Skinner, O’Neal spark Texas past Wisconsin and into national title match

TAMPA — Madisen Skinner hit and served Wisconsin out of Amalie Arena and Texas into the national title match.

The junior outside hitter was spectacular Thursday on the biggest stage, the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship national semifinals. She not only had 18 kills, but six aces as part of two remarkable runs in a 25-22, 20-25, 25-13, 25-16 victory. 

It vaulted the seventh-seeded defending national champions into a 3 p.m. Eastern Sunday final against top-seeded Nebraska. The Huskers swept Pittsburgh in the earlier semifinal.

What’s more, the two matches were played before a crowd of 19,598, the largest ever for an indoor NCAA volleyball match.

Big 12-champion Texas improved to 27-4 with its ninth win in a row. 

Third-seeded Wisconsin, which finished second to Nebraska in the Big Ten, saw its season end 30-4.

Skinner, who won an NCAA title as a freshman at Kentucky and then another last year with Texas, had those 18 kills, hit .227, and had an assist, nine digs and a season-high six of the 11 Texas aces. Skinner’s previous best was three aces in a match, although she led the Longhorns with 38 entering the match.

“We had scouted pretty well, and we knew their weaknesses and individual players and who we wanted to serve,” Skinner said. “Just working at depths and putting up the pace on the ball and trusting myself and trusting my serve, and Jerritt called for me, and that was that. Yeah, I kept trusting myself and went with it, and it was great.”

Asjia O’Neal had 11 kills in 16 errorless attacks to hit .688 and had two aces, two digs and four blocks. Jenna Wenaas had 10 kills but hit .091 and had five digs and a block.

Molly Phillips. who after Sunday’s match is transferring as a graduate student to play beach at USC, had 10 kills, hit .333 and had a dig and three blocks.

Setter Ella Swindle had four kills in eight errorless tries, 46 assists, an ace, five digs and two blocks. Her team hit .274. Emma Halter had 19 digs, seven assists and two aces.

“Obviously they’re big and they’re going to put up a good block, but we knew we just needed to trust ourselves,” O’Neal said. “We’re also I think are a pretty big team, pretty dynamic, so didn’t want to let their size on the other side affect what we were doing. We just stuck with what’s worked so far.”

Ella did a good job moving us around,…