SPORTS WE’RE FOLLOWING THIS WEEKEND:
Baseball: @Kentucky (Texas wins the series going 2-1)
Softball: vs. Tennessee (Texas loses its first series of the year … going 1-2)
Men’s Tennis: @ Georgia (Texas win) & @ Tennessee (Texas loss)
Women’s Tennis: vs. Georgia (Texas win) & vs. South Carolina (Texas wins)
Rowing: vs. Michigan (Clean sweep for Texas)
Volleyball: vs. LSU (Texas won 4-1)
Women’s Golf (on Monday): SEC Championship @Tampa, FL
Men’s Golf (on Monday): The Ford Collegiate (@Richmond Hill, GA – Georgia Southern)
The University of Texas rowing team is easily the most dominant sport at UT that most Longhorn fans don’t know anything about.
“We’ve won NCAA championships three out of the last four years, we’re currently ranked number one,” said head coach Dave O’Neill.
The Horns could have possibly made it four in a row if not for a flock of geese landing in UT’s lane during the 2023 NCAA championship regatta.
If Texas is going to make it four championships in the last five years, they’re going to need some young rowers to step up.
“Coming into this year, I kind of thought this was going to be a little bit of a rebuilding year,” admitted O’Neill. “I think at one point I put a challenge out there like, ‘hey, if we keep on the pace we’re on I think we’re definitely going to be top four in the country, we can get ourselves on the podium.’ I could tell there were some kids that were like, ‘ugh, top four, that’s not our standard.’”
The Horns return only two rowers off their first eight boat from last season. It’s a team loaded with freshmen and sophomores. But O’Neill says the young rowers have developed quickly.
“Early on in the year there were some signs like, ‘hey, I think we can be pretty good,’” O’Neill said. “We had a really good freshman class and some freshmen stepping up and doing well, we had some really good leadership. So by the time we got to February, it was like, ‘I think we’re going to be ok.’”
As young as the team is, two upperclassmen are leading the charge for the Horns.
“Sue Holderness is the stroke of our first eight right now and she's turned herself into one of the best rowers in the country,” O’Neill said. “Marg van der Waal, you know, six seat of our first eight, and she might be the best rower, the best division one rower in the country right now.”
Holderness is an example of the depth of the Texas rowing team. As a freshman, she wasn’t even able to make a boat that raced in the NCAA’s. But she worked diligently at the sport and now, as a senior, is finally getting her chance to lead. She’s in the “stroke” position on the boat, the eighth seat, who sets the pace and the rhythm that the entire crew.
O’Neill, like every good coach, has made recruiting the lifeline of the program and he leaves no stone unturned to find the recruits.
“We're recruiting the best,” said O’Neill. “In our incoming class we have the best recruit from Australia coming, the best recruit from - what we think is the best recruit from Germany, the best recruit from Italy. These are the like, literally, the best kids from the country. And there's some good rowing in those countries.”
The Horns may soon have a big advantage to continue to recruit the best.
Earlier this year, Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte announced that UT would be adding 200 new scholarships.
Included in the list is boosting the rowing scholarships from 20 to 68. But O’Neill says you have to read the fine print.
“My phone blew up when that was initially announced,” said O’Neill. “There is a plan for increased scholarships over the next few years. Do we ever get to the full 100 percent 68 scholarships with the max? That’s the fine print. We’ll see. CDC, he’s a smart guy. I don’t think he’s going to spend any money he doesn’t need to spend. But he’s certainly committed to being competitive in every sport.”
Even if Texas doesn’t ever fully fund 68 scholarships in rowing, the increased scholarships will still be able to help O’Neill continue to recruit the best. Because rowing isn’t quite the same as football or basketball where a full ride scholarship is a given.
“The first question (from recruits) is, how big is a scholarship? You know, I haven't had someone ask yet, ‘what's the NIL deal?’ That doesn't happen in rowing,” O’Neill said with a chuckle.
Maybe a fourth national championship in five years will bring in some demand for NIL deals with the rowers.
It’s something O’Neill, who is a self-described film buff, says he’s looking forward to seeing how this year’s script will play out.
“Last year's team that was great that would they have their own storyline and their own plots that happened,” said O’Neill. “This year we're writing our own story storylines, and there's a whole new cast of characters and different plot lines, and we'll see how it turns out. Hopefully, it's one of those Disney movies – triumphant, and not an epic tragedy.”
ROUNDUP OF SPORTS THIS WEEKEND:
The men’s tennis team is wrapping up the regular season this weekend.
