LOVB: A Texas-sized Rematch for a National Audience

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Week 10 of the 2026 season features League One Volleyball’s most natural rivalry so far, a Lone Star Showdown between LOVB Austin and LOVB Houston.

“It’s fun to have rivalries and create some extra oomph around the game,” Houston opposite Jordan Thompson said. “Right now, we only have six teams in this league, so we’re only seeing five the entire season. To have a little extra chip on your shoulder when you’re going into a game makes it a little more competitive and a little more fun to play to see who owns the state.”

Right now, Houston owns the state after beating Austin in four sets last Wednesday. Houston also won the other two matches between Texas’ LOVB teams this year, but February 7’s match went to five sets, and Austin forced a fourth set last Wednesday and was only a few points away from going five once again.

“Disappointed that we lost, but I’m happy with the way the match finished,” Austin head coach Erik Sullivan said after the loss. “I’m happy with our resilience, that we found a way to find some rhythm and get back into it at the end of the match.

“We get to take another shot at them next week, which is nice.”

That other shot will take place Wednesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. Central/8 p.m. Eastern and will be broadcast nationwide as part of USA Network’s LOVB Game of the Week.

Austin middle blocker Molly McCage had similar thoughts to her coach.

“Losing sucks, but that’s a really good team, and we might as well give it our all,” Austin middle blocker Molly McCage said after the match. “It’s kind of awesome that we get to play them again in a couple of days. I do think they’re beatable, and No. 1 is still up for grabs in this league.”

Houston (9-5) is that No. 1 team right now, having passed LOVB Salt Lake in the league standings with last week’s win. After losing their first three matches of the year, Houston is on a 9-2 stretch largely due to the right arm of Thompson. The two-time Olympic medalist has 296 kills on the year – nearly 100 more than second-place Madisen Skinner of Austin – and has landed 26 or more kills in four of her last five matches, including a LOVB record-tying 28 at Austin Wednesday.

But that’s “just JT doing JT things,” according to Houston head coach Sanja Tomašević.

Kaisa Alanko has filled in wonderfully at setter for an injured Micha Hancock, giving Thompson the opportunity to do JT things. Houston attackers are hitting .339 off Alanko’s sets, the best setting efficiency in the league. Libero Lauren Briseño is third in LOVB with 150 digs during her rookie season, and middle blocker Raphaela Folie is among the top five in blocks.

Austin, 7-7 this year, has been led by Skinner and Logan Eggleston, who are second and third in LOVB in total points and total kills. Asjia O’Neal leads with 34 blocks, and both she and Skinner remain in the top six of their respective per-set categories. Canadian national team setter Brie O’Reilly has spent the most time directing the offense and also plays a large defensive role – she’s the team leader in digs – and libero Kotoe Inoue is highly rated in pass efficiency and good pass percentage.

After three matches against their in-state rivals, Austin outside hitter Madi Banks knows what her team needs to do in order to win.

“We have to [mentally rest] and not think about the last matches,” she said. “When we play aggressive and assertive, that is the way we can beat that team.”

For Tomašević, the solution is also quite simple.

“We’re gonna play them for the fourth time in two and a half months, there’s no secrets on either side of the net,” she said. “They’re a really good team, we’re a really good team.

“It’s gonna come down to who executes better.”