular order.

Bret Boswell, baseball

After two disappointing seasons, Boswell caught fire over the summer for the Santa Barbara Foresters. He had a .392 batting average with a .470 on-base percentage, with 17 doubles and 10 home runs on the way to a California Collegiate League championship. The campaign earned Boswell recognition as the Perfect Game/Rawlings summer collegiate baseball player of the year. First-year Texas coach David Pierce will hope he is ready to bring that play to Austin, especially if he is called on to replace Kody Clemens in the lineup. Clemens is likely out for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Alexis Duncan, women’s track and field

When one leaves, another enters. Courtney Okolo was arguably the best athlete on campus in 2016, and won her first Olympic gold medal shortly after leaving. Duncan could be on a similar path. The 100-meter hurdle specialist was the 2016 USATF junior champion and placed fourth at the IAAF World Junior Championships in a personal-best 12.93 seconds. That time would have gotten her to the finals at last year’s NCAA Championships. Track and field  junkies should check out the documentary series FloSports did on her DeSoto High School team this past spring.

Gia Doonan, rowing

Rowing? Heck yes, rowing. Dave O’Neill has quietly built one of the most dominant programs in the Big 12, and Doonan has been one of the catalysts. A two-time All-American, she spent the summer aiding Team USA to a gold medal at the 2016 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. All that’s left to accomplish in her senior year is a national championship.

Erica Wright, softball

During her freshman season in 2015, pitcher Erica Wright was so good that she beat out a former Big 12 freshman of the year — Tiarra Davis — for the No. 1 spot in the Longhorns’ pitching rotation. Davis had injuries that limited her playing time in 2015, but Wright filled in nicely with an 18-9 record, 2.42 ERA, 178 strikeouts and seven solo shutouts. The redshirt sophomore earned first-team All-Big 12 and third-team all-region honors as a freshman. Unfortunately, she had to take the entire 2016 season off with a rib injury. With a power offense behind her, Wright’s return in the circle might be the thing that gets the Longhorns back to the Women’s College World Series. Texas coach Connie Clark, who’s in her 21st year as the Longhorn’s coach, surely hopes Wright returns with her 2015 dominance.

Jack Conger, men’s swimming and diving

Conger is back for one last lap at Texas, and he’s bound to make it a good one. The senior already has four national championships and a gold medal from the 2016 Olympics in Rio to his name. In addition to trying to out-swim the competition, he’s trying to distance himself from the fallout of the Ryan Lochte scandal and the four-month ban he received from the USOC. All of which makes the current American record-holder in the 200-yard butterfly one of the most fascinating athletes on all of the 40 Acres.

Gavin Hall, men’s golf

Someone has to replace the void left by 2016 Fred Haskins Award winner Beau Hossler. If the fall season was any indication, Hall might be that guy. In October, he led the Longhorns to victory by shooting a final-round 63 at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Championship — the lowest round of the week by anyone. Hall took medalist honors twice as a junior, and was a semifinalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award.

Chris Warren III, football

Is the next great Texas running back waiting in the wings, or will Warren end up splitting time with Kyle Porter and/or some of the other young running backs? Warren looked primed for a breakout season before he suffered a season-ending injury at Oklahoma State. Watching D’Onta Foreman rush for more than 2,000 yards and win the Doak Walker Award should have added motivation during his recovery, and with most of the offensive line returning he’ll have holes to run through. Unless freshman Sam Ehlinger challenges Shane Buechele for the quarterback spot, Warren will be the one to watch heading into 2017.

RELATED COVERAGE: Bohls: With Foreman exiting, it becomes Chris Warren III’s chance to shine

Cyera Hintzen, soccer

As soon as she saw the pitch, Texas ran its offense through Hintzen. The freshman forward led the Longhorns in shots (46) and shots on goal (19) on her way to earning Big 12 freshman of the year. She only scored two goals, but with a work rate like the ball is bound to find the back of the net in 2017. Hintzen has also featured for the U.S. Women’s National Team at the Under 19 level, scoring a pair of goals last summer in New Zealand.

Chiaka Ogbogu, volleyball

Maybe the most impressive part about Texas’ run to the national championship in volleyball was that it did so without Ogbogu. The three-time All-American was ruled academically ineligible prior to the start of the 2016 season. She should be back in 2017, which is a big reason why the Longhorns could be favored to win it all. In her first three seasons, Ogbogu tallied 1,317 kills, 363 blocks and had a .405 hitting percentage.

John Burt, track and field (and that other sport)

RELATED COVERAGE: Football or track? John Burt is sprinting ahead in both at Texas

Multiple-sport athletes are so rare at the Division I college level, but John Burt is doing it well. After a productive football season at wide receiver, he’ll put his speed to the test again this spring. As a freshman, Burt qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 110-meter hurdles after running a personal best 13.91 seconds, and ran the anchor leg on the 4×100 relay team that took ninth for All-American status.

Get caught up with the end of the year series: 

Dec. 19: Texas football’s top 10 plays of 2016

Dec. 20: 10 best Longhorn newcomers of 2016

Dec. 21: 10 best Texas football moments of 2016

Dec. 22: 10 worst moments of 2016 Longhorn football

Dec. 23: Top 10 recruits to come to Texas in 2016

Dec. 24: 10 best Longhorn moments of 2016

Dec. 25: 10 best Longhorn athletes of 2016

Dec. 26: 2017 Longhorn storylines to watch

Dec. 27: 5 Longhorn squads that can win it all next year

Dec. 28: 10 Longhorn football recruits to watch in 2017

Dec. 29: 10 Longhorns athletes to watch in 2017