Texas beat Georgia Friday and they’ll finish things up Sunday.
The Horns are undefeated in SEC play this year and they have already clinched the regular season title.
“They have been consistent all season long in the way they’ve competed for each other, and with the pride they have in playing for Texas,” men’s tennis head coach Bruce Berque said on the UT athletics website. “Starting the SEC season 12-0 is no small accomplishment, and this championship is something they’ll cherish forever. There is still a lot more tennis to be played, but we are in a good place and excited about the remainder of the season.”
These last two matches are good warmups for the team before heading into postseason play next week. The SEC tournament gets underway Wednesday through Sunday next week and then it’s off to the NCAA’s.
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The women’s tennis team is just above .500 in SEC conference play, but they’ve been hot lately, winning four matches in a row … including an upset Friday of the number one ranked team in the country, the Georgia Bulldogs!
They’ll be back at it again Sunday taking on the 18th ranked South Carolina Gamecocks.
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The softball team has been rolling along as the number one ranked team in the country and they are living up to that billing.
The Horns swept Missouri on the road last weekend. The highlight was Teagan Kavan’s first ever no-hitter.
“Any kind of sweep in the SEC is difficult, especially on the road, because everyone is a competitive team,” said Longhorn head coach Mike White.
But the competition kicks up a notch this weekend with the Horns taking on Tennessee. The Vols are the sixth ranked team in the country. They took two out of three from OU two weekends ago in Norman and then followed that up taking two out of three from Mississippi State last weekend.
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The number six ranked women’s golf team has finished the regular season and will kick off postseason play with the SEC Championships beginning Monday in Tampa, Florida.
The Horns have been a little inconsistent this season and finished a disappointing sixth in their last tournament, the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate Invitational two weeks ago. But there has been improvement.
Now, new head coach Laura Ianello, who is in her first season at Austin after AD Chris Del Conte hired her away from the University of Arizona, will have her work cut out for her with Arkansas (#2) and South Carolina (#5) leading the field.
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Finally, mark your calendars now! The volleyball team's 2025 conference schedule has been released.
The Horns will play LSU in an off-season matchup in Houston Saturday.
DIRECTORS CUP PROJECTIONS
Texas is still projecting to win its third Director’s Cup in the last four years.
Baseball: @Kentucky (Texas wins the series going 2-1)
Softball: vs. Tennessee (Texas loses its first series of the year … going 1-2)
Men’s Tennis: @ Georgia (Texas win) & @ Tennessee (Texas loss)
Women’s Tennis: vs. Georgia (Texas win) & vs. South Carolina (Texas wins)
Rowing: vs. Michigan (Clean sweep for Texas)
Volleyball: vs. LSU (Texas won 4-1)
Women’s Golf (on Monday): SEC Championship @Tampa, FL
Men’s Golf (on Monday): The Ford Collegiate (@Richmond Hill, GA – Georgia Southern)
The University of Texas rowing team is easily the most dominant sport at UT that most Longhorn fans don’t know anything about.
“We’ve won NCAA championships three out of the last four years, we’re currently ranked number one,” said head coach Dave O’Neill.
The Horns could have possibly made it four in a row if not for a flock of geese landing in UT’s lane during the 2023 NCAA championship regatta.
If Texas is going to make it four championships in the last five years, they’re going to need some young rowers to step up.
“Coming into this year, I kind of thought this was going to be a little bit of a rebuilding year,” admitted O’Neill. “I think at one point I put a challenge out there like, ‘hey, if we keep on the pace we’re on I think we’re definitely going to be top four in the country, we can get ourselves on the podium.’ I could tell there were some kids that were like, ‘ugh, top four, that’s not our standard.’”
The Horns return only two rowers off their first eight boat from last season. It’s a team loaded with freshmen and sophomores. But O’Neill says the young rowers have developed quickly.
“Early on in the year there were some signs like, ‘hey, I think we can be pretty good,’” O’Neill said. “We had a really good freshman class and some freshmen stepping up and doing well, we had some really good leadership. So by the time we got to February, it was like, ‘I think we’re going to be ok.’”
As young as the team is, two upperclassmen are leading the charge for the Horns.
“Sue Holderness is the stroke of our first eight right now and she's turned herself into one of the best rowers in the country,” O’Neill said. “Marg van der Waal, you know, six seat of our first eight, and she might be the best rower, the best division one rower in the country right now.”
Holderness is an example of the depth of the Texas rowing team. As a freshman, she wasn’t even able to make a boat that raced in the NCAA’s. But she worked diligently at the sport and now, as a senior, is finally getting her chance to lead. She’s in the “stroke” position on the boat, the eighth seat, who sets the pace and the rhythm that the entire crew.
O’Neill, like every good coach, has made recruiting the lifeline of the program and he leaves no stone unturned to find the recruits.
“We're recruiting the best,” said O’Neill. “In our incoming class we have the best recruit from Australia coming, the best recruit from - what we think is the best recruit from Germany, the best recruit from Italy. These are the like, literally, the best kids from the country. And there's some good rowing in those countries.”
The Horns may soon have a big advantage to continue to recruit the best.
Earlier this year, Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte announced that UT would be adding 200 new scholarships.
Included in the list is boosting the rowing scholarships from 20 to 68. But O’Neill says you have to read the fine print.
“My phone blew up when that was initially announced,” said O’Neill. “There is a plan for increased scholarships over the next few years. Do we ever get to the full 100 percent 68 scholarships with the max? That’s the fine print. We’ll see. CDC, he’s a smart guy. I don’t think he’s going to spend any money he doesn’t need to spend. But he’s certainly committed to being competitive in every sport.”
Even if Texas doesn’t ever fully fund 68 scholarships in rowing, the increased scholarships will still be able to help O’Neill continue to recruit the best. Because rowing isn’t quite the same as football or basketball where a full ride scholarship is a given.
“The first question (from recruits) is, how big is a scholarship? You know, I haven't had someone ask yet, ‘what's the NIL deal?’ That doesn't happen in rowing,” O’Neill said with a chuckle.
Maybe a fourth national championship in five years will bring in some demand for NIL deals with the rowers.
It’s something O’Neill, who is a self-described film buff, says he’s looking forward to seeing how this year’s script will play out.
“Last year's team that was great that would they have their own storyline and their own plots that happened,” said O’Neill. “This year we're writing our own story storylines, and there's a whole new cast of characters and different plot lines, and we'll see how it turns out. Hopefully, it's one of those Disney movies – triumphant, and not an epic tragedy.”
ROUNDUP OF SPORTS THIS WEEKEND:
The men’s tennis team is wrapping up the regular season this weekend.
Texas beat Georgia Friday and they’ll finish things up Sunday.
The Horns are undefeated in SEC play this year and they have already clinched the regular season title.
“They have been consistent all season long in the way they’ve competed for each other, and with the pride they have in playing for Texas,” men’s tennis head coach Bruce Berque said on the UT athletics website. “Starting the SEC season 12-0 is no small accomplishment, and this championship is something they’ll cherish forever. There is still a lot more tennis to be played, but we are in a good place and excited about the remainder of the season.”
These last two matches are good warmups for the team before heading into postseason play next week. The SEC tournament gets underway Wednesday through Sunday next week and then it’s off to the NCAA’s.
#####################################
The women’s tennis team is just above .500 in SEC conference play, but they’ve been hot lately, winning four matches in a row … including an upset Friday of the number one ranked team in the country, the Georgia Bulldogs!
They’ll be back at it again Sunday taking on the 18th ranked South Carolina Gamecocks.
#####################################
The softball team has been rolling along as the number one ranked team in the country and they are living up to that billing.
The Horns swept Missouri on the road last weekend. The highlight was Teagan Kavan’s first ever no-hitter.
“Any kind of sweep in the SEC is difficult, especially on the road, because everyone is a competitive team,” said Longhorn head coach Mike White.
But the competition kicks up a notch this weekend with the Horns taking on Tennessee. The Vols are the sixth ranked team in the country. They took two out of three from OU two weekends ago in Norman and then followed that up taking two out of three from Mississippi State last weekend.
#####################################
The number six ranked women’s golf team has finished the regular season and will kick off postseason play with the SEC Championships beginning Monday in Tampa, Florida.
The Horns have been a little inconsistent this season and finished a disappointing sixth in their last tournament, the Charles Schwab Women’s Collegiate Invitational two weeks ago. But there has been improvement.
Now, new head coach Laura Ianello, who is in her first season at Austin after AD Chris Del Conte hired her away from the University of Arizona, will have her work cut out for her with Arkansas (#2) and South Carolina (#5) leading the field.
#####################################
Finally, mark your calendars now! The volleyball team's 2025 conference schedule has been released.
The Horns will play LSU in an off-season matchup in Houston Saturday.
DIRECTORS CUP PROJECTIONS
Texas is still projecting to win its third Director’s Cup in the last four years.
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